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1970 R75/5 #2970531 Restoration

T

tko11

New member
Greeting,

I would like to share my new to me 1970 BMW R75/5 (#2970531). I bought it last month (July 24, 2017) with the idea to do an extensive restoration. My wife and I will be empty nesters soon as our only daughter will be going away to college at the end of the month. I'm hoping this project is something we can do together, keep ME out of trouble and learn a whole lot along the way. I hope it works out as neither one of us has undertaken such a endeavor ..... we/I am a rookie and will have many questions!

This bike appears to be very clean, presentable, and well maintained matching numbers /5 from California, 62,879 miles. Spent its life in the San Francisco area and was serviced extensively at the former shop 'Recommended Service' on Revere Ave. It came with a later 'toaster tank' and battery covers. I like them and plan to keep it that way.

Here we go ....
 

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A few more as purchased ...
 

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Welcome aboard TKO. There are a lot of /5 pilots here, you've come to the right place.

You mentioned the scooter is from California, where are you? You might want to update your signature line with your locale, you never know when another airhead is just around the corner.
 
lmo1131 said:
Welcome aboard TKO. There are a lot of /5 pilots here, you've come to the right place.

You mentioned the scooter is from California, where are you? You might want to update your signature line with your locale, you never know when another airhead is just around the corner.
Click to expand...

OK, will do Lew good suggestion. I'm in Orange County, Southern CA. Wow I see you are an original owner, so cool!
 
Based on the photos this bike does NOT need a lot of restoration. Good tune-up and a few (maybe) cosmetic things and this bike is ready to ride or show! Do not overthink or overdo this stuff! It looks like a great bike!!
 
It's also a looker; so ride and enjoy with a smile on your face. I love the look of early and mid 70's Airheads. Ya done good. :thumb
 
Wow. Very nice. I agree with the above post. Not sure there is anything to restore. Enjoy your /5.
 
Is it a survivor?

If the bike is all original you may want to think about not restoring it Survivors are a real big thing in the collector car market. I checked it out on the net and the same thing goes for motorcycles. So give some thought to cleaning it up in fixing it up and enjoy it.
 
Thank you all for the comments. I need a project, something to keep me busy, out of trouble, and hopefully learn a ton. If parts of this /5 that clean up well I won't touch. Also, I have another BMW /6 that is a true survivor .... never restored that I won't touch at all.

Here is some progress ....
 

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Seat, tank & rear subframe are from a later /5

If the paint on the tank & fenders is good or even better, good and original I wouldn't touch it. Toaster tanks didn't come out until late 71 or early 72, the '72 had no pin stripe and '73 had a pin stripe. The early /5 tank was a large touring tank and had a gas cap that opened in the opposite direction of the later tanks including the toaster tank you have, color choice was Avus Black & white stripes, White & Black stripes or '70 Polaris Silver & Blue stripes.

The early /5 bikes didn't have the chrome battery covers so tabs to hold battery covers on the rear sub frame are not supposed to bet there.

The early /5 bike seats had two smaller grab rails in the back and no model designation plate either.

Now that I got the "correct police" stuff out of the way I have to say, that is a nice bike and should be enjoyed the way you want it.

Here is a suggestion or at least an idea of how a true compulsive would resolve the conflict between "I like it the way it is" and "I want it to be correct" scenario you have here.

Part 1
First choose a color, 3 to choose from. Then find the correct gas tank and spare fenders to paint the color of choice. Either grind off the battery cover tabs on the rear sub frame or find a spare one without them. Find a good early /5 seat or seat pan with grab rails and get it recovered in the original type skin. Put a set of Magura low handle bars on with some head light mirrors and enjoy the bike.

Part 2
Find a '72 /5 maybe an R 50/5 (very rare) and use the already painted body parts and odds and ends to put together another very nice and uncommon /5.
 
69zeff65 said:
If the paint on the tank & fenders is good or even better, good and original I wouldn't touch it. Toaster tanks didn't come out until late 71 or early 72, the '72 had no pin stripe and '73 had a pin stripe. The early /5 tank was a large touring tank and had a gas cap that opened in the opposite direction of the later tanks including the toaster tank you have, color choice was Avus Black & white stripes, White & Black stripes or '70 Polaris Silver & Blue stripes.

The early /5 bikes didn't have the chrome battery covers so tabs to hold battery covers on the rear sub frame are not supposed to bet there.

The early /5 bike seats had two smaller grab rails in the back and no model designation plate either.

Now that I got the "correct police" stuff out of the way I have to say, that is a nice bike and should be enjoyed the way you want it.

Here is a suggestion or at least an idea of how a true compulsive would resolve the conflict between "I like it the way it is" and "I want it to be correct" scenario you have here.

Part 1
First choose a color, 3 to choose from. Then find the correct gas tank and spare fenders to paint the color of choice. Either grind off the battery cover tabs on the rear sub frame or find a spare one without them. Find a good early /5 seat or seat pan with grab rails and get it recovered in the original type skin. Put a set of Magura low handle bars on with some head light mirrors and enjoy the bike.

