Vintage BMW Motorcycle Owners

I posted here a few month ago concerning my hunt for an airhead. At the time, I was looking for a R60/2 or a R75/5. I found a great R60/2 and I have been enjoying it far more than I had expected. Now that I have that bike where I want it, I am again looking for a /5. While I have been looking for an R75/5, an R60/5 has come up at what seems to be a good price. My background in old motorcycles is mostly British, and the R60/2 is my first older BMW. My question here is about the difference between the R75 and R60 in the /5 series. The bike that I found is a ways from where I live and I am trying to decide if I want to make the drive to see it. Is the power difference between the R75 and R60 a big one for local riding? My R60/2 is not going to break your neck with raw power, but it is very nice for my riding style. My only complaint is with the gearing. I would like a bit more mid-range torque in the 40 to 50 mph range so that I don't find myself shifting quite so often. I know that the /5 series is a new engine design. Is the power from an R60/5 similar to that from an R60/2? Any general thoughts and the R60 riding experience would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Doc

The R75/5 would be a better bike. The R60/5 will do highway speeds but does require some time to get there. The thing that I always come to on the R60/5 (and /6 and /7) is the mild camshaft they used in the engine. It resulted in a bike that has a tendency to ping coupled with the very high compression ratio (9.5:1). If the bike is not tuned to an inch of it's life, I feel it will ping. That can be reduced by putting in base gaskets which reduces the already weak power. Also an after market ignition system such as a Boyer can be used. It has an internal advance curve that is more tolerant and doesn't advance the ignition too fast, thus reducing the tendency to ping.

But the R75/5 and later series were probably the best in terms of performance, smoothness, and overall usefulness. Certainly the R90 has more power, but the 750 series was a nice bike.

Thanks for the input, that is just what I wanted to know. The R60 that I am considering looks to be in nice condition and the guy is asking $2000 or best offer and that is what caught my interest. Local R75/5's seem to be in the High $5,000 range. I guess that I need to ride the bike to see how it performs. Others have told me that the R75 is the best bike in that era and that might explain the price difference. I have another option on an R90S, but I think the R75 just fits me a bit better.

Thanks again,

Doc

Both the R75 and R90s will continue to command higher dollars down the road, with the R90s continuing to be very collectible.

I've owned a R75/5 and still own my '74 R90s. As far as riding, the R75 has a ton of old world character, a torquey, smooth motor and attracts a crowd.

The R90s IMHO, can be ridden just about anywhere as the small fairing takes the blast off your upper body for longer trips.

It's faster too. A LOT faster.

Could get a conversion and have the best of both...

Hi

I would like to call on the collective wisdom of the list...

I have just bought a 1973 R75/5 and it came with a set of bags that I believe may be made by a company called Fiber Mold. Does anyone else have bags like this? If you do, can you send me a photo of the bag mounting system they should have?

The mounts that I have look very home made and I am not certain that they would have been supplied like this from the factory.

Any help appreciated.

Cheers

Andy

Here's an ad for Fibre-Mold bags...a bit different than yours...but there might be other models.

http://www.w6rec.com/duane/bmw/bags/mis ... oldbag.jpg

Are there any labels on the inside that suggest the manufacturer?

Hi Kurt, sorry for the very late reply to your post. There are no labels on the inside of my bags, the mounts seem very homemade too. They actually look quite good on the bike so I will fabricate a better mounting system before I use them again. When the bike is done I will post a picture.

Cheers

A