Sport-Evolution Franzen GmbH

Sport-Evolution-SE-Motorcycles-Concept-BikesSE Sport-Evolution, the company

SE Sport-Evolution is one of the leading motorcycle manufactures in Germany. After 20 years in motorsport and winning many races and several championship titles, we have been contributing our experience to the planning, design and manufacture of individual motorcycle conversions and motorcycle parts for 10 years now.
SE is a certified company with an unparalleled vertical range of manufacture on the market. Come visit us and let us show you our engine department, chassis department, welding shop, CAD design, CNC manufacturing, or our performance test bench live on site.
Sport-Evolution produces exclusive Cafe Racer, Scrambler, Roadster or Bobber based on the BMW 2-valve Boxer models with German TÜV approval and warranty. The SE Concept Bikes are rebuilt and overhauled from scratch. Engine and transmission are delivered with 0km mileage, the SE bikes leave our manufactory practically as a new motorcycle.
But SE is not only a vehicle manufacturer, we develop, design and produce many parts ourselves. Our experienced team knows every detail of the BMW two-valve, whether it is the engine, the chassis, the electrics or the frame construction.
We have a factory area of about 1,000 square meters, divided into two halls and various departments. Our 15 employees carry out about 70 conversions per year, sell about 20,000 products to about 4,500 customers through our store or in our retail store. Our customers rate us about 4.8 out of 5, we have about 38,000 followers on Facebook and about 9,000 on Instagram. 
We are planning to build another hall to create menhr space for manufacturing and engine building. According to the growing size of the company, we plan to increase the number of employees to about 20 next year. 
What drives us? It is the passion for motorcycles and the passion to plan, design and see products and concepts come into being. For every engineer it is the greatest thing to have everything in hand from the first stroke to the finished product. If you are then allowed to try out and test these products yourself, combined with your greatest passion, biking, it is simply a dream situation.  This passion is shared by all SE employees, who work in a great team to build and offer beautiful motorcycles and products for our customers every day. 

 

Sport-Evolution-SE-Motorcycles-Concept-BikesSport-Evolution Engine Building

SE has a fully equipped engine workshop and can draw on 30 years of experience in engine building and cylinder head machining. Before discovering our love for the old BMW 2-valve boxers, SE was involved in building and machining racing engines and racing motorcycles. Many race victories and championship titles can be traced back to the technology, support and know-how of Sport-Evolution.
Today we apply this knowledge in the development of new parts and modifications for the BMW 2V Boxer engines. In doing so, we incorporate both the traditional from the old BMW specialists, as well as much that is new in terms of materials and engine layout. This combination has resulted in many new SE products (valves, pistons, ignition system, etc.) and new ways in engine layout (valve seat geometries, squeeze edges, channel shapes, compressors). The results obtained so far and measured on our in-house performance test bench speak for themselves.
Whether you want your BMW 2-valve boxer to have a normal engine overhaul, a transmission overhaul, the powerful torque engine or a high-revving sport boxer with a lot of peak power, with SE Sport-Evolution you have found the right partner.
 


Sport-Evolution-SE-Motorcycles-Concept-Bikes
Performance measurements and tuning work on our Dynojet I250 performance test bench


We have been dealing with this subject for more than 25 years now. One thing is clear from the outset: A tuning or engine repair store that deals with the tuning of motorcycle engines must have a performance test bench as basic equipment. How else are performance-enhancing measures to be developed and results to be verified? Power and torque figures should be measured and provable data, not optimistic estimates.

In addition to analysis, we also use the test bench for tuning work. Load control helps us simulate real acceleration and driving situations, and a state-of-the-art lambda measurement system provides us with the relevant measurement data to write the maps of the injection engines or determine the jets of the carburetor models.

Our Dynojet I 250 test bench is TÜV approved and is thus also used for special registrations, such as modified exhaust systems, carburetor conversions or engine tuning.
 


Sport-Evolution-SE-Motorcycles-Concept-BikesThe warehouse of SE

SE Sport-Evolution currently holds about 3000 products in Neuwied. Our goal is to have basically all in our online store offered conversion or spare parts for the BMW Boxer two-valve in stock to be able to deliver them within 2-3 days to our customers. All products are carefully selected at Sport-Evolution and also used by our factory team on our conversions and SE concept bikes. Both the pictures and the product descriptions are created by us in house. Thus, we are familiar with the products offered and their application before they are offered in our online store.
We have invested a lot in our warehouse logistics and merchandise management to be well prepared for the future. Our warehouse is structured according to the dynamic principle, i.e. what used to be called a chaotic warehouse. Initially, we were very unaccustomed to a warehouse sorted purely according to storage locations, but in the meantime everything has worked very well and the core factors for a warehouse, i.e. efficient product storage, short distances and fast delivery capability, have been fulfilled 100%.
Compared to a classic system, a dynamically structured warehouse system allows for growth during operation. As our goal is to further expand our product range in the next few years and to be able to offer an almost complete range of products for BMW 2-valve engines, we are thus well positioned for the future.

