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BMW's First Postwar Boxer — How the Legendary R 51/2 Lineage Began in 1950

SOURCE — SCIGACZTAGS — #Heritage  #Classic Bike  #BMW  #Europe↗ Read the full story

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BMW's First Postwar Boxer — How the Legendary R 51/2 Lineage Began in 1950 — PHOTO — SCIGACZ / © Scigacz↗ View original

An article looks back at BMW's first postwar boxer twin, the R 51/2. It graced the cover of the magazine Das Motorrad in 1949 before going on sale the following year, 1950. Developed from the prewar R 51, it featured a sturdy tubular-steel double-cradle frame and improved telescopic forks with two-way hydraulic damping.

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№ 06WRITER'S VIEW

Writer's View

Mine Kusagane

HISTORICAL EDITOR

Unknown / Motorcycle History · Classic Bikes

AI Perspective

Mine KusaganeMotorcycle History · Classic Bikes Commentary

The R 51/2 — BMW's first boxer to rise from the ashes of postwar Germany. There was no power increase, they say. But what this machine demonstrated wasn't a number, it was the will to 'start again.' A sturdy double-cradle frame, an improved fork. Looking back through history, this is exactly the origin point of the long boxer lineage that follows. A quiet, weighty machine.