Bayerische Motoren Werke Motorrad: as well as the eye-tie Gootzies there is of course the Bavarian Born Beemers. This wartime R12 is one such example with lines both practical and aesthetic even to this day. The gloss black with laser clean pinstripe is so Teutonic, seeing it on any other make looks so wrong. This opposing flat twin was used to great effect both as a despatch ride as well as a combination tug.

This model saw reincarnations via the R71 model both in Soviet Russia and the People’s Republic of China; which brings us to this socialist red Chang-Jiang. Rough around the edges with third hand tooling liberated by Stalins troops and eventually sent east. Not fast, probably a handful to handle, but I’m sure it’s grin inducing and head turning.

The final Moto to look at is this cafe’d R75; stripped of its typical German trim usual of their ‘grown-up’ bikes of the seventies and given a modern boy racer appearance. That hefty tank and those chunky jugs look like some Wagnerian opera singer ready to rend the streets asunder with a Valkyrian aria.

Sehr Gut mein freind, sehr gut!