The BMW R 17 is a motorcycle of the BMW brand.
In 1934, BMW introduced the successors of the R 11 (tour model) and R 16 (sports model). These were the R 12 and the R 17.
Still, two principles were applied here:
Both machines were equipped with a riveted plate frame, which was nevertheless shaped rather slim. The front fork was also of folded sheet steel, but it was still a swing fork with leaf spring. The capacity of the R 17 increased significantly from its predecessor: from 24 to 33 hp. It was therefore the fastest pure German motorcycle before World War II (other German brands that use British JAP-Twins delivered faster models but were of course not pure German). For the first time a telescopic fork was used on the R 12 and R 17. According to many, the first telescope produced in series in the world, but the small Danish brand Nimbus had put on the market a few days earlier a vacuum cleaner. However, the BMW fork had hydraulic shock absorbers. The Nimbus fork was unmoved.
In 1938, the R 17 actually got two successors in the sports segment: the 500cc R 51 and the 600cc R 66. Technical data
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