#638560

Need some help here please.

This is an unusual case so if it sounds familiar it is probably you.

A BMW is sent to Butler and Smith at the very end of 1964 and shows up in Munich in July, 1970.

Above named (numbered?) R50/2 was manufactured on Oct. 28th, 1964.
It was delivered to Butler and Smith in NYC on 12/28/64 with American Bars, a "bench seat" (that goes outside the shock towers) and a MPH speedometer. While the bike was delivered to B & S, maybe it was sent to another dealer in another state. Did all Beemers go through B & S first?

We next meet up with said vehicle where I purchased it in a seedy second hand scooter shop in Munich in July 1970, equipped as delivered stateside. (It also had/has an eight gallon metal tank without a tool kit box in it. I don't know when that was put on.) It did have a hidden flaw in the engine that was chewing up the aluminum cam gear and wrecking pistons and cylinders. But that didn't show up until several thousand miles later.

There was a large military presence in Germany in 1970, could it have been a GI that took his bike there with him?

Most curious, buying a bike stateside, taking it to Germany, and then leaving it there.
Maybe the motor bought the farm once there and was unloaded on the scooter shop and a sloppy repair was made just to make a few DM. I know Virginia Beach, VA. has autos frequently abandonned as guys/gals ship out. Maybe the motor was bad and the scooter shop bought it when and if it was abandonned? All guesses.

Ring a bell? Bike is still in family hands, just trying to fill in the gaps. It has crossed the Atlantic 5 times (once by air freight), the Straight of Gibraltar once.

Any ideas where else I could post?

Thank you for your time.

Of all the information I've collected from various owners, if it was delivered to the US, it went to Bulter and Smith. That doesn't prove anything, but that's all I've seen so far.

Without titles to go with each owner change, finding the complete history is really going to take some extraordinary luck. How do you know about the Atlantic crossings? Is there any contact information from that which would let you figure out the history?

Do the numbers still match, engine and frame? If work was done on the engine, maybe at some point, the engine couldn't be saved and another was substituted.

Duane Ausherman was a dealer back in those days out in California. He's probably forgotten more than he knows since he's been away from actual bike maintenance. He does have a very nice website:

http://w6rec.com/duane/bmw/index.htm

He and a number of other knowledgeable /2 gurus are also on this forum:

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/slash2/

It's free to join...you might want to pose your questions there, also.

Crossing #1: To Butler and Smith
Crossing #2: (somehow got to Munich)
Crossing #3: I took passenger liner to US with bike. Papers from this purchase still exist.
Crossing #4: I shipped bike to Morocco when I worked there for 2.5 years.
Crossing #5: Rode bike up to Madrid and air freighted it to NYC.
Sold bike to good friend who has it now.

Engine number no longer matches.

I got the engine sorted out and it ran well for several years but eventually the crank had just been through too much and I put in a rebuilt R60 that is in it now. Original block may be in Lansing where this took place, but that was back in the 70's.

Thank you for your help.