Royal Enfield’s roots date back to an engineering business in the 1850s which moved into bicycles. You don’t get much more British than Royal Enfield, which has sprung back to prominence in recent years thanks to its willing, affordable, retro 650 twins, do you? In truth, motorcycle back-stories don’t get much more convoluted but we’ll try to keep it brief. Instead, the propeller myth probably dates back to an ad from 1929, which showed an airplane with the BMW logo in the rotating propeller… which then stuck. The blue/white quadrants in the middle, meanwhile, contrary to popular myth which suggest they represent a rotating propeller, are actually borrowed from the Bavaria state colours, with one small difference – their order is reversed as contemporary trademark law forbade the use of state coats of arms. Which partly explains BMW’s logo, too: the BMW roundel logo was developed from the similarly round design of the Rapp company, with its name likewise in the outer ring. The first bike didn’t come until 1923, its first car in 1933. Created out of the former Rapp Motoren-Werke in 1917 BMW was established in its current form in 1922 although back then it was nothing to do with bikes, or even cars – but aeroplane engines. German giants ‘BMW’ (or Bee-eM-Vay to use the correct pronunciation) stands for Bayerische Motoren Werke, or, to use a clumsy translation ‘Bayern (as in Munich, in the Bavaria region) Motor Works’. Let’s start with a familiar one you may think you know.
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