If you like our site, please consider joining our club!
By joining you will help ensure that we can continue to provide this service
JOIN HERE!

R6 Muffler color

Post Reply
User avatar
deyoung2837
Posts: 53
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 3:00 am
Been thanked: 1 time

R6 Muffler color

Post by deyoung2837 »

Hello,

My R6 has raw steel mufflers installed.
I have seen chrome or black on the late 30's motorcycles.
Anyone happen to know which one is correct or is it what they had in the parts been at the time and either is correct?

Thanks for any information.

Lee
Attachments
muffler.jpg
muffler.jpg (117.86 KiB) Viewed 4288 times

R60SS
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Aug 30, 2017 8:01 pm

Hi Lee: Everything I see

Post by R60SS »

Hi Lee:
Everything I see makes me believe that the mufflers should be chrome on the R5 + R6

Pat

R68
Posts: 544
Joined: Wed Aug 20, 2008 4:22 pm
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 5 times

I think the typical 1936 R5

Post by R68 »

I think the typical 1936 R5 came with chrome rims and chrome mufflers, and 1937 R5 and R6 came with painted rims and painted mufflers. I think you could order whatever you wanted if you paid extra, and the domestic sale motorcycles may have been more basic than the export bikes? I once heard that the 1937 production motorcycles had painted parts because chrome was a strategic resource, needed for gun barrels, to to reserved for the oncoming war?

User avatar
Bruce Frey
Posts: 536
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 3:00 am

I’ve never seen period photos

Post by Bruce Frey »

I’ve never seen period photos of R5/6 with anything other than chrome mufflers. I agree that the rims on the ‘36 R5 were chrome and they went to paint in ’37 along with the R6. Period replacements were likely painted, however.

The painted mufflers seemed to appear in ‘38 as chromium was diverted to military use although chrome may have continued to be an option.

I would use whatever pleases you.

Bruce

User avatar
mdunn
Posts: 86
Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2008 1:00 pm

For the R5 and R6 I have only

Post by mdunn »

For the R5 and R6 I have only seen chrome, even for Importer sellers like AFN in the UK. I have two photos and on my 1938 Berlin Auto show only the R51 display bike has black.

Attachments
uf-621-1.jpg
uf-621-1.jpg (3.84 MiB) Viewed 4288 times

lui
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Mar 13, 2016 11:04 am

i have got 1937 afn sells

Post by lui »

i have got 1937 afn sells catalog,on the fotos r6 silencer is black.Also on the fotos r5 black to.regards lui
Attachments
sam_7318.jpg
sam_7318.jpg (407.35 KiB) Viewed 4288 times
sam_7319.jpg
sam_7319.jpg (411.96 KiB) Viewed 4288 times
sam_7320.jpg
sam_7320.jpg (424.88 KiB) Viewed 4288 times

User avatar
deyoung2837
Posts: 53
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 3:00 am
Been thanked: 1 time

Lui, Found the flyer on the

Post by deyoung2837 »

Lui,

Found the flyer on the BMW archive site.
Hand written on the 1st page is 1938.
But on the 3rd to last page bottom right it shows 1937.
Looks like by mid 37 they were starting to phase out the chrome as Germany geared up for the war.
Although for a price I would guess you still could get chrome.
My R6 came off the assembly in late December of 37, so "Black" it is.

Thank you for the heads up.

Lee
Attachments
english-flyer-r5-r6-1937-b.pdf
(3.99 MiB) Downloaded 66 times

User avatar
mdunn
Posts: 86
Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2008 1:00 pm

Lee, Its also an artist

Post by mdunn »

Lee,

Its also an artist drawing so take it for what its worth. I have spent many hours in the archives, looking at photos of these bikes.

Mike

frankie1812
Posts: 23
Joined: Thu Jun 15, 2017 3:07 pm

Hello I agree that the r5

Post by frankie1812 »

Hello
I agree that the r5 from 37 had black muffler because off the war, but in they end it's all about taste.
I like the black mufflers and also al black rims, so i decided to do that on my early r5 aswell i nice looking lugauer tank.

Greetings Frank

Didess
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue Nov 14, 2017 2:52 am

I like the chrome mufflers

Post by Didess »

I like the chrome mufflers :-)

Post Reply