Beamer Bikes from Berlin

Racing ahead – BMW motorcycles – © BMW group

BMW stands, as enthusiasts will know, for Bavarian Motor Works, Bayerische Motoren Werke. But in the case of motorbikes, it might just as well stand for Berlin Motor Works. Not a lot of people know this, but BMW’s motorbikes are actually built in Berlin, and have been since 1969. The company sells over 200,000 bikes a year, and every 65 seconds a new bike rolls off the production line at the Berlin plant, which amounts to about 900 motorcycles a day. As BMW themselves say of Berlin, “No other place represents dynamics, pioneering ideas and an eventful history more authentically.” In 1923, Max Friz and Martin Stolle developed the first BMW motorcycle, the R 32. So “BMW Motorrad” turned 100 years old in 2023 and was able to celebrate this anniversary with their best bike sales ever.