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R69S battery
- Flx48
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Re: R69S battery
In my case the '60 R69 (big battery) was a B&S bike, while the '56 R69 (small batt) was a Canadian delivery.
Maybe home market and others got the small battery, and Americans got the big battery along with the big seat, big bars, and big whatever else.
Just a thought.
Other than that, perhaps the old song about the factory used up whatever they had on hand, so both are correct...
Best-
George
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Re: R69S battery
Westwood, MA USA
- schrader7032
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Re: R69S battery
'78 R100/7 '69 R69S '52 R25/2
Fast. Neat. Average. Friendly. Good. Good.
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Re: R69S battery
Over the years I have owned at least 20 plus Earls fork bikes. As best I can remember - not as reliable as it once was , all of the pre 1960 bikes had small batteries and all of the 1960 and later bikes had large batteries. (Maybe the break point was 61?) Thinking Kurt might have nailed it with his post about the generator change. There also appears to be some relation to the market the bike was delivered in based on both Huggett's limited info and the markings on the parts diagrams I referenced earlier. And James, I just finished a very original 1962 R50S restoration that I'd owned for nearly 30 years and it had the large battery configuration. Can't say it definitely came from the factory that way, but, if I had to guess, I'd say it did. I have some R50S photos I got from the factory somewhere around here and will update if/when I find them.
So no definitive info right now, so probably best to send a note off to the factory to ask. And for those who think that BMW simply used whatever was in the parts bin to build bikes without paying attention to what a specific model called for at the time or not documenting a necessary change, while it may have happened, I doubt it happened very often. Been to the factory multiple times and have seen and reviewed actual production information from back in the day that still exists. Builds for each model were quite specific. Describing German manufacturing as "haphazard" would be less than accurate!
Chuck S.
Chuck S
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Re: R69S battery
R69S - R60/2 - R67/2 - R51/3 - R69
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Re: R69S battery
No, I meant to say that it has the larger tray for the bigger battery. It would be impressive, well maybe not so much since there would probably be a lot of corrosion around and under it.schrader7032 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 25, 2021 7:06 pmWayne, do you still have the original battery in the bike from 1962? That's impressive!
Westwood, MA USA
- jwonder
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Re: R69S battery
Archives answer:
Dear James,
these are the battery sizes R 50 S.
This is the battery your R 50 S should have: 8 Ah
16 Ah Battery (Police version):
Vice President, Vintage BMW Motorcycle Owners
2022 BMW Friend Of the Marque
Long Island, New York
- vechorik1373
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Re: R69S battery
Technical Adviser, Former owner, Bench Mark Works
662 312 2838 cell 9 am to 4pm CST PLEASE!
Re: R69S battery
Back in August, I took the bike on a well-known local rally, the ‘Cairn o’ Mount’ rally, expecting it to be the only R69S there. I was amazed to see a beautifully restored ?68 R69S with new Steib sidecar. The engine had been rebuilt by an aero engine specialist, sadly now retired.
- vechorik1373
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Re: R69S battery
Every one worries about acid spraying out on the paint. IF your charging system is working properly, a wet battery won't spit acid out. The way to check you system is to use an analog volt meter, (NOT a digital ) and you should see not MORE than, or not LESS than 7.2 volts if everything is working properly. You can't use a digital meter because if you have an original electro mechanical regulator, (which causes the voltage to oscillate up and down, because that is the way an original regulator works, and a digital meter takes samples way too fast, and the numbers will just tumble)
So don't fear the use of a conventional battery IF you charging system is working properly.
This is the part number for the correct in appearance original style battery
61 21 8 042 025 B49-6 square base 6v 10a battery original style with lid 1930's - 1954
Technical Adviser, Former owner, Bench Mark Works
662 312 2838 cell 9 am to 4pm CST PLEASE!