BMW R 75/5

The BMW R 75/5 is a motorcycle with an air-cooled two-cylinder four-stroke boxer engine, built from 1969 to 1973 as the top model of the so-called Strich-Fünf series, with the R 60/5 and R 50/5. It gave 37 kW (50 PS) from 750 cc. BMW answered a new demand for sporting motorcycles, after sales of the old swing-arm models had almost stopped, with a complete new design that kept specific output modest, under 67 PS per litre, for good pull and long life. The frame was modelled on Norton featherbed frames, the engines ran on plain crankshaft bearings, and the 750 was the first BMW with Bing constant-vacuum carburettors. All models had a four-speed gearbox, shaft drive, a duplex front drum brake and, for the first time, an electric starter beside the kick starter. The R 75/5 was replaced by the R 75/6, and the later /6 and /7 series, the R 80, R 100, R 45 and R 65 all trace back to this design.