Just adding that preamble to share a little about me. Now let's talk about this bike, which is what you really care about.
As mentioned, this is a 1956 r69 frame. The motor it turns out, is a 1960 r69. This was verified by the BMW Group in Germany, and both bikes were imported by Butler & Smith. After that, who knows what happened as it was already in parts when my cousin acquired it. When I got it, the bike came with 2 transmissions, 2 tanks, lots of parts, and in combing through the pile a few other odds & ends I'll discuss in more detail later. My 1st order of business was to do an inventory and assess where we were. Because I do this in my spare time, and had a lot to learn, I spent over a year doing this... finding manuals, researching exploded parts diagrams, translating part #s at times, reading a million things online, and learning a lot from anyone who was nice enough to discuss it with me. During the course of this inventory, I (sort of) assembled the bike in "as found" condition. Brace yourself.
1st of all, I know the headlight ears are upside down. I know these are not stock handlebars. Wrong tail light - I get it. Like I said, "as found". The bike has been painted no less than 3 times. It was black at the base - then went what looks like olive drab, then, perhaps most painfully, some kind of half-assed slapped on light brown. Not surprisingly though - the thing still looks kinda awesome. I rolled it out to show it off at our bike show in while it was in this state. Not a bad start...
Pics coming through ok? I have a lot more I can add, as I'm currently in the real build process now. Just thought I'd start off with this.