I was standing outside my dry cleansers when I noticed a BMW R51 go by on the adjacent street. It stopped at the light and I was awestruck....The R51 is my all time favorite motorcycle and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I got home and the Motorcycle Classics magazine was in my mailbox and there was the exact same bike I had just seen a few hours earlier. Talk about serendipity !
It turns out that the owner lives a few blocks from where I was standing
Below is a short excerpt from Motorcycle Classics, you'll have to get the magazine to read the whole story...........................
1939 BMW R51
Engine: 494cc air-cooled OHV opposed-twin, 68mm x 68mm bore and stroke, 6.7:1 compression ratio, 24hp @ 5,500rpm
Carburetion: Two 22mm Amal
Transmission: 4-speed, shaft final drive
Electrics: 6v, magneto w/coil and breaker points ignition
Frame/wheelbase: Dual downtube steel cradle frame/55in (1,397mm)
Suspension: Telescopic forks front, plunger coil springs rear
Brakes: 7.9in (200mm) SLS drum front and rear
Tires: 3.5 x 19in front and rear
Weight (dry): 401lb (182kg)
Fuel capacity: 3.7gal (14ltr)
Price then/now: $620 (1,550 marks)/$15,000-$30,000
Engine: 494cc air-cooled OHV opposed-twin, 68mm x 68mm bore and stroke, 6.7:1 compression ratio, 24hp @ 5,500rpm
Carburetion: Two 22mm Amal
Transmission: 4-speed, shaft final drive
Electrics: 6v, magneto w/coil and breaker points ignition
Frame/wheelbase: Dual downtube steel cradle frame/55in (1,397mm)
Suspension: Telescopic forks front, plunger coil springs rear
Brakes: 7.9in (200mm) SLS drum front and rear
Tires: 3.5 x 19in front and rear
Weight (dry): 401lb (182kg)
Fuel capacity: 3.7gal (14ltr)
Price then/now: $620 (1,550 marks)/$15,000-$30,000
"Imagine if you will that it's April 12, 1939. You're in Berlin, Germany, standing outside a building known as the SS Hauptamt, the headquarters of the Third Reich's Schutzstaffel, an organization more familiarly known as the treacherous SS.
Nearby, a delivery truck rolls to a stop in front of the building. Strapped to the truck's flatbed is the very 1939 BMW R51 featured here. Officially, the bike bears frame number 509728 and engine number 504413, signifying that it was manufactured only a few weeks before, on March 24, 1939, to be exact. As the sleek bike is ceremoniously rolled off the truck and onto the cold, hard pavement, an SS officer signs a document confirming the bike's delivery. The BMW is now part of the Schutzstaffel's motor pool, and will eventually have a role of sorts, perhaps transporting SS couriers or even ranking SS officers from one station to the next as the Third Reich's vast military juggernaut begins its deadly sweep across Europe."
