Can anyone help me identify what year my vintage BMW is???

[Darryl.Richman]

First off, congrats on your new bike, and welcome to the forum!

We don't really know the years by VIN number. However, in late '66, BMW ran out of VIN numbers in the 62x,xxx range and moved to 181x,xxx. So yours is definitely older than that.

The one true way to know is to write to BMW Mobile Tradition and ask them. They should be able to tell you, at a minimum, the date your bike left the factory, and where it was delivered. They might know a few other things about it. You can write to Fred Jakobs at fred.jakobs@bmw.de to get this info.

You can also go to the BMW Vintage registry and compare your number against other bikes listed there. It's not foolproof, but it might be interesting.

[jlibby]

They are super fast at the BMW archives!!! Please see below for the response from Andreas Harz:

"Dear Sir,

Thank you for your email.

The BMW R 60/2 VIN 626422 was manufactured on September 7th, 1964 and delivered on September 8th, 1964 to the BMW importer Butler & Smith in New York City. The bike was equipped with a bench seat.

We hope, this is helpful for you.

Yours sincerely,
BMW Mobile Tradition
Group Archives

Andreas Harz"

I am going to assume based on this info that I'm the proud owner of a 1964!!!!! Thanks again for your help

[Darryl.Richman]

Actually, you probably own a 1965 model. Just as we are used to the "new model year" cars coming out in the fall here -- if not earlier -- so it is with BMW motorcycles.

In Europe, the workers tend to get about 6 weeks of vacation a year; 2 in the winter and 4 in the summer. BMW closed the factory in August for the workers' holidays, and used the time to retool and readjust the assembly lines, and traditionally, September was the beginning of a new model year.

Considering that, during this period, BMW made few changes (none?) for the new models, this may be entirely academic. Most changes we owners are interested in tended to be running changes, as noted the in the bulletins BMW issued to their dealers.

My own R60/2, built on December 13, 1960, has always been titled as a 1961 bike.

[jlibby]

Anybody care to comment on how well this model would haul a sidecar? I'm considering Steib LS200. Too small? Too large? This is fantastic!!!!!

[VBMWMO]

Hello all. First time poster here. I picked up my first BMW yesterday - an R60/2. I plan on doing some riding this summer and then doing some sort of a restore on it in the winter. My problem is that I'm not sure what year it is. The 3rd owner was convinced that it was a '69, but some of the paperwork he had on it states that it was once registered as a '65. From what I can gather from my limited knowledge at this point, the VIN indicates to me that it is not a '69. Can anyone confirm for me what year it is by the VIN? It is 626422. Much appreciated!