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Lovely shot of a Gus Kuhn boxer-twin racer!

ow if your idea of a BMW is a rather pedestrian touring motorcycle being pottered through the lanes by elderly enthusiasts, think again. They are very fast, durable, light and handle remarkably well, as has been shown over the years by Hans-otto Butenuth in the Isle of Man and by the works machines at the Bol d’or in France.” So said our own John Nutting in 1975 when he tested a pair of Gus Kuhn Penthouse-backed BMW racers. Gus Kuhn Motors was a south London-based dealership established by the pioneering racer and dealer of the same name, who died in 1966. By the early 1970s, the dealership had moved from racing their favoured Nortons to BMWS, initially in the endurance classes on the big, but forgiving boxer twins. Riders included the likes of Gary Green, Dave Potter, Dave Croxford, John Cowie, Chas Mortimer, Barry Sheene and – as seen here on a 980cc R90 S – Clive Offer. Riding a Gus Kuhn ‘Penthouse Pet’, Nutters enjoyed the machine at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit. He said: “On fire-up, the silencers were from the old /5 series but the sound was certainly very un-bee-emmish. More like a Rennsport, it had an evocative rasp, and out on the track it became immediately obvious that there was more to this BMW than met the eye. Thanks to the lighter flywheel and no air filters, the throttle response was immediate. The revs scream and crash with a blood-curdling blare on the overrun.” BMWS: not just for the ‘elderly enthusiast’.