BMW R 5

The BMW R 5 was a sporting 500 cc twin-cylinder motorcycle that BMW brought to market in 1936 as an entirely new design. It began as a simpler road replica of the 1935 factory racers of type 255, with a 494 cc overhead-valve engine in place of the supercharged double-overhead-camshaft racing unit, and Rudolf Schleicher led the design of both. The R 5 was shown at the Milan motorcycle show in January 1936. Its frame was made of oval and tapered steel tube, welded under shielding gas for the first time, and became the pattern for BMW models until 1955. BMW built 1502 in 1936 and 1150 in 1937, and the R 51 followed it in 1938.