90 years of BMW Motorrad

For nine decades the BMW brand has played a defining role in the development of personal mobility on two wheels. Over this time, a talent for innovation, success in motor sport competition, outstanding quality standards and distinctive design have earned BMW Motorrad the status it enjoys today.

The founding fathers of this successful heritage are BMW motorcycles which demonstrated their functional efficiency and reliability – both in the sporting arena and the “real world” of day-to-day riding – to fulfil a basic need for independent travel. Over the decades, however, the pure pleasure of motorcycle riding has steadily grown in importance. Indeed, captivating technology and the experience of freedom continue to fuel the ever-increasing popularity of the BMW Motorrad brand around the world today.

A passion for innovation and dynamics breeds riding pleasure.

90 years on from the presentation of the first ever BMW motorcycle, fresh challenges have come to the fore, particularly where urban mobility is concerned. BMW Motorrad has focused its attention on a range of issues –
the importance of reducing emissions and making more efficient use of traffic space among the most important – notably through concepts with all-electric drive systems (and therefore zero local emissions). These machines open a window into riding pleasure powered by sustainable drivetrain technology and provide another example of how BMW Motorrad has channelled its passion for innovation and dynamics into the service of personal mobility.

A boxer-powered premiere: the BMW R 32.

28 September 1923 marked not only the opening day of the Berlin Motor Show, but also the beginning of motorcycle construction at BMW – with the public unveiling of the BMW R 32. This was a motorcycle whose essential drive concept – an air-cooled twin-cylinder four-stroke boxer engine with cylinders mounted horizontally to the direction of travel, manual gearbox driven directly by a friction clutch and shaft drive – is applied to numerous BMW models to this day.

The BMW R 32 was developed within the space of a few weeks by Technical Director Max Friz and his team. Up to that point BMW had concentrated on aero, marine and truck engines. The fledgling company had, however, also been building boxer engines for third-party motorcycle manufacturers since 1920, which made the development of a BMW brand motorcycle a logical next step. Proof that the necessary development expertise was available inhouse came in the form of the BMW R 32, which was powered by a 494cc engine producing 6.25 kW/8.5 hp and offered surefooted handling, outstanding performance and impressive reliability. By contrast with its rivals, which were largely based on bicycle geometry, the BMW R 32 was conceived as a standalone machine and boasted a level of quality no competitor could match. As a result, the essentially fairly modest BMW R 32 was positioned as a premium model.

Starting again with 12 hp: the BMW R 24.

With motorcycle production in Germany devoted almost entirely to the requirements of the military in the first half of the 1940s, the industry was left to start again from square one – in terms of both development and production – once hostilities had ceased. In 1948, for example, production began of the single-cylinder BMW R 24 at the BMW Motorrad plant in Munich. Based on the pre-war BMW R 23 and developing output of 9 kW/12 hp, it heralded the dawn of a much-needed new era in personal mobility.

1969: BMW starts up motorcycle production in Berlin-Spandau.

As Germany’s economic growth picked up an increasingly potent head of steam during the 1950s, so a fundamental shift in the nature of personal mobility set in. For BMW, this development had two main consequences. As the car industry revelled in an extraordinary boom, demand for motorcycles was falling away dramatically. Customers had reassessed their priorities, and BMW followed suit in many areas. The company pulled the plug on production of its single-cylinder models in 1966 and initiated a phased relocation of its motorcycle manufacturing operations to Berlin-Spandau. Only the development and testing departments were left behind in Munich, where they remain today.

The start of motorcycle production in Berlin-Spandau also marked the launch of an all-new range of models. In autumn 1969 BMW Motorrad unveiled the first models in its /5 series: the BMW R 50/5 with 24 kW/32 hp, BMW R 60/5 with 29 kW/40 hp and BMW R 75/5 developing 37 kW/50 hp all offered impressive power delivery and easy handling.

