Old bmw hot rod project pics

[Scott in Missouri]

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/s...ad.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

[Scott in Missouri]

Wheels were shot. Powder coated black, stainless spokes, blasted hubs and new Metzler ME880s.

[Scott in Missouri]

Fitting the motor requires some cutting and welding and adapting the drive-shaft also. Then re-wiring and a new stainless steel exhaust header pipes and mufflers.

[Mike Britton]

I worked with a guy that had an early beemer. That thing was dead nuts dependable!
Looks like sweet ride. Thanks for covering our asses in the "sandbox"

[rockett]

Love a BMW. Good stuff. Like your trump project too, btw.

Don't you know that electric start is for wussies?? (;P)

[Scott in Missouri]

The engine ran good but was looking tired and had a leaking rear manin seal and push-rod tube seals.

[Scott in Missouri]

Aside from fixing all the leaks and cleaning up the engine, one main thing I wanted to accomplish was to paint the cylinders black like the older/original /2's had since they were steel and not aluminum.

Scott

[rockett]

Dang, that is SHARP. I've always loved those motors, I'll probably never get my hands on one, though. The wife says that's a good thing, I have too many other hunks to play with right now.

I like the black paint. What did you use?

[Scott in Missouri]

Before I could pull everything apart for sandblasting I had to fit the new front end on the bike. The bike had a "1969 only" telescopic fork that was replaced with the more vintage "Earles Fork" or commonly called a "leading link" front end. The benefit is when you hit the front brake with an Earles Fork the front end doesn't dive down like a telescopic, but actually comes up slightly and is the prefered front end for side cars because of their stability in corners.

Scott

[Cosmo]

Nice looking scoot. Couple things you probably already know, but what the heck.

The Earles fork brake is only slightly better than rubber-soled sneakers, careful setup is necessary here, as is lowered expectations. It is a stable front end, but feels like you're rotating a merry-go-round with the heft of it. Personally, I like the looks far more than the performance.

The engine I like better. You probably know that all 650/750/900/1000 BMWs share stroke dimension, the increase was entirely due to overbore. If you've already lept ahead, yes, all you need for a 1000cc increase is two cylinders and two pistons. Using Luftmeister wrist pins (lighter weight) eases the shakes that were known of the 1000s.

Beyond that - great bikes for long mileages. And you've the comfy seat. Love the Denfield!!

Cosmo

P.S. You can run the front fork pivot in the front hole without fear. Eases the steering abit, even solo.

[ElkCreek]

Wow! Sweet Project. I hope to sell or trade off my Shovelhead this summer for a Mid to Late 70's BMW.

[honkytonking]

Hell yea I'm glad there are some posts about old bmws

[Rubone]

Be sure you upgrade the damper units in the front shocks, and use the heavy duty springs, even for solo use and especially with the /6 engine. I change all mine as I prefer sharper handling to the stock floating ride! My R69 and R69S are standard engines, no conversions for me. I've worked on a bunch and never met one I really liked! But it looks like yours is well thought out and headed in the right direction.
For more performance I ride my old R100RS equipped with a big bore kit, High comp forged pistons, light pins, ported heads with triple springs and titanium collars, roller thrust conversion, sport cam, dual plugged, light flywheel, modified airbox and modified mufflers. It revs to 8500 and pulls that in high gear with the standard rear end! And it has been all over the country with zero issues! And it only cost $2200 initially!
My '55 R69 on a vintage ride. My '47 Knuckle too!

[knallert]

i have allways wanted one of those "beemers".. dear santa (read GF)

love the strange looking engine, almost ailien looking

good job on saving that old lady..

[twowheeledhell]

That things rad-a few guys around here I wish I could stop and take a look at their R's. Neat bikes-just a different type of motorcycle in my opinion-wish I could put on in my garage.....

Nice job bringing it back!

Justen

[Monte03]

Rubone,
Who did the Motor Work?,
I can only Imagine a worked R100RS, Love them, My S Pulls great even in stock form...

[Rubone]

Monte03,
San Jose BMW did the heads and lightened the flywheel, I did the rest. I also run a telefix fork brace, billet top tree, progressive springs, etc. I did all of it to keep up with my wife on her VFR!
Robbie

[Monte03]

Originally Posted by Rubone

Monte03,
San Jose BMW did the heads and lightened the flywheel, I did the rest. I also run a telefix fork brace, billet top tree, progressive springs, etc. I did all of it to keep up with my wife on her VFR!
Robbie

My Black R100 Has early San Jose top tree, brace, anti dive kit,
an era gone by but they are great bikes, slap a set of Bags on a beemer and just go.. one of the best things I did for this fairly stock machine was to send out the Bing Carbs to 'Bing Agency' Charlie set me up with the Independent Floats, Wow, stronger mid range and just over all ran better, of course the pollution lines were removed early on... Posts some RS pictures

[4444Design]

love her!

nice project!

