I really wish I were this guy, riding that restored bike. For those of you who don't know it yet I'll present it to you right now, but you have surely seen its name from the title.
The beast is a BMW and it was designed in 1934 by Alfred Böning and the bike used the most modern technology up to that date, at least BMW's top technology, but I certainly doubt if any other brand had these specs.
The bike shows an impressive engine built using the fewer number of parts as possible so the junctions between them were eliminated. At the time that was the most common problem seen on bikes.
1934 might have been an strange year as history proves. War World II was near and you could probably feel it in the environment, Europe was not having its best time so the bike just came in a bad moment. Population was having bad problems as there was little money, or nothing, and this bike, with such a great technology was all but cheap.
Some said it was also too heavy for that time, and taking into account there was nobody to sell the bike to, the project was left in a box and just seen as a forgotten prototype. After that, Hitler arose and war started. The industry was mainly dedicated to war, and vehicles had to be mass produced, so BMW did what they had to do, build war motorcycles.
In 2005 someone opened the box and found some pieces of an unknown bike in there which looked very amazing even though it was old.
The guys at BMW decided to rebuild the R7 again to give it its original shape and look. As it had never been sold or mass produced, the guys at BMW had to search for the original documents and specs of the bike which found in their archive. Many of the parts of the bike had been seriously damaged by time, but they could restore or remake everything so you can see the bike now in all its splendor on the pictures.
BMW didn't use the advanced technology they had until many decades later when the bikes and the buyers could handle it. This is another example of how the market is growing after the demand and not after the possibilities of each brand.
I know BMW is famous for having the greatest techonology on their bikes, so there's little chance to ride this bike unless you are one of their bosses I guess. However, the bike will be on display at some museums and events as they stated. If you need further information about it click here.
From my point of view, the great thing about this bike is the visual impact it makes. If a bike can make me dream of it seventy years later of its birth that means something. I would buy and ride that bike today. It's a pity it's not a Harley or Triumph classic because they would sell it nowadays with modern features but the same look.
I'm not a big fan of the Art Deco designs and I honestly dislike the cars they made, but this bike is a whole new thing. The light is beautifully designed; the handle bars look centuries ahead 1934; the engine is so well integrated in the whole bike that it doesn't look like an engine at all; the fenders are a master piece; the gas tank is superb and... all right, no need to say more, THE COOLEST BIKE EVER, the utopic bike we'll never ride.
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