Noob Question

schrader7032 · Post by **schrader7032** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 4:50 pm

A bit of the new and a bit of the old...sounds like fun.

I purchased a late model R69S as it would have had all the potential updates built in. BMW made changes along the way so I wanted to get that. There is a period in the middle 60s where some bikes suffered a term they call butterheads. It's described here:

http://w6rec.com/duane/bmw/head/index.htm

It's not a horrific problem, but something to watch out for. Heads with the "LK" molded in near the spark plug would be good to find.

They built about 11300 of these. The R60/2 run consisted of only about 3500, R60US bikes were over 17000, and R50US ran around 19000 while the R50/2 was nearer 20000. The US designation (along with R69US) have the /5-style front forks...the other bikes are the Earles front forks which, from my point of view, are more desireable. Those numbers will give you some idea of availability.

The R69S will be a bit more "tempermental" as it was a sport bike...it's a somewhat minor point, though, but it does require it to be tuned very well. The other /2 models, though, offer a bit less power and are better suited for pulling sidecars if interested. They're more work horses as opposed to the "go fast" R69S.

As for the maintenance aspect, you really need to factor in the possibility of having to do a complete engine overhaul when you acquire the bike unless the previous owner can show records that it's been done...you'll pay for that, of course, in the selling price. The overhaul is needed to clean the slingers about every 30K to 40K miles. This requires removal of the crankshaft from the bike. There are mechanics who can still do this. You can decide to not do this if there's no indication that it's already been done, but this will be at the peril of destroying the crankshaft. It's not that difficult to prep the bike for someone else to do the heavy bottom end work. Also there are also good parts sources for all of these bikes.

The old rule that has been floated for cost of ownership is "5-5-5". That's $5K to purchase, $5K to make a mechanically good runner, and $5K to put it into a showroom condition. Those numbers probably have gone up a thousand or two. Auctions of very well restored bikes are easily over $20K. The cheaper you get into the bike, the more you'll pay on the second round. But a decent runner is probably in the $5-7K range which will probably require some work, at least for peace of mind.

Let us know what you're thinking and I'm sure others can provide their thoughts on what the options might be.

Kurt in S.A.

jeff dean · Post by **jeff dean** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 2:12 pm

http://jeff.dean.home.att.net/slash2.htm

sonofrust · Post by **sonofrust** » Mon Oct 12, 2009 12:31 am

After owning a /2 for a while now, I'd recommend a /5 for a second cool old bike. The /2 is not complex, but few people will want to work on it for you, parts are expensive, and, as the fanatics on this site will tell you, the cost to restore/repair one properly is now big bucks. These bikes are fun to ride, but don't come close to the more modern BMW working classics in terms of performance. I'm one of the guys who bought a nice looking/running "restored" /2, but I have no documentation re. slinger cleaning, etc, so I'm reluctant to run it too far from home. Totally dismantling an engine and sending the parts all over the country to have specialty shops perform certain maintenance is a nightmare for me. If I were to do this over again the right way, I would have had to set aside about double the cash, which doesn't really make sense for me right now. I'd think twice before going this route. Don't get me wrong, I really like the older bikes, but I'd definitely be more at ease riding something more common from the /5 or /6 era. Just my 2 cents...

Good Luck!

Doug

AntonLargiader · Post by **AntonLargiader** » Tue Oct 13, 2009 7:17 am

I have a '70 R75/5 and Meredith has a '53 R51/3. There is a world of difference between them technologically but both get similar 'cool bike' kinds of attention.

If you want a specific look you'll need to get a plunger frame or an earle's fork bike, but if you're just looking for a nice instruments-in-headlight-bucket, Black Mit White kind of bike you can go all the way up to 1973 and have some nice vintage elements while having 12V electrics, pressurized oil with filter, actual power and suspension, electric start, etc.

The /5 I can take anywhere, on any road with traffic even 80~90mph interstates. I've done that with the /3 and it really sucks; that bike stays on secondary roads whenever possible. Parts for the /5 are in the regular dealer system since so many of them are used through 1980 or even 1995.

The /6 is actually a lot more modern in terms of parts commonality with later bikes, /7 even more so but those bikes have the same instruments used through 1995 so you lose most of the vintage look.

ewatson · Post by **ewatson** » Tue Oct 13, 2009 4:25 pm

Thanks for all the advice.

Fortunately I live only 1/2 hour away from a BMW dealer that can repair any of these bikes "Bob's BMW" so fixing it is not much of a problem...I just want something that will not need more then a yearly checkup.

That leads me to a second question. Does anyone here have any direct experience with Bob's BMW as it relates to vintage bikes, maintanance, etc.? They also have three r69s avaliable for sale.

VBMWMO · Post by **VBMWMO** » Mon Feb 15, 2010 2:53 pm

I am thinking of purchasing a vintage BMW and am looking for some advice.

Currently I own a R1200RT and I plan on using it as my primary motorcycle. My interest in a vintage BMW would be to own a bit of history that I could ride every once and a while. It should be fun to ride and look cool (I realize that looks are in the eye of the beholder....but you get the idea). What I don't want is something that will take tons of maintance to keep in running. I also don't need a bike that is rare.

Any recommandations on what a good model/year that I should be looking for?