This bike is a good runner. In 1948, BMW’s postwar motorcycle production recommenced with the R24 single but it would be another 12 months before a twin-cylinder model became available again.
source.image: classic-motorcycle.com
This was the R51/2 based, as its designation suggests, on the pre-war R51. Improvements incorporated into the R51/2 included a two-way damped front fork, gearbox mainshaft damper and strengthened frame.
In truth, the R51/2 was only a stopgap model to get production under way while BMW worked on something more modern.
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Its replacement, the R51/3, arrived in February 1951 and despite the similarity in designation had an entirely new and much neater looking engine incorporating a single, gear-driven camshaft and crankshaft-mounted generator among a host of other advances. Displacement: 494 cc. Cylinder: 2 – transverse. Engine type: 4-stroke / ohv. Bore / Stroke: 68 x 68 mm. Power: 24hp @ 5.800 rpm. Compression Ratio: 1 : 6.3. Weight: 190 kg. Top Speed: 140 km/h.
