1965 R69S Restore

Okay, i've got a chance to do something I've always wanted to do - buy and restore an R69S.
The bike is complete, save for the exhaust and handlebars. It is in one piece, matching numbers, etc. It will eventually need a top-down restoration.
My question is:
Is $3000 a fair price? What will it cost me to restore it, assuming I will outsource the engine, transmission, carburetor, etc. for rebuild, and assemble it all myself?
I'm thinking of just getting it running (rebuild the engine), driving it, and then restoring it later....
Any suggestions? I have til tomorrow to pull the trigger on the $3K... no, you can't have the guy's phone number!

The price seems reasonable, but you didn't say anything about when the last time the engine ran or mileage and anything about the cosmetics - rust, dents, etc. Depending on your capability, you may be able to do some of the work yourself, such as carbs (not really that difficult) and teardown so that someone else can do the overhaul. That's what I'm doing on my '69 R69S. Parts and services are available, one of which is Vech down in Mississippi (he's a contributor to the MOA magazine from time to time). Plus there's plenty of on-line support - here, the /2 forum, and Boxerworks.

I've heard numbers like $5K to buy, $5K for a mechanical restoration, and $5K (at least) for a ground-up restoration. You'll never recover the money but if you're after the nostalgia, maybe doubling your initial purchase price is what you're looking at, possibly more. I've already doubled my initial purchase price and I'm still not done!

There was a recent discussion on the Vintage forum about what kind of restoration is warranted...I prefer to keep things as stock as I can and let the bike show its history. I want it to be mechanically solid but I won't fret too much about the detailed cosmetics.

This probably belongs on the Vintage board and I'm sure the moderator will move it.

Good luck!

Kurt in S.A.

Have fun

The chances are very good that you will spend more on the restoration than the bike will be worth. Hobbies are like that. Salmon fishing costs more than the fish would cost in a store, amature athletes spend tons to follow their pursuits and motorcycle restorers spend more than can be justified by a purely financial measurement. This will be a labor of love, but costs will accumulate. Every time you get that "Ah Ha" moment when you realize how clever the German engineers were you get a little pay back. Every time things fit back together just so you get a pay back, and when the photo essay of the restoration is gathering dust, and you are in the habit of riding the bike, washing the bike and gazing at it in the garage (with a cool beverage in hand) you get paid back. Buy the bike and have fun with it.

Consider that you will probably put $1-2k into paint. If you send your motor off, it will probably cost in the same range. The transmission could be less than $1k. If you've had an opportunity to do any plating recently, you know that the cost is out of sight. The exhaust system will cost you several hundred dollars.

There are certain pitfalls in these bikes, just like in the Airheads and the Oilheads. Read my page on the oil slingers, for example. To avoid some surprises, makie sure the engine is free and has compression, that the transmission shifts through all the gears, and that everything is, as far as you can tell, straight.

On the positive side, nearly everything is available and there are several places to turn for advice and support. And when you are done and it fires up, it won't matter that you way overspent.

Good tips. Sorry about the mis-post, shoulda been in Vintage.

So, it appears that this will be a labor of love. I haven't been too lucky in love, either human or mechanical restoration projects...
To that end, Darryl's post was a good dose of reality, especially the link regarding the crank. Excellent source of info - thanks.

What would one expect to pay for a restored original R69S? I'm just wonderin'... I prolly couldn't bring myself to buy someone else's project. Nice thing about doing it yourself is that you know what you're riding. Like marriage - for better or worse...

I've seen restored R69Ses asking for about $10k in recent years. I don't know if they've been getting that.

How much?

3K for an all together R69s? You might want to make sure you dont pass it up?

.02 cents worth

this WAS it:
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/mcy/175169103.html

My friend bought it for much less, offered it to me for $3k.

At least it's well on its way to disassembly for the engine rebuild. That saves some time!! Doesn't look too bad...obvious issues with sitting for so long. I don't see a transmission in the pile-o-parts...

Kurt in S.A.

These pictures are too small and too few to really get an idea of what you might be buying. Please take anything I say with a grain of salt, therefore.

Also, you should probably start perusing Craig Vechorik's web site for parts and prices. He's the "go to" man for this project. If you buy the bike, your second and third purchases should be a parts manual and the BMW factory repair manual. You may find the Clymer manual helpful because it tends to fill in where the factory manual assumes you went through the factory school, but beware, it has a number of mistakes in it.

It's too bad about the handlebars. The original risers and the original hi/lo/horn button are particularly expensive bits for what they are (probably about $300 together). You can get new "perches" for the brake and clutch levers, if those are missing, just takes money.

The little light or fuse or whatever it is on the left front of the headlight bucket isn't original. A restoration of the speedo is $2-300. It's difficult to tell, but if the headlight bucket is open, check that the "circuit board" under the "key" is in good condiition. You will have to remove it when you paint the bucket and also want to grease the "key" lock; it's held on with 4 bent over tabs and they only have a few bends in them before they break off instead... Also, if the reflector is rusty, you'll have to get a new one.

I see valve covers, but what about cylinders and heads? If you need to replace those, that will add a lot to your parts and machining bill! Similarly, it looks like the engine front cover and timing chest cover are off, but I don't see them in the buckets. You want to make sure you have the original cam and crankshaft gears at least; they were sized as a set for the motor, for quiet running, and you will have difficulty finding a new set that works well. (The motor case should have a + or - number stamped into it around the top front, and this indicates the offset of the cam and crank shafts' centers from the nominal value, in 10ths of a mm. BMW made -- and still does make! -- these gear sets in values from -10 to +10.) I also don't see the carbs.

Since the bike is somewhat apart, bring some string with you and tie a loop of it around the front and rear tire, running in the clear area under the motor. By turning the front forks, you ought to be able to get the string to touch both sides of the rear of the front tire and the front of the rear tire, if the frame and forks are straight.

Good luck!