Vintage BMW Motorcycle Owners

Guys need your expertise on best direction to proceed with my new purchased R50. A big thanks for your comments.
Some background on myself I’m mostly retired but somewhat still involved in my Sons business. I’ve been working on old cars my entire life done right at 6 complete nut and bolt restorations. Do it all except the major interior work.
Last project was a 57 Chevy truck painted it old school Lacquer paint but left the inside cab all original with original seat a patina.
This bike keeps telling me to make it all serviceable but don’t restore it. The tank and frame are original paint but the fenders have been sprayed over. Please help me make a decision.

It's up to you. If you like it and are keeping the bike long term,then do a patina restoration,however if you decide to sell it one day,a shiny,fully restored example will fetch more money. It is not full original at this point so might as well make it shiny. I prefer shiny bikes,but everybody is different. It is a R50 so the reality is it costs the same as a R69S relatively to restore, so that is something to consider. Have fun!

I haven't restored a /2 bike yet so I don't know much about cost involved. For myself, when I restore my RT every so often, I do the full deal, new paint, chrome seals, rubber. I love the new bike look and don't mind spending the money/time to keep the bike on the road.

In this case if it were my bike I would go the whole route, make it look new, then ride the heck out of it. A shinny /2 is a beautiful thing. St.

Couple of thoughts - and remember they're free and come from the internet...

Do you know why the bike was taken apart? Lot's of reasons to be cautious here...

Are you looking for a retirement project or a vintage bike to ride or some of (how much of) both?

How much a consideration is cost? We all say we do it for love, but the reality is that money matters, more to some than to others... Once you start down the "shiny" path, things get more expensive quickly, and go down the full restoration path and they get expensiver quicklyer!!

There's a BIG difference between making a bike "shiny" and a proper restoration - money and time into it, and money out! (see above and read it a few times! )

Does the "model" mater to you? As said above, it takes the same amount of time to restore an R50 as it does an R69S. And when you're done, a well restored R69S is a much more valuable and (I would argue) a much more rideable/desireable motorcycle (I've owned, ridden, toured, etc. on many examples of both).

I'd be inclined to put it together as is, ride it and figure out any issues, and figure out if you like it enough to do more, and then decide if you want to restore it, or move on to some other project. That way, you at least know what you're starting with.

And remember (again) the thoughts above are both free and come from the internet...

Thanks for all the much appreciated comments. I know it’s hard to put yourself out there on an open forum. I’ve done it on car sites and got plenty of arrows shot my way. So again thanks for your input.
To answer a few questions I dissembled the bike to see what it needed it sat for many years. The PO bought it in 76 so it was 10 years old when he bought it. He said when he parked it the only problem was the kicker would lock up once in awhile. I got that issue figured out it has good compression.
I totally understand the same cost for different models and the end value. Never could understand someone restoring a 4 door sedan why not a 2 door sport coupe worth three times the money. Same cost to restore but now a day that’s not quite true people at really getting into the 4 door cars. Times and tastes change I’m sure you all agree. This isn’t a retirement project it kinda fell into my lap and the dam thing is so cool and the story’s from the PO is worth preserving in some way.
Years ago I would do a total restoration and when completed probably sell it for about what I had in it.
For me it’s the doing not the having if that makes sense. But now at my age and everything going on in our country. I’m not sure. Still looking for your thoughts. Pictures of Po and kicker issues

I would love to restore a /2 but it seems like a lot of people think they have solid gold to sell. I see so many "barn find"s with price tags far in excess of what I am willing to pay because I know the cost of total restorations both to make things shine and to make a bike run right.
Maybe one day I will get a deal on a bike that makes sense to restore. So far I stick to /7 to 95, bikes I can find them at a reasonable price more often than /2 bikes.

Regardless of your intentions for your bike, enjoy the project, and the riding afterwards. St.

ST, did you ever consider building a /2 bitsa? A quick eBay search shows all the major components available, so you know the stuff is out there. The search and collecting of parts is a fun project in itself and spreads the cost out. You dont have to worry about the "right" part for your application; if it fits and works just bolt it up. In the end you'll have a great looking bike and the riding experience. If its not worth as much as a matching 10 point restoration, who cares? It didn't cost as much and you don't have to worry about every road ding.

No, I haven't, I will have to look into it. St.

So it's a late R50/2 that's dirty but not rusty, not badly abused and original except for fenders, speedometer and seat?
I'd clean it up, get a solo seat, get new tires, consider to repaint/stripe the fenders...and enjoy as it is.
Yes, R50's are slow, but fast enough for a fella your age, riding solo as it's meant for?
To restore that bike properly is lots of frustration and time and money.
Please don't part it out.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and comments I think I’m going the shiny route. Today I tried to clean the repaint off the original finish. Didn’t go so well when they did the repaint the painter sanded and primed some places to bear metal and other places hardly at all. I was hoping for a quick spray can job. But I did discover some interesting things under the riveted support bracket. I think at this point I will start a build thread. Thanks again Ron