Fair price for 1967 R69S?

EuroIron · Post by **EuroIron** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 2:40 pm

If you offered me 2000 for it I'd laugh at you and say something really groovy like, "I think I'll pass, bro."

Maybe the guy can be hypnotized and talked out of it even cheaper.

I'm in at double and maybe more.

saintclair2703 · Post by **saintclair2703** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 10:53 pm

The front spring probably isn't broken- they just come unscrewed and make a racket. Aside from the aircleaner cover, I wouldn't touch the cosmetics unless you need a real shiney bike. Some elbow grease is all it needs to look pretty good as far as I can tell. The engine - who knows? If he'll take $2500 you have a special place in heaven. I hate when people want YOU to set the price. He just has no idea what it's worth and might even put it up for sale after you offer something. Just plead ignorance and make an offer. Go from there as necessary.

Darbone7260 · Post by **Darbone7260** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 9:07 am

Just another data point for some perspective- Here are some pictures of a bike I bought around 4 or 5 weeks ago. It's a 1960 R69 with 24,000 miles that is complete, running and riding. It needed to have the carbs and the front brake adjusted. The paint is original and it came with a complete set of tools. I paid $ 3,000 for it.
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/darbone8573 ... 2398958661

Jordan Nygaard · Post by **Jordan Nygaard** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 9:54 am

The 3000 dollar Beemer gods must have been smiling upon you or you got it from a very close friend!. Having recently rebuilt and sold a 67 for 6200 these are some things I noted(just my 2 cents) on the pictured bike. I would find out if the bike just sputtered out or if there was any shrieking ripping or gnashing of metal when it quit. If it sputtered maybe carb or spark issue. If loud unbearable noises look for a complete engine and/or tranny rebuild. Lots of rust, is insidious, double the amount you see as it hides everywhere. I would worry about that oil slick on the ground BMW's don't leak like that unless there is a problem, sometimes major, check the shelf at the back of the tranny if there is a pool, rear seal shot. If there is spark and engine turns over and the transmission engages and disengages I would say 2000-3000. You will need at least that much again to fix things yourself but if you have others do it you could spend 3 to 4 times what you paid for it. Good luck and enjoy the ride.

Allan.Atherton · Post by **Allan.Atherton** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 9:29 pm

Is that in reference to the $3000 R69 in the link? He said it runs and rides OK, and the photos look like the engine is oil-tight. Looks like the best of both worlds - good enough ride or cheap enough to restore.

Darbone7260 · Post by **Darbone7260** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 11:54 am

Yeah, He's referring to the bike pictured initially. Mine is oil tight and runs well.

I'm not planning on any deep restoration for it. I have enough projects right now. This one will get a little bit of tidying up and cad plating of the original hardware. I'm going to install a nice Avonaire fairing that I've had sitting on a shelf and ride it for a while.

Larry

Jordan Nygaard · Post by **Jordan Nygaard** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 1:05 pm

Yes the beginning of my previous post was in reference to the link to the 3000 dollar bike, the rest was just observations of the 67 r69s pictures originally posted.

IndyBiker · Post by **IndyBiker** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 9:22 am

Hello again. It has been over a year since I originally posted this thread. As it turned out, I did not end up purchasing this bike. The owner, being kind of indecisive about everything in life, could not decide what he wanted for the bike and just decided not to sell.

Well, just this past week, he decided to give the bike away to his nephew who lives 1200 miles away. Through a strange set of circumstances, I have been hired to haul the bike there next week on a 4x8 trailer!

Never hauling a motorcycle before, I wanted to ask your opinion as to how to best attach the motorcycle to the trailer for a safe tow. In preparation for the trip, I have already mounted the bike on the trailer so that I can fiddle around with it this week and get it just right..

I purchased an "economy" front wheel chock and it is bolted to the trailer. The bike it parked in the chock and strapped down with 8 ratchet ties. It does not move at all (8 ties is probably overkill....).

My question is about the front suspension. One of the shocks is broken and has been taken completely off. Can I rely on the one remaining shock to hold the front end up or should I do some sort of blocking underneath the front fork/suspension so that the frame actually rests on the trailer? It doesn't seem like it is going anywhere, but I don't want to take any chances. With there being only one shock now, the front is rather soft.

Thanks for your help. I hate to see the bike go, but I think the nephew is going to do a total restoration on it and take good care of it.

Thanks.

schrader7032 · Post by **schrader7032** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 10:02 am

Broken shock aside, I believe the key to trailering a bike is to use the suspension to keep the bike from pogoing around. Of course you don't want the bike to roll forward or backward. Sounds like the wheel chock might do that. Most people will roll the bike forward until it hits something solid, such as the forward part of a truck bed. Then with the tie down straps, they pull the bike forward into the wall of the truck bed...no movement forward or backward.

The other key aspect is to keep the bike from bouncing up and down such that, with enough bounces, the wheels slip out from under the bike and it goes down, regardless of the tie downs. To keep this from happening, you need to compress the suspension, say about half way. That way, the spring tension is pushing back on the tires to keep them planted. Even if the trailer hits some bumps, the suspension works and the bike moves up and down but doesn't pogo. The straps need to be secure enough so that if the bike does bottom the suspension, the ends that are tied (to the bike or to the trailer) don't let loose.

One possible way to keep the bike tires from moving sideways might be to somehow restrain the tire to the trailer bed. I guess we're talking rear tire here since you have the chock. But something to resist the movement like tieing it to the bed or wedging something in to restrain the tire.

Those would be my concerns.

Kurt in S.A.

IndyBiker · Post by **IndyBiker** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 10:27 am

Thanks for the tips, Kurt.

I think the front wheel is pretty well planted so it won't move side-to-side, but I had thought about mounting two 2x4 boards running down each side of the bike to make a "track" to hold the wheels. That way the wheels won't slip sideways. Since the trailer has a wooden floor, I can just screw the boards down.

I will do as you suggested and compress the front and back about half-way. Maybe I shouldn't be so worried about the front shock situation since the bike is not carrying a load other than its own weight. Surely it will hold up fine.

Thanks again.

Chris