Meet Steve. Steve rides a 500 two-stroke MXer. He has also taken the reins at BMW Motorrad Australia during a key moment for the brand. We all want Steve to make a big-bore two-stroke Boxer. Kel catches up with the new boss...
Steven Dunn steps into BMW Motorrad Australia’s top job at a pivotal time. With the R 1300 GS range spearheading new launches and events like BMW Safari driving community, he’s steering the brand through a crowded market. We catch up with the new Beemer boss…
With a background in automotive, bike-mad Steven Dunn went to BMW Motorrad in 2019 after a long time at Nissan.
When Steven Dunn took the reins as BMW Motorrad Australia’s General Manager in January this year, the timing couldn’t have been better. The brand’s adventure icon – the R 1300 GS – had just arrived, carrying the weight of decades of history and the expectations of a loyal following. Dunn has already clocked big kays on the new platform at home and abroad and reckons it lives up to the hype.
In May, he joined a five-day GS Safari and later spent back-to-back days riding through Germany, Austria and Italy. The GS is central to BMW’s Australian fortunes, and its performance is a key metric he’ll be judged on in his first full year in the role. Dunn, 51, lives in Melbourne’s south-east with his wife and two adult daughters. A rider since the age of nine, when he first swung a leg over a Suzuki TM75, he’s never been without a bike in the garage. Or, as is the case today, the office.
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“I’ve had bikes in the garage ever since,” he says. “To this day I’ve still got multiple and there’s one in my office right now.” His current mix spans road and dirt, with a few rarities in the collection. “I ride vintage motocross… I’ve got a 1985 Honda CR500 [Instant Gold BikeReview Gold Medal Award for you, Steve – Ed], KTM 500 for enduro… I’ve got two BMW 450 GXs… one at home and one in my office. I bought them both when I first started because they’re a bit of a collector’s item these days. Anything I can get my hands on I’ll ride”…
Dunn on his big-bore KTM enduro bike, he likes a mix of two-stroke and four-stroke and, well, he rides a CR500 so he sure as hell is no ordinary pen pusher!
That connection to motorcycles began well before his move into the motorcycle industry. “I’ve had a long history at Nissan Motor Company and Hyundai. I started as a technician back in the 1990s and I’ve always been in automotive,” he says. “The chance to come to BMW Group was something I didn’t take lightly – I thought this is an opportunity – and I didn’t leave Nissan at the time, I would stayed there probably the rest of my life”…
He joined BMW in 2019, drawn in part by the strength of its motorcycle division. Three positions later, he describes leading BMW Motorrad Australia as his “dream role”, saying “to have this role and have the opportunity to lead Motorrad into the future is great.” Dunn stepped into the top job after BMW Motorrad Australia posted its strongest year on record, with 3549 sales in 2024. The number looms large in his mind, he reveals, and so does the goal of bettering it in 2025, “We’re aiming for a great thing this year, and we’re holding our head high,” he tells BikeReview. “In a market where it is declining a little bit, the team is dedicated and I’ve got full focus on driving that forward the best we can”.
“We’re aiming for a great thing this year… I’ve got full focus on driving that forward”…
That confidence comes with an awareness of the headwinds. “The declining market is a little bit of concern if I’m honest,” he says. “Obviously things out of our control — interest rates, what’s going on overseas – causes people [to reconsider]. A motorcycle is a bit of a discretionary purchase… it’s a want not a need”…
We suspect the these bikes were moved to Steve’s office shortly after this photoshoot! We hear he need a few Moto Stacker’s in there!
Competition is another pressure point, from established rivals to fast-moving newcomers. “The rise and fall of the Chinese brands… is going to put a bit of pressure on everyone,” he says. “But we work in the premium segment and our customer base is very, very strong and very, very loyal, so we’re going to keep nurturing that”.
For Dunn, looking after riders is something he’s been doing since his first days on the tools. “Looking after customers is in my DNA,” he says. “I’ve looked after customers since I was 19 years old as an apprentice and so that doesn’t change.” He points to BMW’s well-established calendar of rider events as a key part of keeping that connection strong. “We have one of the best customer ecosystems running around,” he says. “I attended my first GS Safari in May… 190 odd customers all with a smile on their face all wanting to talk bikes and questions and things.”
It’s not just about the riding itself, but the camaraderie that comes with it. “There’s a customer that’s been to 14 safaris consecutively,” he says. “One customer doesn’t have any mates that ride, rode Safari, and ended up finding four or five guys that live within 20 minutes of him so now he’s got his own mates to ride with.”
“The rise and fall of the Chinese brands… is going to put a bit of pressure on everyone”
Dunn describes BMW’s current model cycle as a “product juggernaut” that’s keeping the range fresh and competitive. “We’ve got new model after new model,” he says. “We’ve just launched the new S1000RR… our 1300s which is our bread-and-butter over here… we’ve got the R 12, we’ve got the R 1300 coming out.”
That cadence, he says, is one of BMW’s biggest advantages in the current climate. “From an opportunity perspective I think we’ve hit the ground running,” he says. “We’ve got a really good strong product line-up which is going to resonate with our customer base.”
One of BMW’s strongest cards, says Dunn, is the sheer number of new and updated models it has.
Even so, he’s conscious of the challenges. “It’s getting pretty crowded at the moment,” he says of the adventure segment in particular. “Obviously we’d love to sell more… I’d love to run out of stock if it’s possible, but it’s probably not going to happen.”
