The Art of BMW Motorcycles

The Art of BMW Motorcycles presents the rolling sculptures that are BMW motorcycles in studio portraits, each bike accompanied by a short history of the machine.

All the classic bikes are here: pre-World War II BMWs like the R5 that defined performance in that era; the military R12 that carried the Wehrmacht as it blitzkrieged its way across Europe; the R75M that accompanied Rommel’s Panzers in North Africa; the Earles-forked R69S that offered the perfect platform for mounting a Steib sidecar; the R90S café racer; and the GS (Gelände Sport) series that launched a dual-sport revolution.

All the bike families are covered: the side-valve machines from the early years, the early overhead-valve performance bikes, the postwar Airheads and Oilheads, the four-cylinder and six-cylinder touring bikes, the early pushrod singles, the modern overhead-cam singles, the latest parallel twins, and inline-four cylinder sport bikes.

From the first model (the R32 that launched BMW's motorcycle dynasty) to the latest (and fastest) one (the World Super Bike-dominating S1000RR), this book captures nearly a century of motorcycling excellence.