In the early 90s, the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association (AHRMA) looked to rejuvenate American roadracing, and mixed it up with the introduction of “Sound of Singles” and “Battle of Twins” classes. In their attempt to bring in more sponsorship money, they also partnered with BMW to create what would end up being one of their best-known races – the Battle of Legends. This series pit motorcycling legends against each other on identical BMW bikes, for races all over the country over 5 years. Today we feature a bike from the 1993 series, the “BMW R100R Battle of the Legends”. BMW also used the R1100RS for the series in future years – do you know if there were any others?
For 1993, 17 bikes were built. 15 were used in the race, and 2 were backups. The R100R was the last of the airheads, before BMW moved to the oilhead engine. The BotL bikes were cosmetically ‘enhanced’ and received a custom exhaust, but otherwise they were the same as production bikes, featuring 60 horsepower, a 5-speed transmission with shaft drive, and a 6.3 gallon fuel tank – all of which totaled up to a bike that weighed 435 pounds. In short, it wasn’t the kind of bike you’d expect for a race, but it worked: many AHRMA fans will tell you that the best thing the association did in the 90s was this BMW-based series.
This specific BMW R100R Battle of the Legends was #9 of the 17 and it was raced by Daytona 200 winner and AMA Hall of Fame member Don Emde, who signed the tank. THis is claimed to be a one owner bike that has just 3,185 miles, and it’s just as it was when it was prepped for the race. A removable windshield is included with the sale.
Find this BMW R100R Battle of the Legends for sale in Rancho Cordova, California for $14,999 or best offer