Jockey Journal Forum banner

Old bmw hot rod project pics

17K views 62 replies 25 participants last post by  knuck39 
#1 ·
I bought this bike about six years ago. It is a BMW R60/2- commonly called a "Slash two" by BMW folks. The were produced in this model from about 1955-1969. What makes this bike different is that it is made from the left over/junk parts of four bikes, but specifically the motor is an "Airhead" from the 1970s-1990s. When you get one to fit into the old chassis it is like putting a Big Block in an S10 truck. Not only can your horsepower go from 26 HP to 60+ HP, but you get 12 Volts, 5 Speed transmission and most importantly electric start.

I will let the pictures do most of the talking but to start off the thread I have been working on it in between two tours in Iraq which is why it was still unfinished. Since I got it running and driving before my first trip I never pulled it apart for finishing and just rode it like it was. I decided in the middle of this last tour that I would finally pull it down and make it look nice.

I first started this 500 Triumph...

http://www.jockeyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=93515

...and then ran out of parts for it and had some time one weekend and decided to pull this apart...Wow, I had Triumph and BMW parts all over my shop.

These are just a few pics of the before, during, when I was riding it unfinished, and then the tear down and re-finish. I will post more pics to fill in the gaps, but it was a complete rebuild to include paint, powder coat and engine.

Scott
 

Attachments

See less See more
6
#29 ·
Here are some pictures of why this bike had so many rough parts. I used all the left oevr/worst parts from these two bikes I did a while back. The Granada Red bike is an R50 and the Black is an R60. Both were complete rebuilds to include the oil slingers in the engine. This was done at my friend, Kevin Brooks' shop in Olympia, WA- http://www.brooksmotorworks.com/. As you can see, he holds a few world records on vintage BMWs. He is big into Land Speed Racing on these old bikes and I plan to see them at Bonneville again this summer.

Scott
 

Attachments

#30 ·
I have to say that I know absolutely nothing about BMW bikes but they are beautiful machines, especially the older models. I did repair work at a BMW auto shop for years and they were so well built and designed that I have to believe the bikes are no less well made. Nice pics.
 
#31 ·
"Why old bikes are cool"... Things like the two-three days it takes to rebuild a pair of shocks reminds me why old bikes are cool. If they were easy to build, everyone would have one.
First I had to make a jig from steel tubing and then polish and powder coat everything. Heat and remove/replace the shock dampners. All the new shock eyes where a bear to heat, press out and replace.

Scott
 

Attachments

#32 ·
Setting in the motor is really a TIGHT squeeze...remember this is a 1976 engine and had to have modifications to the bike to take the motor. Even with all the rags and care there was still one scratch going in, but not bad.

Next was the transmission and then the rear drive unit.

Scott
 

Attachments

#33 ·
All the hard work is over and now is the detail work like wiring and small touches. I couldn't wait to use this cloth covered wire on the places that wiring showed like here on the brake light switch. Lots of polished stainless bolts make the details pop.

Scott
 

Attachments

#34 ·
The wheels cleaned up great even though I put them together five years ago. The wiring is a hodge podge if Kawasaki coils, VW parts and a few trips to NAPA. I will tuck it all in nice.

Scott
 

Attachments

#40 ·
The BMW /2 conversions are great bikes. Good looks, lots of reliability, and they stop/go a lot better if done right.

I have a '55 R60 with a R90S engine and trans, dual disc brakes on the Earles forks, and a sidecar. Also a '63 R69S with a R90 engine, swingarm, and both wheels. Then there is the basket case with another R90S engine, etc. No, I didn't destroy rare bikes, they were built from pieces, some by me, some by unknown others. Your bikes look great, I like the Chinese Red one. I have Dover white sheetmetal with Hoske tank to put on one of mine. My late model BMW is a /5 with 900 cylinders, Lester mags, etc.

Old BMW's are as reliable as any new bike in my book.
 
#41 ·
I know nothing about BMW engines but i would love to learn more...

some guys prefer knuckles, shovel, evos etc etc and it must be kinda the same when it comes to BMW motors..

what year is a good engine??
reliable is a key word and easy to work with....


maybe a hard Q to answer?
 
#42 ·
I know nothing about BMW engines but i would love to learn more..
Any BMW engine from the /5 intro in'69 is a dead simple machine. The earlier /2 engines are great but expensive to repair roller bearing crankshafts and special equipment is required to do it.
The /5 and up airhead engines use normal inserts on rod bearings. The weakest points are electrics and stripped fasteners from overzealous mechanics! The electrics are all available with modern updates so no big deal there. The best are the /6 R75 and R90 for ease of repair, 5 speed transmissions, and total parts availability, but any /5-/7 is great!
Robbie
 
#45 ·
I have a /2 and a /6 and am still trying to figure out the differences and all this / stuff.....Good bikes though!
Yeah, weird stuff for sure!
Every series seemed to have a slash (/) something in it due to a major upgrade but not a new model!
I have a '55 R69. It is a /1 in its series because it is the first generation. In '60 BMW made an across the board upgrade and all the models, R50, R60, R69 became /2s. People mistakenly call all Earls forked, swingarm framed models slash twos. They are not, slash two started in mid '60!
The new for '69 engine for some reason started at /5. The upgrades are /6 and /7 with many parts interchanging.
All very confusing and very German.
As a side note, when i was building my R69 I was getting ready to assemble it and could not believe I had all the parts laid out as there were not enough. With a background in building custom and restored H-Ds the piles were not nearly big enough! but as I progressed and started to bolt it all up I realized the engineers had made just about every part perform multiple functions. As opposed to H-D who added more pieces to make things work the BMW engineers removed parts.
Fascinating!!
And by the way, the bike in this thread is very cool! I am not a big fan of conversions ( spent too much time repairing poorly built ones for friends. Hopefully none of it came from North Georgia :eek:) but this one appears very well done.
Robbie
 
#46 ·
/5 was the big upgrade where the engines got a real oiling system and electric starters, and they went back to telescopic forks and stopped putting sidecar lugs on the frame. /6 is where they got disc brakes up front for the first time. After that I dunno what the major differences are.

I just dragged this old girl home this weekend ('72 R60/5). Gonna be my new summer putt-around bike (sorry for the hijack too, but BMW threads are few and far between)

 
#47 ·
The bike has been done for a couple weeks and I have been going on short trips to get all the bugs out. Today was nice out and I went on a long ride with no issues...I guess that means the build is complete.

The End.

Scott~
 

Attachments

#48 ·
I just found another of the old BMWs last weekend. It already has an R90S motor in it and they were 67 HP back in 1974. I got the original motor/trans also. I took the heads in to fix a valve seat and get the cylinders honed for some new rings.
I guess I wil have to start a new build thread~

Scott
 

Attachments

#52 ·
I did not start a new thread yet. I like to wait until I get in full swing since I hate when people start a new thread and then you never hear anything else about it. Also, people highjack your threads when not posting...but keep posted because I did get the heads/cylinders blasted and redone so the motor is sitting in the stand ready to go back together. Attached is a pic of what I plan to build.
In my defense, I did just star/finish a 69 Chevy truck this month...sidetracked a little.
Scott
 

Attachments

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top