Suspension of disbelief

BMW’s 500 flat twin benefited from sophisticated suspension from the mid-1950s. But it only got the engine performance to match when the S models arrived in 1960…

THE R50 AND its R69 sibling represent BMW’s postwar great leap forward.

Prior to their introduction, the company muddled through with the rag-tag remainder of their prewar range.

The R51/2 was little more than a wartime R51 with a coat of civvi-street colour.

The R51/3 came out in 1954 and was a great improvement, and finally the R50 arrived in 1955. It incorporated the important engine upgrades which had brought the R51/3 up to date, and threw two entirely new forms of suspension into the mix.

Read more in August’s edition of CBG