Zvezda: German motorcicle R-12 with sidecar and crew

The German motorcycle of BMW concern – R-12 – had been produced from 1935 to 1942. During that period more than 36000 BMW R-12 had been manufactured both military and civilian variants. The sports variant of R-12 reached a speed record of 279.5 km/h which was held for 14 years! Because of high reliability and significantly lower cost in comparison with other army motorcycles BMW R-75 and KS-750, BMW R-12 has become the most mass motorcycle in the German army. R-12 was used for delivery of ammunition and hot food, evacuation of wounded men in rear, delivery of messages, going for reconnaissance. In a word, it is hard to say about all army specialties of that vehicle. Moreover, BMW R-12 was mass used as a combat vehicle in a special motorcycle troops. In such cases its buddy seat had been equipped with a machine gun.