New guy heading to Germany

[Mendonjo]

Hi list,

My name is joe and I live in east TN near chattanooga. I have been a vintage bike nut most of my life (47years) but have never had a BMW. I am partial to a Boxer with an Earles fork front end.

I will be leaving for Germany next weekend and will be there (in Bavaria near the Austrian border) for the next year. I am guessing that finding a vintage BMW is either easy or impossible in Germany (maybe its like trying to find a Knucklehead in Milwaukee ) but was hoping someone had some insight or knew where to point me.

Thanks!

Joe

[schrader7032]

Sounds like fun...I hope to visit some day...I have some research to do on my R25/2.

You should check out Veterama:

http://www.vintagebmw.org/v7/node/8551

From what I understand, you should find someone to go with you who knows a thing or two about BMWs to help you figure things out and separate the wheat from the chafe. I think that most of the "issues" might be with the older pre-war stuff as a lot of people are passing stuff off as legitimate. At any rate, I'm sure it will be very fun to look and ask questions...maybe come away with more information for making an informed decision.

[Darryl.Richman]

Hi Joe! There are a lot of older BMWs in Germany, but they aren't any cheaper than they are here.

While you're in the area, though, you should visit the BMW Museum in Munich and also the vintage BMW Museum in Vorchdorf, Austria (about an hour past Salzburg on the Austrian Autobahn. They have an amazing collection!

Also, hard on the Austrian border and just off the German A-8 is Woflgang Reichenberger (www.bmw-r12.de) who is a fanatic about... R12s. This is somewhat earlier than the kind of bike you're looking for, but you might find them interesting, nonetheless.

[etienne.burgade]

Hi Joe,
My daughter lives in Germany and when I go to visit her, I read "Oldtimer motorradmarkt".
My comprehension of the German market for our bikes : the ones not restored are chipper than in France, but the restored bikes are more expensive.
I have ride my R60 a lot in the north of the country and never see one on the roads.

[R60 Sweden]

At www.mobile.de you can see a little of some of the hilarious sums an unrestored BMW rakes in in Deutschland. Up here in Sweden where I live prices are still ok and the bikes mostly unrestored. If you have the time to travel up to Scandinavia, you are welcome to my garage!!

Here's a list of museums & other points of interest in Germany:

veterama.de

http://www.oldtimermuseen.de/museen.htm

www.fladungen-rhoen.de
2-3 juli

http://www.westerwaldmuseum.de/index.html

http://frankenmotoclassic.com
18 juni

http://www.bmw-museum.com/

http://www.hamburger-motorrad-tage.de
tyvärr i januari

http://www.visitberlin.de/en/spot/1-ber ... rad-museum

http://www.rhein-lahn-info.de/museumsst ... el-bmw.htm
April bis Oktober: jeden 1. Sonntag im Monat von 13.00 - 18.00 Uhr

http://sinsheim.technik-museum.de/en/motorbikes
ligger bredvid: http://speyer.technik-museum.de/motorraeder

http://www.motorradmuseum-heinz-luthringshauser.com/

http://www.zweirad-museum.de/index/pub/anfahrt.html

[Mendonjo]

Thanks for the great responses. I should have plenty of time to check out all the sites. I will be on the lookout for something unrestored or even just a "pile". I take great joy dumping way too much money into a basket case to bring it back to life. Besides it will be a lot easier to ship piles, pieces, and parts back to the U.S. than an assembled motorcycle


joe

[axel69s]

Hi Joe,

welcome to Germany!

I found my bikes in the newspapers, magazines, via Internet and in my neigbourhood.

On the 5th and 6th of May there is a big swapmeet in Ulm. I recommend to visit the place if You are in the south.
There You can see and maybe buy bikes and parts. Google for Technorama Ulm.

Later in the Year You find other swapmeets - but maybe further away.


Regards Axel