BikeReview’s Eri Taguchi, who rode her G 310 R all around Australia solo, including Adelaide to Darwin straight up the middle. It never stopped, not once. You can follow her series on Instagram and YouTube – @elis_riporider
At the opposite end of the range from the R 1300 GS, BMW’s single-cylinder 310 models are playing a different role – bringing new riders into the fold. “Getting people into our brand is a critical part,” Dunn says. “The 310 GS is going okay… it’s a very crowded segment down there as well… but again our bike does quite well. Obviously I’d like it to do better – I think we all want to do better.”
The value of that entry point, he says, is in what happens next. “If we can get people onto our BMWs in the lower range when they’re doing their learners or their Ps, they can then fall in love with the brand,” he says. “They’ve then got every other bike in the model range to stay with us.”
BMW dealerships such as Worthington BMW are very proactive in new BMW riders and riding community, with Dealer Principal Brad Worthington and James Spence (pictured) and Team riding with customers weekly…
He recalls stopping for fuel near Myrtleford after a dirt ride and spotting three BMW riders – an older man in his 70s, one around 50 and one in his mid-20s – all travelling together on GSs. “One’s on a 1300, one’s on a 900 and one’s on a 310,” he says. “All the generations are out there enjoying BMWs.”
“If we can get people onto our BMWs in the lower range when they’re doing their learners or their Ps … they’ve then got every other bike in the model range to stay with us”
Electric motorcycles have been slow to gain momentum in Australia, and BMW’s experience has been no different. The CE 04 and CE 02 scooters, while eye-catching and well-engineered, are yet to make a significant impact. “Let’s just say they’re a slow burn,” Dunn says. “We do sell a few of them, but it’s not where we need it to be, to be honest.”
According to Dunn, Australia’s appetite for the clever and capable CE 04 has been slow so far.
The CE 04 sits at the premium end of a scooter market dominated by low-cost offerings. But when the subject shifts to electrification more generally, his personal preferences come through. “I love the sound of a [petrol-powered] motorcycle… maybe the smell of a two-stroke… it becomes one of the key principles of riding a motorcycle.”
Even so, he admits to seeing a role for electric models in certain parts of the market. “Scooters have their place and EV has its place as well,” he says. “I think the younger generation will drive this – we’ll see how they go.”
“We do sell a few [electric scooters], but it’s not where we need it to be, to be honest”
If BMW’s electric scooters show the brand’s push into new territory, the one-off R 1300 R Titan concept is a reminder of what it can do when engineers are given free rein. Built in-house as a sprint-racer, it takes the new 1300cc boxer twin and turns it into something far more aggressive. The bodywork is a hand-finished carbon-fibre monocoque, the chassis runs an extended swingarm and the engine breathes through a custom Akrapovič system fed by a nitrous injection setup.
This year’s nitrous-injected R 1300 R Titan Concept, it takes the new 1300cc boxer twin and turns it into something far more aggressive. If we still published Rapid Bikes, this would have been our dream cover bike!
“I love the fact they do this sort of stuff and tease us with things as well,” Dunn says. “I think it’s fantastic.” It’s a build that will never see a production line, but for riders it’s a window into the brand’s performance DNA, and the sort of thinking that sometimes filters into road-going models. Speaking about performance and non-production bikes, the conversation switches to Toprak Razgatlioglu and his stunning performances that few thought possible on a BMW Superbike.
“I don’t want to get emotional,” he joked, when asked how he felt about the talented Turk defecting to Yamaha for the 2026 MotoGP World Championship season. “He’s unbelievable. I watched his stunt show at Motorrad Days [in Germany] – I was like a schoolboy watching his idol. His front-brake control is exceptional, as we know, but his stunt riding… how can you ride an R 1300 police bike with panniers, do stoppies to vertical and hold it for four seconds?! And he’s wearing a pair of cotton chinos and a helmet – like what is going on?! To be honest, I think the switch is great for him and we’ll be watching with bated breath to see if he can bring the championship home, because that’s really important for us as well. And then let’s see if he can take it to the Marquez boys, that’ll be interesting.”
“Let’s see if Razgatlioglu can take it to the Marquez boys – that’ll be interesting”…
Dunn’s enthusiasm for motorcycles is obvious, even on the phone, and you get the feeling he’d be willing to yarn all afternoon about anything two wheels. Whether he’s talking about road racing paddocks or dirt trails, Dunn’s enthusiasm keeps circling back to one thing: community. For him, BMW’s job is about building spaces where riders can connect and he flags community-building – both in person and online – as central to the brand’s long-term health in Australia.
Events like the GS Safari build both community and brand loyalty.
“It is of utmost importance and it’s something we do very well. Over at Motorrad Days; 40,000 customers and I was there for four days – you couldn’t get me out of the place. And the customers themselves are fantastic, and I think what we do here [in Australia] with our own events – be it MotoGP or be it ride days or be it at Phillip Island. And it doesn’t matter what you’re doing – if you’re riding a GSA, you can go on an adventure ride. If you want some coaching, we do the coaching aspect. And I think that’s a real foundation for us if we do that and do that well. It just brings people to our brand.”
As he looks to the future, Dunn frames the challenge simply: keep the brand moving forward while keeping riders close. From GS Safaris to learner-approved 310s and one-off concepts, the details may vary, but the mission is clear. For Dunn, the months ahead are about keeping BMW’s flagship models at the sharp end while making sure new riders see a way into the brand. It’s a balancing act he seems to relish, blending a technician’s grounding, decades of experience in customer service and unshakable passion.
You get the feeling he’d be willing to yarn all afternoon about anything two wheels…
“Our job is to keep people riding, keep them engaged and keep them proud to own a BMW,” he says. “If we can do that, the rest will follow.”
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