BMW R 75. Kagero Photosniper

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BMW R75 Motorcycle and Sidecar

Kagero Photosniper

The BMW R75 is a World War II-era motorcycle and sidecar combination produced by the German company BMW.
In the 1930s BMW were producing a number of popular and highly effective motorcycles. In 1938 development of the R75 started in response to a request from the German Army.

Preproduction models of the R75 were powered by a 750 cc side valve engine, which was based on the R71 engine. However it was quickly found necessary to design an all new OHV 750 cc engine for the R75 unit. This OHV engine later proved to be the basis for subsequent post-war twin BMW engines like the R51/3, R67 and R68.

The third side-car wheel was driven with an axle connected to the rear wheel of the motorcycle. These were fitted with a locking differential and selectable road and off-road gear ratios through which all four and reverse gears worked. This made the R75 highly manoeuvrable and capable of negotiating most surfaces. A few other motorcycle manufactures, like FN and Norton, provided an optional drive to sidecars.

The BMW R75 and its rival the Zündapp KS 750 were both widely used by the Wehrmacht in Russia and North Africa, though after a period of evaluation it became clear that the Zündapp was the superior machine. In August 1942 Zündapp and BMW, on the urging of the Army, agreed upon standardization of parts for both machines, with a view of eventually creating a Zündapp-BMW hybrid (designated the BW 43), in which a BMW 286/1 side-car would be grafted onto a Zündapp KS 750 motorcycle. They also agreed that the manufacture of the R75 would cease once production reached 20,200 units, and after that point BMW and Zündapp would only produce the Zündapp-BMW machine, manufacturing 20,000 each year.

The target of 20,200 BMW R75's was not reached, but it remained in production until the Eisenach factory was so badly damaged by Allied bombing that production ceased in 1944. A further 98 units were assembled by the Soviets in 1946 as reparations.

The book is in the form of Kageros 3D format with the first eighteen pages dedicated to the history of the design, manufacture, and service use. There are numerous vintage photographs of the machines in action, being repaired and even from the factories where they were built. Some superb descriptions and information is provided in the annotations for each photo. Then there is a six page walkround of a restored machine in European Wehrmacht colours, which looks really nice. The rest of the book is filled with 3D visualisations of the motorcycle/sidecar combination and the major components that go to make it. Obviously taken in a very well equiped studio they are quite difficult to tell if they are real or a drawing if it wasn't for the series title of the book The visualisations do look fantastic, and the fact that three different colour schemes have been represented, European, North Africa and Eastern Front makes for a very useful book to the military modeller.

ConclusionThis is a very laid out and readable book, with the added advantage of having loads of 3D drawings to help model this machine with increased detail. For the devotees of the diorama there are some great scenarios for you to model too. Highly recommended.

Review sample courtesy of