BMW R75 by 914four on DeviantArt

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

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

Preproduction types of the R75 were power by the 750 cc part valve engine, that was predicated on the R71 engine unit. Nonetheless it was quickly found necessary to design an all-new OHV 750 cc engine for the R75 product. This OHV engine unit later became the basis for subsequent post-war twin BMW engines like the R51/3, R67 and R68.

The 3rd side-car wheel was driven with an axle linked to the trunk wheel of the motorcycle. These were equipped with a locking differential and selectable highway and off-road gear ratios by which all four and change gears proved helpful. This made the R75 highly manoeuvrable and capable of negotiating most surfaces. 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 used by the Wehrmacht in Russia and North Africa, though over time 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 making a Z?ndapp-BMW hybrid (selected 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 manufacture of the R75 would cease once production come to 20,200 items, and after that point BMW and Z?ndapp would only produce the Z?ndapp-BMW machine, making 20,000 each year.

Since the aim for of 20,200 BMW R75's had not been reached, it remained in production before Eisenach factory was so badly destroyed by Allied bombing that creation ceased in 1944. An additional 98 products were put together by the Soviets in 1946 as reparations.

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