Odd. Odd looks, odd engineering, odd handling, odd sounds. Odd owners, some would say. BMW’s motorcycles have always been a little to one side of mainstream, but the things that make them odd are obviously the result of development by a team who rode the bikes they built. The best way to understand, to appreciate, those oddities is to ride a BMW as intended. So let’s take a 1977 R80/7 for a day trip to the seaside.
The bike sits on its centrestand with its front wheel waving proudly in the air, but there’s method in this madness. If you need to remove the front wheel, it’s easy. And if you have to remove the rear wheel, the change in balance as that wheel is parted from the bike will…