BMW R 17

The BMW R 17 was the fastest purely German road motorcycle before the Second World War, a sporting boxer twin with the shaft drive typical of BMW. BMW presented it on 14 February 1935 at the German automobile show in Berlin, together with the touring sister model R 12, as successor to the R 16. Both were the first motorcycles to use a hydraulically damped telescopic fork. With 33 horsepower from 736 cc and a still unsprung rear wheel it was extremely quick for its day and manageable only by skilled riders. It started at 2040 Reichsmark, was cut to 1975 in 1936 when the cheaper R 5 arrived, and production ran out in 1937 after just 434 had been sold.