 



Sport-Evolution-SE-Motorcycles-Concept-BikesSport Evolution Online

The SE Online Shop basically offers all the products that we also use on our conversions and SE Concept bikes. All the services (engine building, dyno, metal building, suspension service) that we offer there are done in-house by our team.
Our goal is not to be successful simply by offering the lowest price, as is usually the case in the pure e-commerce business. We combine the classic with the digital world. But what is meant by this? We are available to Sport-Evolution's customers on a daily basis with several technicians on the phone or by e-mail to support them in the implementation of their projects. We do not see our web presence as a pure sales site, but provide a lot of insider information that can be useful to our customers in their home customizing. We ship daily and always try to keep our delivery promise of 2-3 days. To achieve this goal, our inventory policy is to always have all products offered online in stock at our facility.  
We work daily on product descriptions and include communication with our customers in creating them. This helps our customers to choose the right products and helps them with their installation or TÜV registration.

 



Sport-Evolution-SE-Motorcycles-Concept-BikesSport-Evolution Product Development

Product development and prototyping also takes place in-house at Sport-Evolution. Our products are designed with Autodesk Inventor or Space Claim. For the construction of the prototypes we have a 3D printer, a CNC milling machine and a CNC lathe. All welding and sheet metal work can be done in our in-house metal workshop.
The first implementation of a product idea usually takes place on the vehicle, means we at SE Sport-Evolution build a prototype at the beginning. When a direction for a new product is set, it goes to the CAD design. In addition to creating the 3D design and the corresponding drawings, strengths are calculated, the material is selected and the economic viability is checked. If all the results are in favor of including the product in our offer, a part number is assigned and a QM test sheet is created. In the next step, another prototype is built, which is usually already very close to the later series product. Finally, another attachment test takes place, and then it goes out on the road in a road test. The length of this test phase varies and depends on the type of product. When all the factors have been finalized and the last changes have been incorporated or corrected, the first batch size is launched, operating and installation instructions are drawn up and, if necessary, a TÜV parts certificate is commissioned. 

 



Sport-Evolution-SE-Motorcycles-Concept-BikesSport-Evolution 3D Printing

The first 3D printer was purchased in 2015. At that time, it was an FDM printer, which was used exclusively for the haptic viewing and touching of designed SE products. However, the printing accuracy was not such that exact fitting shapes could be checked.
Today, we use a Formlabs 3L stereolithography 3D printer, which can produce components for a wide range of applications with an accuracy in the 1/100mm range using special resins. In addition to pure prototypes, we also use it to produce end products. These include speedometer housings, switch housings, footrest rubbers, throttle grip horns and much more. The range of applications is extremely diverse and sets hardly any limits.
In the process, the resins are hardened in a tank by two lasers at the appropriate points. The materials range from very soft rubber to extremely hard plastic enriched with glass particles. There is petrol-resistant resin, as well as temperature-resistant material up to 300°C. New Balance launched an exclusive sneaker series last year that was created entirely in a Formlabs 3D printer. We are currently working on a complete footrest system for the BMW 2-valve. These will end up being milled from aluminium, but this printing system is indispensable for the prototypes and the attachment tests.



Sport-Evolution-SE-Motorcycles-Concept-BikesSport-Evolution 3D Scanning

A 3d laser hand scanner was the famous icing on the cake that was still missing in the in-house SE development department. In spring 2023, this gap was closed. However, this is also an investment volume for which one could well buy a nice new mid-range car. Furthermore, creating a CAD design from the scan data (reverse engineering) is also a kind of supreme discipline for designers.     
The applications are manifold. Here, for example, the chassis of original frames are scanned in order to be able to capture the three-dimensionally located fastening points. For example, footrest systems, brake caliper adapters or exhaust systems can be designed and manufactured to fit the corresponding attachment points.
Another important application is the derivation of a design from a prototype. Here, for example, exhaust pipes are manufactured on the vehicle and then scanned. A CAD data set is created from the scan, which can then go into production. Or, as shown in the example in the picture, a set of engine guards for the BMW two-valve engine.  
The scanner is also used for the latter in quality inspection. Here, free-form components such as pipe connections, covers or have are checked for dimensional accuracy.


 

Sport-Evolution-SE-Motorcycles-Concept-BikesThe production at Sport-Evolution

After the product development is completed, it is time for the implementation. Basically we try to keep the production of all SE-products in house and are also equipped for it from the side of the factory equipment and the know-how of our employees. We have a CNC lathe, a CNC milling machine, a metal workshop with various welding tables, various TIG, oxyacetylene and Mag welders, a pressure blasting machine, an injector blasting machine, various sawing machines, a pipe bending machine, a slide grinding machine, a boring machine, a honing machine, a valve seat milling machine, a graver grinding machine, etc.
All welded structures (rear frames, license plate holders, seat tubes, etc.), as well as the exhaust systems, are 100% manufactured in-house. Milled and turned parts are outsourced in case of larger lot sizes. The same applies to laser cut sheet metal parts. This is simply due to the fact that we cannot economically produce larger quantities in such a way that we can serve our customers with attractive prices. In some cases, however, the final work is still done on our premises when the work is outsourced. All sheet metal laser parts, for example, are deburred, trowalized or pickled in-house. If production orders are placed outside of our company, we make sure to select primarily manufacturing companies from Germany, at best from our region. Here the personal contact, as well as the same feeling for quality and reliability, is more decisive than the last price. The law for TOP products: Quality has its price.