The publisher J. F. Schreiber is a long-established German printing firm renowned in the 19th century for its toy theatres, and more recently for its wide range of other models. In its large catalogue there is exactly one motorcycle...
This model represents the 1932 version of the R16 motorcycle, which was produced from 1929 to 1934. The R16 continued the line of flat-twin, shaft drive machines started with the R32 in 1923, designed by Max Friz. The R16 had a major innovation in its pressed steel frame, as opposed to the tubular frame usual at the time, and used by BMW in its earlier models.
The kit is a reprint of an old (pre-war?) one, and this rather shows. The printing is quite crude, as is the model design. The rear forks, for example, are just single-thickness paper projecting back from the somewhat better-shaped front section. Fit is not too bad for something of this vintage, but some areas needed considerable work to get them reasonably satisfactory.
The scale is given as 1:10 so I reprinted the sheets at 71% to give me 1:14. Apart from this, I made two major changes: the model comes with a sidecar but I chose to make a solo version, and I replaced the printed-disc wheels with proper spoked ones.
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