Questions regarding R69S steering damper

schrader7032 · Post by **schrader7032** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 6:11 pm

I've heard that the hydraulic dampers were hard to maintain and there's a friction damper that came out to replace it or as an option?? I thought Vech at Benchmark Works sold one but I can't find anything on his site. Same with Blue Moon in Georgia. You may have to try a German company, Motorrad Stemler ( http://www.motorrad-stemler.de ). Possibly Mark Huggett's site in Switzerland. These things show up on ebay once in a while...

Kurt in S.A.

chrisrappl · Post by **chrisrappl** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 6:18 pm

Mark Hugget's site will bring up the part number, but there is no price so I assume that it is not available. If I were setting up a sidecar rig, I would install the friction damper. As a solo machine, I would rather keep it original.

Darryl.Richman · Post by **Darryl.Richman** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 12:49 am

I'm not aware of anyone reproducing the hydraulic damper. The other /2 bikes, the R50 and R60, came with a friction damper, which can easily replace the hydraulic unit. I can't say who might have the pieces, but you can get new friction material and the rivets from the usual sources.

chrisrappl · Post by **chrisrappl** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 8:28 am

Darryl,

Thanks for the reply. Here's the situation: A member of the IBMWR board is looking for a steering damper to finish his restoration of an R50S. I have two NOS dampers in their original BMW packaging. I don't usually sell anything (bikes or parts) to which my garage, shop and shed will attest. Among the 9 or so bikes patiently waiting restoration I have two R69S models. My plan ??? is to restore one as a solo machine and set one up with a Ural sidecar (which is taking up way too much room in the shed). Therefore I should only need one hydraulic damper assembly. I would like to help this guy out, but, I have no idea what is a fair price. My inclination is to hold onto both of them and possibly trade some of my unneeded parts. For example, I am presently looking for an original pair of mirrors for my '74 R90S and I know how difficult these are to find.

Allan.Atherton · Post by **Allan.Atherton** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 8:22 pm

The damper parts and hydraulic units are not available, so yours are worth a lot. I changed my R69S to a friction damper when I added a Ural almost 20 years ago: http://home.insightbb.com/~aatherton/R69S/R69S.html

schrader7032 · Post by **schrader7032** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 3:16 pm

I forgot this link was around. Vech discusses how to convert to the friction type:

http://members.aol.com/vechbmw2/damper.html

Kurt in S.A.

Darryl.Richman · Post by **Darryl.Richman** » Sun Jan 22, 2012 2:01 pm

I've been a member of VBMWMO for quite some time, but this is my first post on this site. Can anyone tell me if a replacement steering damper for an R69S is available and what it should cost? The BMW part # is 31 42 2 054 071 and the markings are Boge ETOS 22-528. Thanks in advance for any help you may offer.

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