BMW began production of motorcycle engines and then motorcycles after World War I.<ref name="artof">Peter Gantriis, Henry Von Wartenberg. "The Art of BMW: 85 Years of Motorcycling Excellence". MotorBooks International, September 2008, p.10.</ref> Its motorcycle brand is now known as [[BMW Motorrad]]. Their first successful motorcycle after the failed Helios and Flink, was the "[[BMW R32|R32]]" in 1923, though production originally began in 1921.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reference.com/vehicles/history-bmw-motorcycles-usa-5e17ca6bfcbc7a67?qo=cdpArticles|title=What is the history of BMW motorcycles in the USA?|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824225728/https://www.reference.com/vehicles/history-bmw-motorcycles-usa-5e17ca6bfcbc7a67?qo=cdpArticles|archive-date=24 August 2017|access-date=6 May 2017}}</ref> This had a "[[Flat-twin engine|boxer]]" twin engine, in which a cylinder projects into the air-flow from each side of the machine. Apart from their single-cylinder models (basically to the same pattern), all their motorcycles used this distinctive layout until the early 1980s. Many BMW's are still produced in this layout, which is designated the [[History of BMW motorcycles#R series|R Series]].
The entire BMW Motorcycle production has, since 1969, been located at the company's Berlin-Spandau factory.