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Post photos of your vintage (pre-1970) BMW motorcycle

RR -

Some would affectionately say the 1955 is a /2...of course, some would not! I, too :bikes

They would, especially since a highway peg took out my very small and dangerous tail light. :ha

My bike was made in the early part of 1955, so it is actually just a R50.

Make no mistake, they cost just as much as the Cash 2's.
:ha
 
Fritz and Nellie

just completed servicing the slingers on Nellie 1963 r69s all original dover white I purchased bike from original ownner in Jamestown NY Fritz 1969 R60/2 all original

Love these bikes
 

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Max and Fritz BR PKWY labor day

Max and Fritz
These two bikes have always been together we purchased them from the original ownners widow years ago we took them for some excersise on labor day weekend .Rode the Blueridge PKWY had a blast
 

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'43 r75

Guys,
Here is my 1943 R75 still under restoration, but at least it is now running.
(That ugly old guy shoving it into gear, is me)

The next time your at the National MOA rally, watch for it. I'll have the MG 34 machine gun of the side car, along with a original 1943 fuel (Jerry) can on the hack.
These are pretty cool bikes. They have a high/low range shift on the input shaft, plus 4 gears with reverse. This gives you 8 forward gears, and 2 in reverse. And, the this bike is equipped with a differential on the final drive. This means both the bike wheel and the side car wheel pull. And there is a lock out lever that you can use to lock the differential so both wheels will pull without spinning when it is stuck in the mud. When you use this feature, you cannot steer the bike any longer. No matter what you do with the handlebars, the bike goes straight ahead. The other interesting feature is that it has hydraulic drum brakes on the rear wheel of the bike and the side car wheel. When the bike is finished, with the fuel cans, storage boxes, and machine gun, it will weigh in at around 1000 lbs. Fast it is not, but it makes up for that in being unusual.
 

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Not my bike, but I shot I took to show that the R75 was the first G/S. It says so right on the bike. OK, maybe an S/G. :)

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I want one!

Where in the h@#* did you find these bikes?.....not my business but if I were to buy one needing a little work, what kind of coin-of-the-realm are we talking about?

These machines are amazing.......
 
1925 R32 plus a reply

Where in the h@#* did you find these bikes?.....not my business but if I were to buy one needing a little work, what kind of coin-of-the-realm are we talking about?

These machines are amazing.......

Terry,

And, the RUN. I ride them.

This photo is of me riding my 1925 R32 taken 4 years ago, in front of my shop.

If you want to see the collection, go to www.benchmarkworks.com and click on the museum to see what I own.

I have been slowly collecting and restoring these bikes over the last 35 years.
I have found most all of them here in the USA, through trades, luck, cash and more luck.
Of course, they were all unrestored, in pieces, in boxes when I got most of them.
Buying one, well let me give you some advice.
Any 1951 - 1969 BMW is the best thing to go for, if you are new at this. Mainly because almost everything is available new. Pre 1950 BMW's parts are sporadic, and some of the reproduction parts that are available are of poor quality. As far as buying one that "needs a little work" be it post or pre war, is usually wishful thinking, as far as it's condition. Keep in mind in the long run, it is far cheaper to buy a restored bike, (that has documentation, showing all the work and parts put into it, and who did the work) and pay the big bucks, that it is to buy one in a box, and restore it yourself or pay some one to do it for you. I do this work for a living. The average R50 - R69S, by the time you have painted it, done all the mechanical work, bought all the parts, and paid the labor, you will have 20K in it. Sadly, the average selling price for a R50 - R69S is $10 - $16 K these days. So you can see how this works out, money wise. And if you think $10 - $16 K is a lot, an R12 sells for $20 to $25K or R75 from WWII sells for $30K - $45K or more these days for a good running, restored one.
 

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My 1936 R17

Guys,

This is my 1936 R17. The photo was at the Return to Shilloh Rally in Tn, in 2006. They are quite rare. They made only 434 of them, between 1935 and 1937. It is an overhead valve 750. For it's era, is is very fast, and was considered the ultimate Gentleman's sport bike. It was also the most expensive motorcycle made in Europe at the time. It cost more than new automobiles of the era. (which is why so few of them were made. It will run right at, (but not quite) 100 miles an hour. The brakes are the same drum brakes as an R12 however, so when you apply the brakes at any speed over 60 mph is starts to slow down, and then the brakes get hot, and it just keeps going! You have to be very careful with it.
I rode this bike from Sturgis, Mississippi to Barber's Museum in Birmingham for the RA national several years ago. Won oldest bike ridden to the RA national. Had a lot of fun on the way, and on the way back. I've also ridden it to the Huntsville AL Chicken rally (Which is about 5 hours one way). The only real inconvenience is that it has no provision to automatically oil the roller rocker arms. So, every time you stop for gas, you must pull the hot valve covers, and squirt lubricant on the rollers of each rocker arm. (I use STP in a squeeze bottle, it sticks to the rollers for a long time) The spark advance is not automatic, it is manual.
The left grip twists in the opposite direction from the throttle grip, and it controls the timing. You must ALWAYS remember to retard the timing before you attempt to kick start the bike. If you forget, the engine will kick back and make you think you broke your foot! As you take off from a standing start, you twist the left grip forward, and then just leave it in the full advance position as you ride. When you come to a stop however, the engine will race, even with the throttle closed, until you twist the advance back to the retard position, and then the engine will slow to a nice idle. This bike has two Amal Fischer slide carbs, one for each cyl. Amal (an English brand) was made under license in Germany by Fischer carb, hence the name on the float bowls, Amal Fischer.
Oh yea, where did I find it? In lots of pieces, in Maine.... The left cylinder had been broken off the case, in a wreck, during WW II. Who knows why whoever owned it did not give it to the scrap drive in WWII but I'm sure glad they didn't! I managed to save the original case, and got it repaired, so the frame, original steering head ID plate and engine numbers match.
 

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Website

I had a look at your website......wow..you own all those bikes?.....is the museum open to the public?....one of my future trips is to SD but not for the rally..either before or after....would love to drop by and have a look see....
 
RE: Website

I had a look at your website......wow..you own all those bikes?.....is the museum open to the public?....one of my future trips is to SD but not for the rally..either before or after....would love to drop by and have a look see....

Yes, I do own all those bikes.

Yes, the museum is open to the public. Bench Mark Works business hours are 8am to 5 pm Mon - Thurs and 8am to noon on Fri.

But, I think you have the wrong Sturgis in mind. We are not located in SD, we are in MISSISSIPPI.

Since I live here at the shop, I'm generally here on weekends also.

Anybody interested in old BMW's is always welcome.
 
It looks like I did

Vech did an outstanding job on the drive train and Holt BMW got the sheet metal all fixed up and finished. I have about 1,500 miles on the restoration and have been invited to Amelia Island this year. Yep its a rider but it does spend its off time in my living room with three of its brothers.
 

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