desirable as collector's items because of their elaborate and durable technology, and are correspondingly expensive. A well-restored R75 can still be used for everyday purposes, on or off-road without problems. In 1954 a small number of modified R75 models were produced at Eisenach (then in Soviet-controlled East Germany) for testing under the designation AWO 700, but were not put into full production. Similar motorcycles in other countries Soviet Union and China The myth that the Soviet Union purchased five units of the R-71 (the R-75's predecessor) via Swedish intermediaries to study and subsequently build their own version, the M-72, is propaganda. The tooling was acquired under license from BMW as part of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. A Chinese variant of the M-72, the Yangtze River 750, went into production in 1957. United States The success and reliability of the shaft-driven R75 during the war led to the US Army requesting that Harley-Davidson produce a similar shaft-driven motorcycle for American troops. This led to Harley producing their first ever shaft-driven model, the Harley-Davidson XA, which was a near duplicate of the R75 without sidecar. See also History of BMW motorcycles List of motorcycles of the 1940s References External links R75 specifications The WH-Krad Registry BMW R75 (1943) Exterior and Interior in 3D 4K UHD BMW R75 (1942) in the museum (Russia) R75 World War II military vehicles of Germany Motorcycles powered by flat engines Shaft drive motorcycles Military motorcycles Research and development in Nazi Germany Motorcycles introduced in the 1940s Sidecars Military vehicles introduced from 1940 to 1944