BMW Airhead Twins

Phil West
No motorcycle manufacturer is more closely associated with one type of engine than BMW: the air-cooled boxer twin or 'airhead'. It was included in BMW's very first motorcycle in 1923 and virtually every machine the company made, of every type, from radical road bike to TT winner, to land speed record holder, to 1970s style icon and even to the creation of an all-new adventure bike class with the R 80 G/S, right up to the mid-1990s. Phil West celebrates the success of the BMW airhead twin motorcycles. This book, with over 290 photographs, includes a history of the company pre- and post-War; the personalities behind the development of the bikes; profiles of each of the 'R' bikes in turn, including detailed specification guides and production numbers. These wonderful machines are regularly celebrated and now BMW itself is harking back to them with an all-new series of machines.
BMW Airhead Twins by Phil West

About the author

Phil West is one of the UK's leading motorcycle journalists and authors. A former editor of Bike and What Bike? and Executive Editor of Motor Cycle News, he's ridden and written about virtually every motorcycle of the last thirty years. He's also written acclaimed histories of the Yamaha RD350LC and Honda GoldWing, and most recently wrote BMW GS - The Complete Story.

Press Reviews

An important tome to have handy, especially for fans of the early airheads. Phil West has an easy to ready style and imparts the information well by sticking with the basic facts without boring the reader with trivial minutia.

- Vintage & Classic Motor Cycle

" It's a must for any fan of the definitive German motorcycle. "

- MotorCycle News

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