Afrika Korps BMW 1942 Motorcycle for sale

[alexznam357]

Scroll down the 2nd page (labeled "Dupont Registry Ad Items") to view the bike. It's a 1942 BMW R35 motorcycle that was captured by the British during the fighting in North Africa against Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's troops. I wish I had an extra 55 grand laying around!

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.garyhendershott.net/items/forbes-featured/motorcycle-01.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.garyhendershott.net/items/item-test-02.html&usg=__jQwmzIo15Zbx9vLlzljcDvM0mdI=&h=1344&w=785&sz=248&hl=en&start=60&zoom=1&tbnid=8W8M7uv-rSq6VM:&tbnh=150&tbnw=88&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmotorcycle%2Binvoice%26start%3D40%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26sa%3DN%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1

[Johnster]

Lols - that link is blocked by my firewall at work, category: weapons
 =)  


(Come to think of it, I DO work at a power plant....)

I'll check it out when I get home.

-John

[darrylri]

This is a fake, as is true of at least 90% of all claims about R35s, R71s and maybe 75% of R12s and R75WHs that you see out there.  There's a mailing list called Kradrider on Yahoo Groups that deals with WWII German motorcycles and these messages were sent about this bike late last year:

Seller: Hendershott, Little Rock/AR: http://www.garyhendershott.net
Catalogue: Sale No. 150, page 55.
Item: Lot 1124 - BMW R35 - $ 55,000 - € 38,400 - £ 34,070
Title: "Rommel´s 15th Panzerdivision Afrika-Korps German BMW
R-35 Motorcycle, Tunisia, 1942. Captured by a British Officer in
the 51st Highland Division and brought back to England before D-Day."

Additional factual claims:
a) captured, when Rommel retreated from the oil fields of Tunis and Lybia 1942
b) ultimate war trophy of the 51st Highland Division
c) "British Military Museum" refused to take for swastica
d) exchanged to the regimental flag from a German veteran, who took the bike
e) still has original painted Divisional markings, seats, leather bags
f) this is the only Rommel Afrika-Korps motorcycle known to exist that was
actually captured in North Africa.
............................................................................
Likelieness:

->a) there never were oil fields at Tunis and the first battle of the Highlanders
was El Alamain Nov.42, what is in Egypt, more than 1,000 miles in the East.

->b) an ultimate war-trophy usually is a prominent and rare item. We learn
here, the Highlanders got no more prominent one, won in war, than a small
messenger motorbike.

->c) there are a couple of military museums of GB state, but the swastica
problem is unusual, since such items use to be displayed - like here - what
as find required no larger searches. Objections to the symbol could be
imagined, but of which nature? Maybe the symbols are not original?

->d) unusual, that real prominent trophies like a regimental flag, became
private property. Especially in Germany, felted over numerous times by
robbing soldiers during occupation.

->e/f) to be checked further

The email then goes on to compare numerous details about the bike with original war photos.

[darrylri]

Photo comparisons:

(1) detail of the Afrika Korps palm tree
(2) front "pedestrian slicer" license plate
(3) circle and X marking on front fender

Same camera and light conditions, bike allegedly untouched since the
same start in time of use. Compare the white paint in 1 with 2 and 3.
Rather different sorts of white and different sort of aging, I would say.

Comparison of the palm tree to a table of 80 examples collected from various sources, of which none really resemble this one in detail:

In a list of researched kinds of this symbol in use this skeleton variety
is not in:

< picture >

An un-canonical variety not necessarily means, it is wrong, but the aberration
usually is no support for claims on originality. Especially if the paint is that new.

Detail of the rear fender showing the red "arrow" and license plate

Symbol of the tank-division. Like any of these markings without a
damage of use and especially in case of red unusual, as namely this
kind of color pigment for chemical reactions uses to erode in itself
just by time, when exposed.

