The Art of BMW is the ultimate visual guide to almost a century of motorcycle excellence from BMW. The Art of BMW: 90 Years of Motorcycle Excellence captures the essence of craft, performance and innovation that has marked out the German manufacturer's output since day one. Fully illustrated with Henry Von Wartenburg's stunning studio portraiture, and accompanied by concise, authoritative profiles of each machine, The Art of BMW takes stock of the rolling sculpture produced by one of the world's leading motorcycle manufacturers in the year of their 90th anniversary. All the classic bikes are here, from machines like the R5 that defined performance in the pre-World War II era, to the array of military machines that carried the Wehrmacht across Europe and North Africa; from the R90S cafe racer to the K1 "flying brick" and the GS (Gelande Sport) series that launched a dual-sport revolution. Included are examples of the major technical developments in different bike families that have contributed to BMW's renown: the early side-valve machines and overhead-valve performance bikes; the postwar Airheads and Oilheads; four-cylinder and six-cylinder touring bikes; pushrod singles; parallel twins; inline-four cylinder sport bikes and a host of others. From the model that launched BMW's motorcycle dynasty, the R32, to the latest (and fastest) model, the World Super Bike dominating S1000RR, this book captures nearly a century of motorcycling excellence.

Author Biography

PETER GANTRIIS (Mahtomedi, MN) is founder and president of RPM Research, LLC, a market research and consulting firm that works with the world's leading automotive and powersports manufacturers. He is an avid motorcyclist and lives in Mahtomedi, Minnesota. HENRY VON WARTENBERG (Tigre, Argentina) is a freelance photographer from Buenos Aires, Argentina, whose work has appeared in many books and magazines, such as National Geographic Adventures. FRED JAKOBS is responsible for BMW's motorcycle heritage collection and archives at BMW Mobile Tradition.