2013 BMW F700GS amp; F800GS First Look Picture 15 of 22 Motorcycle USA

The BMW R75 is a World War II-era motorcycle and sidecar combination made by the German company BMW.

Inside the 1930s BMW were creating a volume of popular and impressive motorcycles. In 1938 development of the R75 started in response to a need from the German Army.

Preproduction models of the R75 were driven with a 750 cc area valve engine, that was based on the R71 engine unit. Nonetheless it was quickly found necessary to design an all-new OHV 750 cc engine motor for the R75 device. This OHV engine unit later proved to be the basis for succeeding post-war twin BMW engines like the R51/3, R67 and R68.

The 3rd side-car wheel was powered with an axle linked to the trunk wheel of the motorcycle. These were fitted with a locking differential and selectable street and off-road gear ratios through which all and change gears did the trick. This made the R75 highly manoeuvrable and with the capacity of negotiating most floors. A few other motorcycle manufactures, like FN and Norton, provided an optional drive to sidecars.

The BMW R75 and its own competitor the Z?ndapp KS 750 were both extensively utilized by the Wehrmacht in Russia and North Africa, though after a period of analysis it became clear that the Z?ndapp was the superior machine. In August 1942 Z?ndapp and BMW, on the urging of the Army, agreed upon standardization of parts for both machines, with a view of eventually developing a Z?ndapp-BMW hybrid (specified the BW 43), in which a BMW 286/1 side-car would be grafted onto a Z?ndapp KS 750 motorcycle. They also decided that the produce of the R75 would cease once production come to 20,200 devices, and from then on point BMW and Z?ndapp would only produce the Z?ndapp-BMW machine, processing 20,000 every year.

Since the target of 20,200 BMW R75's was not reached, it continued to be in production before Eisenach factory was so terribly ruined by Allied bombing that production ceased in 1944. A further 98 items were assembled by the Soviets in 1946 as reparations.

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