(4) detail of speedometer, specifically looking at the chipped paint on the bezel at about 2:30 on the face
(5) detail of chipped paint extending away from the BMW roundel at 11:00 on the pressed steel frame
(6) detail of this same chipped paint, where it extends under the Afrika Korps insignia
(7) the roundel itself

The speedo face is good. We learn here (4) the yellow is first
layer of paint. But on right with (5) we find the yellow as second
layer of a tankgrey ground of paint. Why don´t speedo and
frame match? Also in (6) we find the really fresh white on top
of grey ground and yellow. Occasionally in a spot of cracking
color. Too strange, the crack did not go up further to top after
painting of the white symbol. To the emblem (7) further:

< comparison to a post war reproduction roundel >

Especially BMW R35 original relic emblems right now are in auction from
the East. Just both - the one on the bike and the one in auction - are from the
later variety of wartimes, the simplified zink emblem, only relief, no paint. They
left factory painted in the color of the bike. To have them repainted in the tricolors
of the enamel civil emblem is a typical postwar occurance. Also the original bolts,
attaching the emblem to the frame, according to BMW partlists for other models
used to have an oval head relief, sunken in the seat, this here is "half-round" instead.

Here is what we get:

< Detail photo of the seat >

Here is, what was released from factory. In the collection are civil prewar R35
issues as well as wartime army vehicles. I firstly was on to compare the patterns
of the seat top, but there was no need. The difference is much larger, it was a
fully different seat, that belonged to a R35. What we get, seems to be a Pagusa
model, like it became common postwar. Also the seat steel frame is different.

< a sequence of cropped photos from the BMW Archives (so watermarked) showing a uniform set of flat topped leather seats supported in the back with a large, inverted U-shaped steel rod >
 

This could be continued. But it already will be obvious, that a lot more
questions to this sales´ item need to be asked, than what the seller is
capable to ask or to imagine.

A further reply:

I should have added that I meanwhile searched the website, the
51st Highlander Division of UK has over web. As expected, there
is no mentioning of "the ultimate war trophy of the 51st Highland
Division of the British Army". Likewise they also don´t seem to
know of an exchange or a regained own Regimental Battle Flag.
http://www.51hd.co.uk/history/north_africa

[darrylri]

To my eye the real proof is the Afrika Korps insignia on the tank.  When you know to look for it, you can plainly see that some of the white paint that came from adding that to the bike relatively recently is over both the tan and the underlying gray paint extending NW from the frame roundel.  That insignia was never on the bike originally, and you can see that it is in pristine condition compared to the aged parts of the bike.  

To the uninitiated:  The R35 was a prewar model 350cc single that BMW made, and which the Wehrmacht ordered in large quantities.  They were made at BMW's plant in Eisenach, which unlike the Munich plant, was never bombed during the war.  Eisenach fell into the Soviet zone after the war, and almost immediately the Soviets had them making more R35s from remaining spare parts.  These first models are identical to the prewar bikes except that the serial numbers begin with a 2 instead of a 3 -- so you can imagine that there's quite a business in forgery.  The East Germans continued to make these bikes until 1956, although with an increasing number of changes.  Again, there's a big business in converting post war bikes to pre war bikes.  BMW had to sue the East Germans to get them to stop using the BMW Roundel, at which point the East German company, which came to be known as Eisenacher Motoren Werke, switched to a similar red and white roundel, but with a 4 pointed star separating the quadrants.  

There are similar difficulties with the other models I mentioned.  A pre war civilian BMW is more valuable than the utilitarian war bikes, especially if they have been pieced together from literally dozens of sources, with nothing much really matching.  A war bike with a real pedigree would also be worth more than, as the author of the emails above calls them, parts zoos.

[alexznam357]

Wow...great detective work here! I saw it and thought it would generate some attention...it did!

[darrylri]

I don't know how many people are really interested in this obscure trivia, but if it saves someone getting burned buying Rommel's own R35, it's probably worthwhile.  

BTW, don't buy Rommel's own R12, R71 or R75, either.  

If you want to get an idea of what buying a "parts zoo" war bike means, spend some time perusing The World's Best R12.  (Beware the annoying and unasked for music on the intro page.)