90 Years of BMW Motorrad The R 39, BMWs first single cylinder ...

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90 Years of BMW Motorrad. The R 39 – BMW's first single-cylinder motorcycle… Two years after the reliable R 32 came to the market, BMW's first serious race ...
      90  Years  of  BMW  Motorrad    

The  R  39  –  BMW’s  first  single-­cylinder  motorcycle…     Two  years  after  the  reliable  R  32  came  to  the  market,  BMW’s  first  serious  race  victories   are  recorded  by  the  R  37,  a  modified  model  with  16  HP  sports  engine.  Then  in  the  same   year,  BMW  unveils  the  250cc,  single-­‐cylinder  R  39  sports  model  in  a  bid  to  win  new   customers…    

    BMW’s  very  first  motorcycle  –  the  R  32  –  featured  an  uprated  version  of  the   horizontally-­‐opposed  four-­‐stroke  flat-­‐twin  engine  that  had  been  delivered  to  other   manufacturers  before  the  company  decided  to  build  its  own  complete  motorcycle.     Manufactured  from  1923  onwards,  it  quickly  gained  an  exceptionally  high  reputation  for   quality,  but  it  was  the  price  of  2,200  Reichsmarks  that  made  it  one  of  the  most  expensive   motorcycles  on  the  German  market  and  this  put  it  simply  out  of  reach  of  most  people.     The  racing  derivative  of  the  R  32  –  the  R  37  –  cost  even  more  to  buy  with  a  sales  price  of   2,900  Reichsmarks.  With  double  the  power  of  its  predecessor,  it  took  the  brand  into  all   sorts  of  motorsport  competitions  across  the  world,  but  the  simple  fact  that  it  was   unashamedly  the  most  expensive  motorcycle  in  the  German  market  prevented  it   becoming  a  sales  success  and  only  152  were  produced  in  its  lifespan.  What  the  company   needed  was  a  model  to  win  over  less  well-­‐to-­‐do  customers  and  as  a  result,  the  single-­‐ cylinder  R  39  was  added  to  the  programme  in  1925.     BMW’s  first  single-­‐cylinder  machine  was  conceived  as  a  sports  model,  with  shorter   wheelbase,  pressed-­‐in  cylinder  liners  in  the  upper  half  of  the  housing,  the  same  cylinder  

head  as  the  sports  R  37  and,  for  the  first  time,  an  outer-­‐shoe  brake  on  the  drive  shaft   flange.  Its  247cc  engine  was,  in  reality,  half  a  boxer  twin  with  the  cylinder  moved  to  an   upright  position,  but  its  performance  was  strong,  with  6.5  HP  being  more  than  a  match   for  the  heavier  R  32  and  propelling  it  to  an  impressive  top  speed  of  100  km/h  (62  mph).   It  also  sipped  fuel  at  a  miserly  2.5  litres  per  100  kilometres  of  riding  –  outstanding   economy  figures  by  any  reckoning.     With  a  sales  price  of  1870  Reichsmarks,  it  was  considerably  less  to  buy  than  the  two   aforementioned  models,  but  it  shared  the  same  build  quality  and  reputation  for   reliability  as  its  more  expensive  stablemates.  It  was  unveiled  at  the  German  motor  show   in  Berlin  in  December  1924  and  just  like  the  R  37  that  had  been  introduced  at  the  same   time,  the  R  39  with  its  overhead-­‐valve  engine  proved  to  be  highly  successful  in   motorcycle  racing.  In  fact,  in  its  first  full  year  of  competition,  Josef  Stelzer  rode  it  to   success  in  the  1925  German  250cc  Championship.    

Josef  Stelzer  on  the  R  39  in  1925  

  This  undoubtedly  helped  sales  too,  as  over  the  course  of  its  lifetime  (1925-­‐1927)  855   units  were  produced  –  more  than  five  times  the  amount  of  the  R  37  –  proving  that  there   was  a  healthy  demand  for  a  usable,  keenly-­‐priced  motorcycle  built  along  the  same   foundations  as  the  other  two  models  in  the  line-­‐up.     As  successful  as  the  single-­‐cylinder  R  37  was,  plans  were  already  complete  and  another   exciting  new  BMW  motorcycle  model  was  just  ‘around  the  corner’.  It  would  be  known  as   the  R  42.  Designed  to  replace  the  original  R  32,  it  would  become  a  massive  success  for   BMW,  selling  more  units  than  the  previous  three  models  combined.  But  that’s  another   story…