The next major development to the boxer engine was post Second World War, in the 1970s. It had two camshafts, pedal-controlled transmission, a conical tubular frame made of seamless drawn oval tubes, and even had adjustable damping on telescopic front forks! The true potential of the BMW R 5 was proven when German motorcycle racer Georg Meier became the first “foreign” winner on a “foreign” motorcycle of the prestigious Isle of Man Senior TT race in 1939, achieving a 100mph+ lap. The R 5’s Boxer engine produced an impressive 24bhp, but other interesting advancements caught the eye as well. Then in 1936, a completely new, revolutionary BMW model designed by Rudolf Schleicher was launched. Customer sales were soaring too, due to the racing success and achieving new land speed records. R 37 riders racked up over 80 road race wins in 1925.īMW continued to release popular boxer-powered motorcycles which increased in engine capacity, power and reliability. With nearly double the engine performance of the R 32 with 16Hbhp, the R 37 was an impressive machine to ride. The OHV design was incorporated into the sportier 1925 BMW R 37, which also included aluminium cylinder heads, representing a world first in standard motorcycle production. This new development was designed by engineer Rudolf Schleicher and was tested and officially approved when Schleicher rode the development machine at the 1924 ADAC Winter Rally – and won. The next major step forward for the R 32 Boxer engine was a prototype that featured overhead valves.

Following the R 32’s undeniable success, building and selling thousands of bikes between 1923-1926, BMW wanted more. The 8bhp engine was fitted with a three-speed transmission and instead of using a chain to drive the power from the engine to the rear wheel, it was shaft driven for extra reliability. It was the first motorcycle that BMW had built and it paved the way for all boxer-powered BMW motorcycles of the future. In 1923, Friz’s brainchild was released – the BMW R 32. But to combat the rear cylinder cooling issue, Friz decided to simply turn the engine 90-degrees so that both cylinders stuck out the side of the frame to get sufficient airflow and cooling. Nicknamed the ‘Bayern-engine’, it was originally placed in motorcycles with the two cylinders running the length of the frame, but this caused the rear cylinder to overheat as it couldn’t benefit from passing air to cool it down.Īs BMW turned its attention to motorcycles following the First World War, Friz had the first BMW motorcycle on the drawing board by December 1922 with the flat-twin Boxer engine at the heart of the bike’s design. The resulting engine design was reliable and developed good power.įast-forward to the early 1900s, and BMW engineer Max Friz designed a small boxer engine which became extremely popular with early motorcycle manufacturers in Germany, because of how compact it was. It was a flat, horizontally opposed twin cylinder engine that involved two pistons reaching top dead centre and bottom dead centre at the same time, with the piston action likened to two boxing fighters trading blows, and the term ‘boxer’ engine was born. In the late 1890s, German engineer Karl Benz designed a new type of four-stroke engine. But where did the iconic boxer engine come from? With its traditional overhead valve (OHV) valve train, along with a separate engine and transmission housing, the ‘Big Boxer’ has the same structural features that distinguished the very first BMW Motorrad engine. Not just in terms of its iconic outward appearance, but also from a technical point of view, the new power plant ties in with the traditional flat twin engines that were synonymous with motorcycles produced by BMW Motorrad since 1923. Additional Insurance Additional InsuranceīMW’s latest model release, the R18, features the German firm’s brand new 1,802cc ‘Big Boxer’ engine.Campervan Insurance Campervan Insurance.Classic Car Quick Links Classic Car Quick Links.

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