1964 BMW R27
Frame no. 381936

The Autoworld Autumn Sale|6 September 2020, 14:00 CEST|Brussels

1964 BMW R27
Frame no. 381936

•The final development of the traditional single-cylinder BMW
•Delivered new to Holland
•Restored in 2019
•Excellent condition

Footnotes

Following the collapse of its aero engine business after WWI, BMW turned to other areas of manufacture, motorcycles among them. Launched at the Paris Show in 1923, and the first motorcycle to be sold as a BMW, the R32 featured a 494cc, twin-cylinder, sidevalve engine having horizontally opposed cylinders, and this 'flat twin' layout would forever be associated with the marque. It was the first really outstanding motorcycle design to emerge after WWI.
Recognising the need for a less expensive model to compliment its top-of-the-range twins, BMW introduced its first single-cylinder model – the 247cc R39 – in 1925. Undeterred by the R39's relative failure, BMW returned to the 'utility' market in 1931 with the 198cc R2, which sold well despite the difficult economic climate. The latter's overhead-valve engine would provide the pattern for the larger versions that followed.

BMW's first new post-WWII model was a 'single', the 247cc R24, which arrived in 1948 looking pretty much like the pre-war R23 but producing an additional 2 horsepower. In mid-1950 the R24 was superseded by the R25, which featured plunger rear suspension but was otherwise very similar. An improved R25/2 version was introduced during 1951 incorporating a stronger crankshaft and minor revisions to the front mudguard stays and seat springing. By 1956 BMW's 'one-lunger' had evolved into the R26. In what would turn out to be its penultimate form, BMW's quarter-litre luxury lightweight boasted a more powerful engine than its R25 predecessor; an Earles-type leading-link front fork; and a larger fuel tank among numerous improvements. The range's final development - the R27 - arrived in 1960 substantially unchanged but for the adoption of a rubber-mounted engine. Built to the same exemplary standards as the Bavarian company's famous horizontally-opposed twins, the traditional BMW single was much missed after its demise in 1966.

Delivered new to Holland, this beautiful BMW R27 was restored in 2019 and is described by the vendor as in excellent condition throughout. The 247cc machine is offered with Belgian Carte Grise.

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