Below are some photos of Roland Slabon's 1952 R68 ISDT, a project begun some 34 years ago with the purchase of the exhaust system. The rest then followed. The R68 flange body Dell'Ortos are numbered SSFF 27A, won't idle worth a damn (probably never made to idle) and I wish I had a tuning manual for them. May have to reinstall the original BINGs, which I had rebuilt just in case, and which were used to test and tune the bike before the Dell'Ortos were fitted.

Only the Rennsport/Hoske front brake has full width shoes, but they're stamped metal ones, not cast, and appear to be from a small car (Isetta, perhaps?).

Phil Moser's 1981 R100ZSGS ( R100  Zwei Stoßdämpfer Gelände Straße / Twin Shock GS ), R65 frame modified ( copied HPN / Richard Moore) , 1000cc RS motor with 336° cam, 40L Werner Reinschlussel tank, handlebar selectable single / twin front discs for on / off road conditions. 200 000+ kms.

In the late 1950s, Ludwig Apfelbeck from Knittelfeld, Austria, works for BMW on the valve arrangement in the cylinder head of its 4-stroke engines. His idea, diverging from all the other 4-valve designs, is to allot the opposing valves the same function, thus achieving an even better cylinder fill and better thermal conditions in the valve area at the same time. He designs the so-called ‘Apfelbeck Head’ with vertically arranged inlet ducts. Since 1957, Apfelbeck has been working on improving the performance of BMW engines. For his new task however, he uses an idea he had already patented back in 1935. The first test-rig version (designed as a 5500cc 1-cylinder engine) proves that the valve control has to be changed for a high power output. In this area, the propositions of young engineer Paul Rosche mean a breakthrough.

In early 1965, the “Apfelbeck Engine” delivers 129bhp per litre on the test rig. For BMW this means being on the cusp of competitiveness regarding single-seater racing. Furthermore, in the future, Apfelbeck’s design will be used to establish numerous speed records.

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