4 Classic BMW Motorcycles (And What They're Worth Today)

BMW is known around the world as a producer of cars and SUVs that blur the line between luxury and peformance, like the thoroughly impressive 2024 i5 electric sedan. However, BMW also has an equally proud history of motorcycle production stretching back more than 100 years to BMW's original motorcycle, the 1923 R32. This was an engineering marvel with a shaft drive sending power from the boxer engine to the rear wheel instead of a chain or belt. 

In its long history of making two-wheeled roadgoing machines, BMW has produced several bikes that are more than twice as fast as the R32, and currently fields a factory team in the FIM Superbike series. Not every classic BMW motorcycle was a speed demon, but there are several that stand out for their features, eye-catching design, and refined road manners. Let's take a look at a few of our favorite classic BMW motorcycles and what they are worth on the open market today.  

The R75, which came along with a powered sidecar, was born in 1941 when BMW suspended civilian motorcycle manufacturing to focus on wartime production. It had a 745cc (often rounded up to 750) flat-twin engine fed by a pair of Graetzin 24-millimeter carburetors that produced 26 horsepower. Those horses were sent to the rear wheel and sidecar via a four-speed transmission with reverse, although off-road models got a three-speed gearbox with lower ratios. 

That helped the R75 fulfill the German Army's requirement that the bike be able to crawl along at 2 mph without overheating so infantry could march alongside it. The telescopic front fork helped reduce the vibration sent to the pilot's arms, and there were 9.8-inch brakes on the bike's front and rear wheels as well as the sidecar's. BMW made about 18,000 R75s through 1944. Many of those were sent to Spain as a part of Adolf Hitler's attempt to persuade Francisco Franco to join the Axis powers. 

These bikes are exceptionally hard to find on the secondhand market today, but we discovered three recent sales of 1943 R75s with sidecars for between $18,700 and  just under $46,000. We also found two in Europe. One of these bikes in Barcelona, Spain was on sale as of this writing for 38,000 Euro (about $41,000), and another was available in Olhao, Portugal for €75,000 (about ($81,500). 

The R90S was produced between 1974 and 1976, with a 900cc engine that produced 67 horsepower and could get the sleek Hans Muth-designed model up to a top speed of about 124 mph. That made it one of the fastest mass-produced motorcycles of the day.

In 1975 and 1976, the R90S was available in the Daytona Orange paint scheme shown above, which distinguished it from the Silver Smoke Metallic livery offered in the model's first two years of production. Notably, Reg Pridmore rode an R90S to the very first AMA Superbike title in 1976, and an R90S also finished first at the superbike race at Daytona and the Isle of Man Production TT race that year.

BMW built 17,455 units of the R90S during its three years of production, which means it's not particularly hard to find or terribly expensive these days. Classic.com has chronicled 50 sales of R90Ss in the past five years, with an average price of $15,395. The lowest price paid was $6,000 for a white '75 bike in 2020, and two 1976 models in Daytona Orange tied for most expensive at an even $60,000. 

BMW unveiled the R 68 at the 1951 IFMA show in Frankfurt, touting it as their first 100 mph motorcycle. It went into production as a 1952 model with a 590cc, two-cylinder boxer engine with shaft drive. The engine was designed to deliver a 7.7:1 compression ratio and was fed by two Bing carburetors with a bore of 26 millimeters. These enhancements gave the R 68's engine an output of 35 horsepower, an impressive figure for the Korean War era.

It was only in production from 1952 through 1954, during which BMW cranked out fewer than 1,500 examples of the impressive model. That makes them difficult to find, but not impossible. As of this writing, Classic.com shows four R 68s that have changed hands over the last 10 years with prices ranging from $28,600 to $54,000. We also found two active listings for 1952 R68s at Classic Motorcycle in Regau, Austria. One in need of assembly is available for the equivalent of about $32,500, and another in pristine ready-to ride condition is listed for what is equal to nearly $54,000.

If you're on a tight budget and are determined to ride a classic BMW motorcycle, the R 60/6 should be at the top of your shopping list. It joined BMW's lineup in 1973 as part of the new /6 series, filling the sweet spot between the smaller R 50/5 and the bigger and heavier R 75/6. The R60/6 was pushed along by a 600cc boxer twin engine that produced 40 horsepower and a robust 36 pound-feet of torque. That was enough to get the 462-pound bike smoothly up to its top speed of 103 mph. William Flaiz of Run Moto Run called its distinctive exhaust note "unique and sonorous ... akin to music that resonates with every twist of the throttle."

Despite the R 60/6's elegant craftsmanship and strikingly simple good looks, you can pick one up for about the same price as some of the cheapest new motorcycles on the market. We found a 1974 model with just over 16,000 miles on it for sale at Legendary Motors in Rowley, Massachusetts for just $3,900. Classic.com shows a half of a dozen others from 1975 and 1976 that have changed hands recently for the equivalent of between about $2,700 and $8,400.