I.D. from a vintage berlin wall picture

[Micha]

Anyone here know to say which model is seen here in the picture?

https://www.dw.com/en/1961-what-germany ... a-17708563

[schrader7032]

Well, they are plungers so before the beginning of the /2 era. Based upon the front fork gaiters and the multi-fin valve covers, I'd say they are R67/3 models. Police versions of course...I guess that extra "box" on top of the headlight is police equipment.

[bm68andreas]

the R67/3 were fullhub .....
these are halbnabe so probably R51/3..
also they are solo .....

[schrader7032]

I didn't consider the front brake. But pictures I've seen of the R51/3 shows a metal shroud for the front fork cover. The only other bike of this period that shows the rubber gaiters is the R68 but the fender is wrong. Was it possible to get different front forks during the 1950s?

[jwonder]

A few things to consider:

1) This info is based on an assumption that the police department did not upgrade or change the motorcycles before use. Take it with that huge caveat.

2) Rubber front gaiters came in about April of 1952. My 1952 R51/3 has metal shrouds and is just before they switched over. Note, mine came with rubber instead of metal because that was a big upgrade back then and they did that through the years. I downgraded mine!!

3) Full hubs came in the end of 1953, let’s say around August timeframe.

4) The s-pipe that both of these have is, in my mind more controversial. The books say they were from 526xxx which would put the s-pipes and torpedo silencers around February to March of 1952. These were standard upgrades by the way because the torpedos were much quieter.

So, rubber gaiters, half hubs and torpedo mufflers means they are most likely from April 1952 to August 1953.

It is much harder to tell if they are 500 or 600cc in displacement but I would figure the police would have larger displacement vehicles. Maybe not….

Nice picture.

[schrader7032]

I suspect getting exact data on switch over is difficult. I looked at the beemergarage brochures of the period for the R51/3:

- 1952 Brochure (Oct 1951 release) -- showed metal shrouds, half hubs, and no s-pipe
- 1953 Brochure (Oct 1952 release) -- showed metal shrouds, half hubs, and no s-pipe
- 1953 Brochure (May 1953 release) -- showed rubber gaiters, half hubs, and no s-pipe
- 1954 Brochure (Sep 1953 release) -- showed rubber gaiters, full hubs, s-pipe
- 1954 Brochure (Jan 1954 release) -- showed rubber gaiters, full hubs, s-pipe

So, I guess it's clear of the general transition which helps likely identify the bikes in the image as around 1953 timeframe.

The image seems to suggest that the picture is ca 1961 or maybe even early 1962. Does it seem likely that the German police were using 8-9 year old bikes in 1961? By that time, the mo' better /2 bikes were out...more power and better handling.