Racing a late 1920s twin

[cwf]

Just in case anyone feels an old bike should be treated gently -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz4dXuBHuRU and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHNZaHcP3eg

[schrader7032]

Frickin' incredible. And with no suspension!!

[brown3459]

That is amazing ! The cross tank shifting particularly impressive.

[R68]

Wow! Look how the rear wheel is bouncing all over the place? I heard that when Norton showed up with their plunger frame in '38, the rigid frame R5 was instantly obsolete.

[niall4473]

To be fair, Nortons already out-handled most things except Velocettes and AJS's, long before adopting the Garden-Gate frame, BMWs have always suffered from torque reaction in road-racing due to the in-line crankshaft, much of the twitching is due to that IMHO, (the Sopwith Camel Effect), not so much of a problem in sidecar racing, of course, or on the road (oddly the only road-going BMW on which I seriously felt the torque reaction affect the handling was the smallest and slowest, my R26, perhaps somebody knows why that is?).
Great videos though, and a seriously fast bike and rider, to beat McGuinness like that.

[cwf]

And there's a book out, 'Racing Hitler', available direct from the author, about how BMW's dominance of highest speed was (briefly) overtaken by an Englishman, Eric Fernihough on a supercharged 998cc JAP. Plenty of interesting BMW photos. matoxley.bigcartel.com