I currently have R69S 1/26/91-92 carbs on my 1959 R69, but have just purchased a set of R68/R69 1/26/9-10 carbs.
My Classic certificate from BMW states that it came from the factory with 1/26/9-10 carbs, but Tim Stafford states in his recent 1/26/10 Bing Carb eBay listing that it was only the early R69 that had the 1/26/9-10 carb and that the later R69 had 1/26/85-86 carbs.
Tim's probably right. In the Bing catalog, there are two lines shown for the R69 and it is my understanding that items on the lower part of the page are older than those on the top. But there are no dates given in the Bing catalog. The topmost line shows 1/26/9-10 and then lower down shows 1/26/85-86. I could certainly see that the higher number would indicate a later model.
BMW's information might not necessarily always be complete. They couldn't tell me the day my R69S was built because the records were incomplete...they could only give me a range of a couple of months.
Kurt in S.A.
'78 R100/7 '69 R69S '52 R25/2
Fast. Neat. Average. Friendly. Good. Good.
I'm not sure if there's a real way to know, but common sense suggests that it is the later carbs. In reality, it doesn't matter unless someone is headed to a concours type of bike.
Kurt in S.A.
'78 R100/7 '69 R69S '52 R25/2
Fast. Neat. Average. Friendly. Good. Good.
I get the impression that carbs are getting hard to get. So even having ones that are slightly incorrect may be better than having the right numbers on extremely worn carbs.
I know I have a back up set for my R69s...... just saying.
I think that the 9/10 combination was the original carb set for the R69. I have an all original R69 in my garage which was build in the last months of the production line, and she has the 9/10 carb set. I think the list was written at a later date so it also includes replacement carbs in case you got a R69 and needed new carbs in say 1972. There are other carbs in the list which never were on a bike off the assembly, but Bing recommended them for replacements later (in case the original set was not available anymore)
I think that the 9/10 combination was the original carb set for the R69. I have an all original R69 in my garage which was build in the last months of the production line, and she has the 9/10 carb set.
My R69 was manufactured on July 24th, 1959. Do you know the date for yours? Not to be a rivet counter, but I find it quite interesting to get things "as it was". It's part of my job as the current caretaker to take it back to it's former factory spec glory
As an aside, my R69S manufactured very early in 1962 which had sat since the 1980’s had /9and 10 carb bodies on it. I had assumed that they were original, maybe leftover parts found on BMW’s shelf or not.
'62 R69S, '71 R75/5 SWB, '78 R100S Motorsport
Westwood, MA USA
