Bavarian Bobber: Titan’s extraordinary BMW R50/3

Motorcycle fashions come and go, but the bobber has been around since the 1930s. In those days, it was known to speed-hungry Harley and Indian riders as a ‘cut down’ or ‘bob job.’ Fast forward 80 years, and the appeal of the bobber is still strong: Triumph is having difficulty meeting demand for its modern-day namesake. BMW, though, is not a brand you’d associate with the stripped-down hardtail look. But this remarkable machine from Austria can hold its own against the finest from the USA and England. It even stacks up well against BMW’s own official ‘R5 Hommage,’ which we...