1928
BMW 490CC R57
Frame no. 26907 Engine no. 70321 Following the collapse of its aero
engine business after WWI, BMW turned to other areas of manufacture,
motorcycles among them. The first BMW branded motorcycle (in 1923) -
the R32 - featured a 493cc twin-cylinder, sidevalve engine with horizontally
opposed cylinders, and this "flat twin" layout would forever be associated
with the marque. This first effort was expensive but superbly engineered.
For 1928, BMW reorganized its range of engines, which now included a
brace of 750s: one sidevalve, one overhead-valve. The new, overhead-valve
R57 sports bike's engine was "square" with 68mm for both bore and stroke.
It ran a hand shift 3-speed gearbox. Electric lighting, was standardized
throughout the roadster range. R57 production lasted for only three
years and today this rare BMW is among the marque's most sought after
machines of the period.
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