The early part of the 20th century had a LOT of stuff going on. From planes to radio, machine guns to antibiotics, the foundations were being laid for much of modern life as we know it. But one of the biggest inventions was the petrol-powered internal combustion engine. Pioneered by Nicolaus Otto and Karl Benz in the 19th century, they were soon put to work powering cars, trucks – and motorbikes. The First World War accelerated their development, and a powerful engine-building industry grew up in Bavaria, southern Germany.
Aeroplanes and motorbikes
Bayerische Motoren Werke, or BMW, rose out of the flames of that terrible war. It had been born from an amalgamation of several aircraft firms in Munich, and was making powerful plane engines by 1917. After the war, barred by the Treaty of Versailles from making aircraft engines, the management and engineers tried to find an alternative market for their skills. Cars were niche and expensive, but motorbikes were becoming more widespread, and were easy enough to tool up for.
The first bike engine made by the firm was a Boxer design called the M2B15 – but
