You all remember PainTTless, the awesome ultra radical vintage racer style custom bike (with a Sportster Iron engine coupled to a WLA HD transmission) built by Thunderbike Germany and sacred World Champion at the 2012 Sturgis Championship Of Bike Building. A work of 2-wheel art so perfect, aesthetically and mechanically, that I really wondered how anyone could top such work. At that time, I asked Thunderbike owner Andreas Bergerforth what we could expect next from him. Would not tell me until last week when he unveiled “Unbreakable” at the 16th edition of European Bike Week held in Faaker See, South of Austria.
And not surprisingly, both the pro-judges of the Custom Chrome Europe bike show and of the Harley-Davidson ride-in competition had no difficulty agreeing that “Unbreakable” deserved to receive the biggest trophies. Custom bike shows are all about stunning designs, flawless fabrication and mechanical prowess to help in the advancement of custom building… and in promoting the builder’s business. This new creation excels in all areas. Of course, not a job that most in the custom world could accomplish even if they had in mind the concept and main design lines.
Thunderbike Customs, also an official Harley-Davidson located near Essen, Germany, is equipped with an array of CNC, benders, stamping, water jet machines, etc that very few in the custom world can afford (watch below the 10 minutes fabrication process video to see how much was involved in the build). And of course you need the right crew of experts to turn each idea into pure art form with all the one-off parts fitting together like they were born as one. From front to rear, from right to left and top to bottom, impossible to find any design flaw or mechanical approximation. A daily ride to work. Of course not. But for sure a gorgeous machine that you can ride like a motorcycle, pure pleasure included… Complete tech sheet below the video. (photography copyright Horst Roesler For Cyril Huze)
Great post I follow thunderbike builds all the time and watched this video only last week .the make one of the cleanest well designed customs in the business.great builders
TB is in a class of one.
They generally build customs than can be ridden, ridden hard, with built quality to the very strict German (TUV) mechanical standards – thus it will not ‘undress’ itself over time (like some of the infamous Discovery Channel builds) and is a safe as they come.
Their builds are aesthetically sensible and -challenging at the same time – the mark of a true artist’s work – bona fide functional mechanical art.
There is only one thing wrong with ‘Unbreakable’ – it is not in my garage…
Wow! What a shop! Fantastic bike. Thunderbike builds some of the most beautiful customs in all of Europe. Fantastische und alles gute für sie. Later Jay
WOW!! Those guys have it going on . They are building BADASS bikes everytime . Great work Thunderbike custome, can’t wait to see what is next .
Great style, incredible detail! Bike of the year, perhaps the decade! Fantastic piece. After 40 years of building, I am truly impressed!
Sometimes the line between Art and Engineering is blurred…..
Like James said, I need a 3rd eye to try and take it all in.
With many years as an amateur builder I always found the mounting of the Tag & Taillight to be very challenging. Amazing with all that talent and cash they slapped the plate on the side. The rest is very impressive. ..Z
Nothing you can criticize on this one.
The true definition of a rolling piece of metal art.
BIG budget!
Custom builders in the US used to build bikes at this level. No more since our 2007 recession.
Very graceful lines. Very nice machine.
watched the video and when they started talking i turned the translator app on my iphone and they said;
“we want to thank orange county choppers for bring us these great ideas and happy that billy lane isn’t building his old school auto parts bikes”
These guys continue to deliver. F1 grade execution for the custom motorcycle, much like Ken’s Factory and Hot Dock.
One word says it all,{ beautiful}……
A work of rolling art
So much to look at…. very cool.
-nicker-
That bike may look cool but it has zero cornering clearance.
I Always look forward to seeing the work that comes out of this shop. Amazing detail and metal fabrication….. great stuff
German Ubermenschen are superior to us.
The rims alone are something to admire – lots of cnc going on here and lots of money. Neat bike and so many small details.
Very Very Nice! peace
I like it , kinda a mix of all that is good / new ………………