1962 BMW R27

From 1950-70, German motorcycle manufacturers produced some incredible designs, from the amazing Münch with its four-cylinder car engine to DKW and ZÜndapp two-strokes to an NSU rotary and to the BMW R27 seen here.

Unique in its day, the R27 was a stately and affordable BMW. An evolution of the 1950-53 R25 and 1956-59 R26, the R27 used an air-cooled 249cc four-stroke with pushrod-activated overhead valves.

Stylistically similar to BMW’s flat twins of the period, the R50/2 and R60/2, the R27 employed a single vertical cylinder in lieu of its siblings’ opposed cylinders. It did, however, use the boxers’ characteristic longitudinal crankshaft, shaft final drive, leading-link fork and swingarm rear suspension.

Evolving from previous BMW singles, the R27 added rubber mounts to quell the engine’s vibration signature—a feature unnecessary in Bavarian boxers, thanks to their perfect primary balance.

Rated at 18 horsepower and pushing a reported 357-pound curb weight to a claimed top speed of 81 mph, the R27 hardly offered sizzling performance. Sporting 250cc competitors, like the Ducati Diana, NSU Super Max and Bultaco Metralla, could show the R27 their taillights with relative ease.

But none of them could match the BMW’s innate elegance and easy-going demeanor. With reserved, organic styling, a restrained color palette of Dover White or black, contrasting hand-drawn pinstripes, and a sprung solo saddle, the R27 scarcely cared.

It is as if the machine marched, or rather rolled, to a different beat altogether.

The 1962 BMW R27 shown here was donated to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2012 by late AMA member Don Cornwell. As an airplane enthusiast and an avid motorcyclist, Cornwell was both eclectic and practical and naturally liked machines that worked right. And the R27 most certainly did.

R27s in average condition are worth about $7,900 today, so if you are interested in experiencing a different motorcycling era, you might consider adopting one. Then, you’ll get to enjoy the BMW’s odd-duck, sideways kickstarter, its genial engine and four-speed gearbox, the quirky lift of its rear suspension under power and the squirrelly lift of its front suspension under braking.

While absorbing all of this, prepare to make some new friends. Since only 15,364 R27s were built from 1960-66, you are practically guaranteed to be the only person at cars and coffee on one.

Or rather, make that motorrad und koffee.