BMW builds 2 million bikes in Berlin

It's not everyday that a European motorcycle company gets to celebrate a seven-figure manufacturing milestone, so it was no surprise that BMW Motorrad threw a huge party to commemorate its two millionth motorcycle rolling out of the factory.

The 2,000,000th motorcycle came off the Berlin Spandau manufacturing line and the bike in question was a specially prepped R 1200 GS, complete with celebratory decals to match.

BMW Motorrad starting building motorcycles at its Berlin Spandau plant in 1969, which have been - and are today - exported right around the globe. The milestone is a significant one for BMW, which marked the occasion by granting local stunt rider extraordinaire Chris Pfeiffer to perform lurid burnouts in front of VIP guests and honoured attendees.

The combined burnouts showed an impressive level of precision, revealing the 2,000,000 figure once completed.

"I'm really proud to present the two millionth BMW motorcycle here today," said Pfeiffer as he trundled out the special one-off BMW R 1200 GS, before jumping on his F 800 R stunt bike.

"I have a really busy schedule but this kind of thing doesn't happen every day so I really wanted to be here," added the stunt riding world champion.

The Berlin Spandau factory is home to some 1,900 employees and can churn out a whopping 510 motorcycles per day - from all model series. The factory also fabricates roughly 24,000 brake rotors for the car division.

In 2010, the factory produced 97,076 machines, which compares well to the first year of production, 1969, when 12,000 motorcycles were put together.

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