BMW R75 BMW R 75 Wehrmachtsgespann BMW R 75 Sahara Sahararad | |
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General Historical Information | |
Place of origin | Germany |
Designer | BMW |
Manufacturer | BMW |
Produced In | 1941–1946 |
Category | Motorcycle |
Speed | 95 km/h |
Main armament | 7.92mm MG 34 7.7mm Type 99 LMG/Type 99 (In Japanese Service) |
General Ingame Information | |
Used by | Germany Japan Italy Finland France |
Crew in‑game | 2 |
Seat 2 | Gunner MG 34 |
Historical Picture | |
The special place in motorcycle units of Wehrmacht was allocated for heavy motorcycles. Experience of military actions of 1940 on the Balkans and the Near East showed necessity of creation and acceptance on arms of heavy motorcycles with a cross-country capacity. In midpoint of 1940 Wehrmacht command presented the order to two leading firms BMW and «Zundapp» for designing of such motorcycles. And already at the end of one year the first samples of BMW R75 and «Zundapp КS-750» left from factory conveyors.
The first batches of BMW R75 were delivered to Northern Africa for equipment of general Rommel’s army, therefore soon the informal name «Sahara» was attached to this motorcycle. There was special variant for the war against the USSR. That model had name «Siberia», which had wet oil air filter and others differences. Since 1942 these motorcycles appear on East front. Then the motorcycle received a new nickname — «Siberia» In total since 1941 till 1944 1800 pieces of BMW R-75 were made. The motorcycle had the drive gear to a buddy seat, system of regulation of a wheels suspender depending on a condition of a ground and a mode of an economic course in conditions of a viscous dirty for the speed of 3,5 km/h.
In 1954 a small number of modified R75 models were produced at Eisenach (then in Soviet-controlled East Germany) for testing under the designation AWO 700, but were not put into full production.
The success and reliability of the shaft-driven R75 during the war led to the US Army requesting that Harley-Davidson produce a similar shaft-driven cycle for American troops. This led to Harley producing their first ever shaft-driven model, the Harley-Davidson XA, which was a near duplicate of the R75.
Japanese service[]
BMW R 75 (Japanese Service) | |
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General Historical Information | |
Place of origin | Germany |
Category | Motorcycle |
General Ingame Information | |
Used by | Japan |
Seat 2 | Type 99 LMG |
While the Japanese military had many motorcycles they had no BMW R75. In FHSW it is a very rare sight in the pacific, only on a few maps The Forgotten Jungle along with other German equipment like the Stg 44. It is also on the custom map The Bridge on the River Kwai. The Type 99 LMG replaces the German machine gun.
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