Photos: Jun Song / Film: Max Daines
It?s one of the most unlikely alliances we?ve ever seen: An old school machinist and motorcycle builder from Utah, and a high-tech industrial designer from Istanbul, Europe?s most populous city. But there are few boundaries to communication in the 21st century?and together, these two kindred spirits have created a truly extraordinary motorcycle: the BMW-powered ?Alpha.?
The story starts in Turkey on the computer of designer Mehmet Doruk Erdem. Nearly two years ago, Mehmet posted his BMW Alpha concept online: An arresting, shark-nosed land speed racer.

Mehmet caught the motorcycle design bug after seeing the machines ridden by the legendary Bonneville racer Alp Sungurtekin, the man behind the world?s fastest Triumph pre-unit. ?I started to make models of Alp?s motorcycles,? says Mehmet. ?Then I saw the film The World?s Fastest Indian. I was ready to design motorcycles for the Bonneville Salt Flats.?
One of those designs was Alpha, which has a clear visual link to the most infamous marine predator of all. ?Great white sharks have always been an inspiration to me,? says Mehmet. ?So I decided to mimic their anatomy for Alpha’s bodywork. It had to look powerful and beautiful at the same time.?

?If you look at the body of a shark, you can see that it?s clean and perfect. But inside, it?s so complicated. So Alpha’s front end is clean and smooth, while the back is the powerful and ugly side?symbolizing the tail of the great wh...