If you have spent any meaningful amount of time scrolling through the pages of Bike EXIF, the name Powerbrick Performance should instantly trigger a sense of awe. Operating out of the Netherlands, founder Timothy Somers has pushed the boundaries of modern custom design, routinely securing top honors in our annual year-end roundups, with bikes such as his race-inspired take on the Harley-Davidson Pan America.
For Timothy and his team, these elite, one-off custom builds serve a dual purpose. They are not merely showpieces built to collect trophies under expo lights; they are real-world rolling testbeds. Timothy uses these projects to develop, refine, and showcase production parts for his two commercial outfits: Powerbrick, which focuses heavily on transforming vintage BMW K-series and R-series boxer platforms, and his CNCPT brand, which designs high-end components for modern American muscle like the Harley Pan America and Sportster S. The workshop’s latest masterpiece, appropriately dubbed ‘Dominance,’ recently broke cover at the Bike Shed London Show, immediately halting foot traffic with its menacing stance and hyper-focused engineering.
To appreciate the sheer scale of Timothy’s achievement, one must recall the physical mass of the donor machine. Built between 1992 and 1997, the BMW K1100RS was the quintessential trans-European mile-muncher, a bulletproof, shaft-driven sport-touring monolith cloaked in expansive aerodynamic plastic fairings. Powered by a liquid-cooled, DOHC, longitudinal inline-four engine widely known as the "Flying Brick," the stock machine pumps out a healthy 100 horsepower at 7,500 RPM and 107 Nm of torque. Fueled by a Bosch Motronic electronic fuel injection system, the powertrain drives through a five-speed manual transmission, a dry single-plate clutch, and a steel tubular space frame equipped with a factory Paralever single-sided swingarm. While the architecture is celebrated for its linear power delivery and indestructible nature, the bike’s stock packaging carries a staggering unladen wet weight of 590 lbrs. (268 kilograms.)
The transformation of Dominance began with a scorched-earth approach to the bike's rear section. Timothy discarded the cumbersome factory plastics and subframe in favor of Powerbrick’s aluminum subframe kit. Now in its third iteration, this piece is CNC-machined from aircraft-grade aluminum, making it their lightest and strongest version to date. Comprising 54 separate interlocking components, it instantly deletes the dated, saggy look of the nineties touring rear end, replacing it with a razor-sharp, aggressive silhouette.
This updated architecture provided a revised mounting point for a fully adjustable TFX rear monoshock. To further alter the motorcycle's proportions, the team swapped out the stock K-bike swingarm for a single-sided unit sourced from a BMW R1100S. This clever swap effectively elongates the rear half of the machine, giving the bike a stretched, nose-down proportion reminiscent of a drag racer. The heavy factory cast-alloy wheels were promptly binned, replaced by a pair of ultra-lightweight Rotobox carbon-fiber wheels wrapped in sticky, track-ready Pirelli Diablo Rosso rubber.
Up front, the factory suspension system was entirely thrown out the window. The new front end is anchored by a set of Powerbrick Clip-on Style Triple Trees. This design positions the clip-on handlebars directly into a low, front-heavy, and deeply committed riding posture. It is a setup that makes no apologies for comfort, as you certainly wouldn't choose this cockpit for a cross-country tour, but that is entirely the point because this machine was built to hunt apexes and go blisteringly fast. Clamped tightly within those custom triple trees is a modern front-end transplant consisting of BMW S1000RR inverted forks equipped with Ohlins cartidges and custom red tubes. Powerbrick proudly notes this conversion is the lightest K-series fork conversion kit currently available.
The cockpit layout is a practice exercise in clean, high-tech packaging, starting with a minimalist Motogadget digital speedometer recessed flush into the top triple clamp. The entire electrical network is wired through a central Motogadget mo.unit controller, completely hidden from view, keeping the control area exceptionally tidy. The clip-ons themselves are adorned with Motogadget bar-end turn signals, low-profile Motogadget mirrors, and a Domino throttle. Brembo brake levers actuate matching Brembo brake calipers to deliver modern stopping power to the lightweight front end, while a set of Powerbricks’ own CNC-machined rearset foot controls finalizes the bike's aggressive ergonomics.
Timothy ensured that Dominance had the mechanical lungs to back up its menacing visual aesthetic. The restrictive factory plastic airbox was deleted, replaced by a row of high-flowing DNA XVo pod filters complete with a matching crankcase breather filter. The true pièce de résistance of the powertrain is the custom exhaust system co-developed by Powerbrick and the fabrication wizards at MAD Exhaust. The exhaust is an intricate puzzle composed of 102 hand-welded stainless steel pieces. The four headers snake out of the cylinder head, twisting dramatically along the left side of the block before merging into a single collector that terminates in a sharp, custom-fabricated muffler equipped with an integrated internal baffle to manage the brick’s howling exhaust note.
The final finish on Dominance utilizes a colorway that is fast becoming as synonymous with Powerbrick as the famous monochromatic black-on-black treatment is for Rough Crafts. The bodywork, including the fuel tank, headlight bucket, and the minimalist front fender, is swathed in a brilliant, clean monochromatic silver paint. This industrial, metallic base is punctuated by sharp, calculated bursts of vibrant red. The anodized red fork legs, the powder-coated spring on the TFX rear shock, the red accents on the Brembo brake calipers, and the high-performance silicone plumbing snaking through the engine bay provide a stark, cohesive contrast that ties the entire machine together.
Reports from the Bike Shed London Show indicate that Dominance didn't stay on the market for long, as a single private collector purchased it on the spot alongside two other custom Powerbrick motorcycles on display. While the bike's final destination remains a closely guarded secret, there is a truly fortunate individual out there who will soon be cracking open the throttle of this absolute masterpiece.
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