An anniversary, innovative bike concepts and a new heyday for BMW motorcycles.

A new page had been turned in the history of motorcycling, and the pleasure of motoring on two wheels was now proving to be an increasingly popular leisure time attraction. In 1971 a total of 18,000 BMW motorcycles rolled off the assembly line in Berlin. And in 1973, production of the brand’s 500,000th two-wheeler lent an extra lustre to the celebrations marking 50 years of BMW Motorrad.

BMW AG began 1976 with a restructuring of its motorcycle activities, the creation of BMW Motorrad GmbH giving BMW’s motorcycle wing a standalone corporate identity. One of its first moves as a wholly-owned
subsidiary of BMW AG was to continue its overall model push with a foray into the one-litre class. The new BMW R 100/7 and BMW R 100 S were powered by a boxer engine with 980cc capacity, but it was the BMW R 100 RS which turned most heads. This was the world’s first series-produced motorcycle whose rider sat behind a full fairing developed in the wind tunnel. Fixed to the frame, the fairing not only offered protection from the wind and wet, but also allowed the rider to travel long distances at high speeds in an upright position. The bike underlined its unique qualities with world record runs on the Nardo circuit in Italy. Output of 51 kW/70 hp and exceptional aerodynamics enabled the BMW R 100 RS to hit a top speed of 200 km/h (124 mph) on the road as well as the track. And in the first ever readers’ poll carried out by “Das Motorrad” bike magazine, it was voted “Motorcycle of the Year”.

BMW harked back to its early successes in off-road competition with victory in the 1980 European championship. The motorcycle Rolf Witthöft rode to the title soon found its way to dealers in a series-produced version. The BMW R 80 G/S, powered by a 797cc boxer engine developing 37 kW/50 hp, took
the brand into a new segment and boasted eye-catching technical highlights such as the Monolever single-sided swing arm for the rear wheel with spring strut mounted on one. Indeed, it paved the way for an all-new breed of touring enduro bikes. The G/S badge – later written without the slash – stood for "Gelände/Straße” (off-road/on-road), and it was as good as its word.

The powertrain engineers at BMW Motorrad had another sensation up their sleeves in 1983; for the first time in the company’s history they fitted a BMW motorcycle with a four-cylinder engine. And that wasn’t all. The 987cc unit, producing 66 kW/90 hp, was positioned longitudinally and as a stressed member in the new BMW K 100’s steel space frame, which was open at its lower edge. Overhead camshafts and fuel injection were among other key features. All in all, the BMW engine builders had staged a highly successful coup. A full model series soon took shape in the form of the BMW K 100 RS, BMW K 100 RT and BMW K 100 LT, and by the end of 1984 more than 30,000 units had already been sold. Added to which, the BMW K 100 was the world’s first series-produced motorcycle to be available with anti-lock brakes; it was in this model in 1988 that the ABS system developed specially for use in motorcycles set out on its triumphant path.

Pioneering concepts for tomorrow’s urban mobility.

Alongside its continuous development of successful model series and forays into new segments of the classical motorcycle market, BMW Motorrad is also grasping the challenges of urban mobility, both now and in the future. For example, in 2011 the brand presented attractive single-track personal mobility solutions for city travel in the form of the BMW C 600 Sport and BMW C 650 GT Maxi-Scooters.

The BMW Group’s sustainability strategy also encompasses the exploration of innovative drive system concepts, and in 2012 BMW Motorrad presented the close-to-production “BMW C evolution” e-scooter prototype. The company has since conducted extensive trials under real-life conditions to test the water for a market launch. The all-electric BMW e-scooter features technology based on BMW Group expertise and will come onto the market in the first half of 2014, following the launch of the BMW i cars. BMW Motorrad will therefore once again be leading the way in shaping the face of personal mobility – through cutting-edge concepts which bring new facets to the brand’s premium character and ensure customers in the future will also be able to experience the pleasure of two-wheel motoring.