Production 1935–1939 Class Street racing | Also called Type 255 RS 500 | |
 | ||
Engine 492 cc DOHC supercharged boxer twin with aluminium cylinders; magnesium engine block and supercharger casingFuel: gasoline-oil mix | ||
BMW Type 255 Kompressor (also known as the 500 Kompressor, RS 255, RS255 and Type 255 RS 500) was a supercharged boxer twin race motorcycle from the 1930s. A BMW 255 Kompressor was ridden to victory by Georg Meier in the 1939 Isle of Man TT and the first win by a non-British competitor in the premier 500cc Senior TT class. A similar BMW 255 Kompressor machine was auctioned in 2013 for US$480,000, the second-highest price ever paid at auction for a motorcycle.
Contents
Supercharger
A Zoller sliding vane supercharger is bolted to the front of the DOHC engine, driven directly by the crankshaft, and is lubricated by castor oil added to the fuel. It provided c. 15 psi (100 kPa).
Records
The machine set a number of race records, including the first lap over 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) at a major event, when Georg Meier won the Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix in 1939, and Ernst Jakob Henne's capture of the motorcycle land-speed record in 1936 on a model with a streamlined fairing.
Today
An example is on display at the BMW Museum in Munich.