Old Dirty R69 - From Basket to Bike
Posted: Tue May 26, 2020 5:22 pm
So, let me start with a little backstory. I'm picking up the reins on a project that was started by my cousin 20+ years ago. This 1956 r69 frame and boxes of parts was bought along with another BMW by my cousin sometime in the 90s. He knew this was a rare and desirable bike, and always had intention to build it. But, life (and to be honest, at least a dozen or more other motorcycles) happened and as he's in his 70s now he decided to pass it along to me as we have done lots of projects together. As for me, I've been working on vintage bikes as a hobby almost 20 years. I've done overhauls and work on Hondas, Triumphs, Harleys + more, and 2 of my cooler more custom builds have been featured in several bike shows around Austin Texas. In fact, I help organize an annual bike event here called the East Side Classic - now in its 11th year.
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.
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.