1928 BMW R62 750 Motorcycle

Description

Following the ban on aircraft production in 1919, the Bayerische Motoren Werke concern turned its attention to motorcycles and under the guiding hand of General Manager Franz-Josef Popp began building high quality, beautifully engineered and expensive two-wheeled machines.  Designed by Max Friz, the innovative BMW R32 was presented at the 1923 German Motor Show and boasted a horizontally-opposed boxer motor and a gearbox driven by a friction clutch connected to a driveshaft linking the gearbox and rear wheel.  The new BMW was beautifully turned out in black with white pinstripes, a colour combination that became synonymous with their products over the next decade.  Launched in 1928, the top-of-the-line R62 and R63 models featured a 750cc twin with shaft drive and cantilever front suspension.  Sold for two years only, the R62 used a side-valve version of the boxer motor, essentially a longer stroke version of the R52’s 500cc unit, along with that model’s twin loop tubular steel frame, fenders and engine/gearbox casings.  Rated at 18 horsepower, the R62’s engine employed new barrels, pistons and cylinder head, while the transmission operated three forward speeds.  Each R62 was priced at 1,650 Reichsmarks – the equivalent of a year’s salary for the average person at the time.  Last of the original BMW wedge-shaped tanks, in keeping with the higher asking price electric lighting was standard equipment.  With an impressive top speed of 70 mph, the big BMW was one of the fastest motorcycles on the road, able to take advantage of Germany’s growing Autobahn network.  The R62 was somewhat overshadowed by BMW’s move to pressed steel frames in 1929 and only 4,355 were built, of which very few were made and survivors rarely come on the open market.