1975 BMW R75/6 Cafe Custom

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

In the 1930s BMW were producing a range of popular and highly effective motorcycles. In 1938 development of the R75 started in respond to a question from the German Army.

Preproduction types of the R75 were driven by the 750 cc side valve engine, that was based on the R71 engine. However it was quickly found essential to design an all-new OHV 750 cc engine unit for the R75 product. This OHV engine unit later proved to be the foundation for subsequent 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 rear wheel of the motorcycle. These were fixed with a locking differential and selectable highway and off-road products ratios through which all and reverse gears performed. This made the R75 highly manoeuvrable and capable of negotiating most areas. A few other motorcycle manufactures, like FN and Norton, provided an optional drive to sidecars.

The BMW R75 and its competitor the Z?ndapp KS 750 were both widely utilized by the Wehrmacht in Russia and North Africa, though over time of evaluation it became clear that the Z?ndapp was the superior machine. In August 1942 Z?ndapp and BMW, on the urging of the Military, agreed upon standardization of parts for both machines, with a view of eventually creating a Z?ndapp-BMW hybrid (specified the BW 43), when a BMW 286/1 side-car would be grafted onto a Z?ndapp KS 750 motorcycle. In addition they arranged that the produce of the R75 would stop once production reached 20,200 units, and after that point BMW and Z?ndapp would only produce the Z?ndapp-BMW machine, developing 20,000 every year.

Since the target of 20,200 BMW R75's had not been reached, it remained in production before Eisenach factory was so badly harmed by Allied bombing that development ceased in 1944. An additional 98 systems were assembled by the Soviets in 1946 as reparations.

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