R
rbleau
Guest
Eagle River Red
This is a classic tale...with recent great success. But the tale begins far away and long ago when, as a young man in 1972, a hard charging former Marine with a Yamaha R5C 350 two-stoker in Southern California, found myself out of curiosity in Irv Seaver's shop on Main Street in Santa Ana. I had previously been exposed to the BMW marque just once, in Abilene Texas in 1971, but I remembered the quiet and impressive putter putter sound of a white /2 after it was kick started and settled into calm operation. So there I was around May of 1972. Irv Seaver politely showed me around his dealership, and I was introduced to Evan Bell, the present owner, who I am sure does not remember me, but anyway there I was. I bought, for I think $400 a nice running 1960 R60/2 with handlebar mounted wind deflector (Wixom ? Bates ?) and leather bags. Let time fast forward, through numerous motorcycles and life events, to May 2010, at which time I sold my then-current BMW, a nice 1977 R100S, and was ÔÇ£without BMWÔÇØ. I had enjoyed my /2, and a new 1974 R90/6, and a 1961 R27, and a 1983 R65LS, and a 2000 R1100RS, and two 1977 R100S bikes and a 1977 R100/7....but I had decided, partly for nostalgic reasons, that I wanted an R60/5. And I wanted a 1973 LWB. And I wanted it in Granada Red. The hunt began. A fellow BMW enthusiast, Charlie in Oshkosh, WI, noticed an eBay ad for a red 1973 R60. That listing timed out without reserve being met. Hmmm. Emails to the seller went unanswered. Well, it was way premature to give up, so Charlie and I dug out BMW Anonymous and located Beemer Bob as the sole listing for Eagle River, WI which was the advertised location of the R60. Beemer Bob did some sleuthing and came up with an email address for the seller. Still no go. Then a second eBay listing ran, and again the reserve was not met. One email to the listing address got a muted response. The bike was restored by Cycle Werks of Barrington, Illinois around 1998, had been ridden little - maybe 200 miles - since then and was mostly stored with a caretaker in a hanger at the Eagle River airport along with a Piper Cub and what not for family vacation use. Well, I made a final appeal to Beemer Bob and he gave it another shot, and I finally got connected with the seller. Charlie and his bride drove to Eagle River and inspected for me, money and title exchanged hands, and Charlie rode 150 miles back to his home in Oshkosh, at night, on surface roads, among deer, using a bolt for a key in the ignition circuit, on 1996 tires (they looked good) on a machine that we later realized had not had an annual service since 1998. Last week Paul and I loaded the R60, now showing ÔÇô yes ÔÇô a genuine 11,741 miles on the odometer ÔÇô in an enclosed U haul and ÔÇ£Eagle River Red the R60/5 LWBÔÇØ , manufactured in January 1973, now resides in Texas and is wearing 1973 TX motorcycle plates courtesy of the generosity and tenacity of 3 BMW enthusiasts, Charlie, Bob and Paul, that helped me secure this very sweet ride. The so-called ÔÇ£barn bikesÔÇØ are still out there.
This is a classic tale...with recent great success. But the tale begins far away and long ago when, as a young man in 1972, a hard charging former Marine with a Yamaha R5C 350 two-stoker in Southern California, found myself out of curiosity in Irv Seaver's shop on Main Street in Santa Ana. I had previously been exposed to the BMW marque just once, in Abilene Texas in 1971, but I remembered the quiet and impressive putter putter sound of a white /2 after it was kick started and settled into calm operation. So there I was around May of 1972. Irv Seaver politely showed me around his dealership, and I was introduced to Evan Bell, the present owner, who I am sure does not remember me, but anyway there I was. I bought, for I think $400 a nice running 1960 R60/2 with handlebar mounted wind deflector (Wixom ? Bates ?) and leather bags. Let time fast forward, through numerous motorcycles and life events, to May 2010, at which time I sold my then-current BMW, a nice 1977 R100S, and was ÔÇ£without BMWÔÇØ. I had enjoyed my /2, and a new 1974 R90/6, and a 1961 R27, and a 1983 R65LS, and a 2000 R1100RS, and two 1977 R100S bikes and a 1977 R100/7....but I had decided, partly for nostalgic reasons, that I wanted an R60/5. And I wanted a 1973 LWB. And I wanted it in Granada Red. The hunt began. A fellow BMW enthusiast, Charlie in Oshkosh, WI, noticed an eBay ad for a red 1973 R60. That listing timed out without reserve being met. Hmmm. Emails to the seller went unanswered. Well, it was way premature to give up, so Charlie and I dug out BMW Anonymous and located Beemer Bob as the sole listing for Eagle River, WI which was the advertised location of the R60. Beemer Bob did some sleuthing and came up with an email address for the seller. Still no go. Then a second eBay listing ran, and again the reserve was not met. One email to the listing address got a muted response. The bike was restored by Cycle Werks of Barrington, Illinois around 1998, had been ridden little - maybe 200 miles - since then and was mostly stored with a caretaker in a hanger at the Eagle River airport along with a Piper Cub and what not for family vacation use. Well, I made a final appeal to Beemer Bob and he gave it another shot, and I finally got connected with the seller. Charlie and his bride drove to Eagle River and inspected for me, money and title exchanged hands, and Charlie rode 150 miles back to his home in Oshkosh, at night, on surface roads, among deer, using a bolt for a key in the ignition circuit, on 1996 tires (they looked good) on a machine that we later realized had not had an annual service since 1998. Last week Paul and I loaded the R60, now showing ÔÇô yes ÔÇô a genuine 11,741 miles on the odometer ÔÇô in an enclosed U haul and ÔÇ£Eagle River Red the R60/5 LWBÔÇØ , manufactured in January 1973, now resides in Texas and is wearing 1973 TX motorcycle plates courtesy of the generosity and tenacity of 3 BMW enthusiasts, Charlie, Bob and Paul, that helped me secure this very sweet ride. The so-called ÔÇ£barn bikesÔÇØ are still out there.