Part 2
Find a '72 /5 maybe an R 50/5 (very rare) and use the already painted body parts and odds and ends to put together another very nice and uncommon /5.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your reply 69zeff65. As mentioned originally, I realized when I bought this bike that it had later parts on it. Its not really a conflict for me as I'm not concerned about being 100% correct. I can totally appreciate originality and being correct but on this project I'm not interested or going after a Concours score .... just doing it for myself. However .... it is always nice to have things somewhat easily reversible.

I assumed when I got the bike I would be painting it, but after getting the fenders off they look original with original paint and pinstriping. The tank also appears to also have its original single stage paint but can't be sure, i'll I post some pics. They all cleaned up really nice so it looks like I will keep them original. A few fender touch ups are needed and on the tank around the fuel petcocks need some attention, but should be worth giving it a try.

I could always find an original early /5 big tank and paint it to match white fenders and an original seat for a 'back to stock' set-up.
 
Last edited:
Would I be safe to assume this tank was originally Gold/Curry #028???
 

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You stated the bike is a "70", but do my eyes deceive me... . but is that a Long Wheel Base swing arm? On a '70 it should not be. But an LWB swing arm would be in keeping with the grab rail. I'm curious, what's the underside of the seat pan look like?

Might just be an optical delusion.;)
LWB.jpg

Short Wheel Base
SWBswingarm-1.jpg


Long Wheel Base (early production w/ weld-in extension)
shaftdrive.jpg


Long wheel Base (later production)
4.JPG
 
That is one good looking bike and it just needs a good clean & tune up. Yes it looks like the bike was repainted.

I took a box of parts basket case, R50/5 frame, stuffed a r75/6 front end, motor & tranny alone with a long wheelbase rear swing arm with a short wheelbase rear sub frame and made it into a bit of a café project. The bike had no collector value so there was nothing to be lost by getting it back on the road as a mutt bike ( my terminology ). It had the original toaster tank in white with the chrome panels and the chrome battery panels. When I was done it was a good looking bike and ran well.

If yours is a complete bike with original pieces, even though it has been repainted, I would be careful what I did to the bike. It may never be a true collector piece but yet a thoroughly enjoyable bike to ride and admire. You might even be able to find the original paint code for that bike. I'm not really sure of the /5 paint schemes.
 
lmo1131 said:
You stated the bike is a "70", but do my eyes deceive me... . but is that a Long Wheel Base swing arm? On a '70 it should not be. But an LWB swing arm would be in keeping with the grab rail. I'm curious, what's the underside of the seat pan look like?
Click to expand...

Hi Lew, It looks like SWB swing arm to me.
 

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You can also tell by looking at the rear shocks

A short wheel base bike has the upper shock mounts right up to the down section of the rear sub frame and the shock will sit pretty much at a 90 degree angle. If it had a SWB sub frame but a LWB swing arm the angle of the shock is noticeable.

I do believe the toaster tank is a curry toaster tank repainted white, I have one out in the shop along with a set of curry fenders. I have a '73 LWB with 9,000 on the clock that was rescued from under a house, I got it with no fenders or tank but everything else completely intact and the motor spins free with compression. I just started messing with it but can't decide on a restoration, clean up and running or just get it running and move it along.
 
69zeff65 said:
I have a '73 LWB with 9,000 on the clock that was rescued from under a house, I got it with no fenders or tank but everything else completely intact and the motor spins free with compression. I just started messing with it but can't decide on a restoration, clean up and running or just get it running and move it along.
Click to expand...

Very cool! Those are hard decisions but really a 'good problem' to have. Post some pics, would love to see it. Whatever you choose its got a great story ... 'Under-a-house find' hehe.
 
My recommendation would be to get a baseline servicing completed, get it running and enjoy. I own an un-restored, original 1973 R75/5 for my daily rider. These /5's are wonderful motorbikes when you learn to handle and adapt to some of the primitive limitations. I see your bike has the original silver-turned-to-gold intake tubes, a fine and rare detail. If it has the 64/32/9&10 Bing carburetors, you have a well sorted machine on your hands. It's a thing of beauty. I am sure Lew would agree.

Ah,...I see it has the 2 screw dome topped Bing carbs. You will have no trouble with them, but not original in the purist sense. I recently bought a 1971 R75/5 with those carbs. They can be made to run just fine on your 750. If the bike has had regular service, they are almost certainly well sorted.
 
Interesting and it made me think a little.

tko11 said:
Very cool! Those are hard decisions but really a 'good problem' to have. Post some pics, would love to see it. Whatever you choose its got a great story ... 'Under-a-house find' hehe.
Click to expand...

The suggestion that I post a couple pictures of the R 75/5 in its current state made me think a little about the bike pictures I like to see posted. Its nice to see super clean original bikes, restored ones, the different colors, and of course the enjoyed bike that shows its history of enjoyment and service.

One of my favorite posts here has been Brooke Reams and his documentation of his projects, I cannot even come close to duplicating his educational value.

I really like the "barn find" and "rescue" pictures and short stories about the find and rescue efforts. I'll make some time this weekend to get a few snap shots of it and post them.

Interesting, I found an answer to a question I didn't know had been bugging me for a while.
 
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