High performance BMW R32 replica
It looks like the classic BMW R32 from the 1920s, but with a 1200cc engine it's anything but gentile...Imagine flat-tracking on this bad boy! The (almost) flat handlebars, the low riding position, wafer thin tyres...
What you see here is a replica of the famous 1923 BMW R32, the first motorcycle to officially bear the BMW badge.
While this replica looks very similar to the original bike – impressive in itself – you may notice the 486cc flat twin of the original has grown in size. And therefore power.
Instead of rebuilding the original engine, a French BMW dealer group (Panda Moto) has shoehorned a BMW R 1200 GS engine into the slight frame, upping power by more than 1000 per cent from 8.5hp to around 100hp. Zut alors!
Though the engine is far from standard, the bicycle-like anchors and headstock appear fairly faithful to the original. With that in mind, we wonder if the head-turning retro would be able to decelerate from the kinds of speeds a 100hp engine allows? Or even how it would handle?
But with a creation like this, the aim is not about shaving down lap times and razor sharp handling dynamics -- it's about parade laps and exhibitions. And in that respect this particular specimen looks like a winner.
Called the R1232, melding the R32 and R1200 names, the impressive replica has been photographed with Jean-Luc Dupont, the Panda Moto boss, along with a panda mascot.
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