[JLeather]

Rubone, got any links or advice for upgraded front springs and damper units? My VW-Slash2 conversion bike could really use heavier front springs and dampers. It handles ok, but it does ride like it's on airbags.

[Rubone]

got any links or advice for upgraded front springs and damper units

The standard set-up for sidecars was to switch the rear springs to the front and add the sidecar springs in the rear, stiffens it all up, many suppliers have them , Bench mark works, Bob's, Blue Moon, all should have them. Koni made the best shocks but they are long gone. Ikon suspension out of Australia makes nice damper units.
Robbie

[JLeather]

Robbie, I've got a pile of springs in a box here. What's the best way to tell Front/Rear/Sidecar springs apart? I suspect my conversion bike already has sidecar springs on it, since it had a sidecar on it before I got it.

[Scott in Missouri]

These fenders were just some of the very worst available and need a lot of work. The were packed full of filler and the rear hinge area was a disaster. I couldn't even work with them and had to have them sandblasted by my friend Bruce at Owen's Sand Blasting. I actually thought about splicing in a new fender, but in the end wanted the factory look so I settled in an got out the hammer, dolly and welder.
First I had to take the pin out to make the fender two pieces because you can see how the thick steel hinge was sprung out of shape. I actually had to cut/break the hinge loose flatten everything out so it would draw up tight when closed and then re-weld it. I tackled the larger front half first and got it straight. Next, I worked the rear half....I remember thinking I wanted to be doing something else, but it was time to just get comfortable and relax because I was going to be here a while. When the rear half was straight and all the holes were welded shut I attached it to the front half and started working the hinge and ensuring the when it closed the two halves would come together perfectly straight. The back section was so bad that I even had to cut/drill out the 50 year old rivets so that I could get to the bad metal and then put the fender stays in the vise and tweak them.


Scott

[49Flat]

Great job on that BMW, beautiful bike.

[Scott in Missouri]

I used tape to make a line where I wanted to trim the metal to. Then it was just a lot of shaving a little, checking and taking a little more until it all fit tight when the “pie” shape closed together. Next was all the body work and priming which was of course time consuming and tedious also.
When it was ll done I put everything together for a test fit with the hinge and fender stays. A little tweaking and it all fit great and was ready for final sanding and paint.


Scott

[belltown]

thats cool man, I am restoring and original paint one now, I have a buddy who has a 61 r60 with a /5 engine in it, its very cool, nice bike

[Scott in Missouri]

...and finally some black PPG. It will look good next to all the polished parts and the black powdercoating by Powder Paint of Lebanon, MO.

Scott

[Rubone]

Looks great Scott! Looking forward to the finished product. Any mods to the engine?
Robbie

[Scott in Missouri]

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

[kickstarts]

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.

[Scott in Missouri]

"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

[Scott in Missouri]

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

[Scott in Missouri]

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

[Scott in Missouri]

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

[JLeather]

Are you running the original swingarm/final drive on that later model trans? Anything have to be changed, or did it mate right up?

[Scott in Missouri]

A sneak peak until I can get a few clearer pics uploaded.

Scott

[Rubone]

Looking great Scott! Hope the run-out goes as well as the build!
Robbie

[sweatmachine]

Damn that's cool! Well done!

[Okie Pete]

Very nice Bike. Thank you for your service

[R90S/2]

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.

[knallert]

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?

[Rubone]

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

[Creepinogie]

I have a /2 and a /6 and am still trying to figure out the differences and all this / stuff.....Good bikes though!

[knallert]

Originally Posted by Rubone

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

Thanks for the info.
and OP im sorry for the hi jack of the thread..
got so damn excited i had to ask...
BMW sure made some wounderful stuff!

Craiglist here i come... (sssshh dont tell my girlfriend!)

[Rubone]

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 ) but this one appears very well done.
Robbie

[JLeather]

/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)

[Scott in Missouri]

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~

[Scott in Missouri]

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

[4444Design]

still a nice rig - like i stated before

always good to keep old stuff alive

[knallert]

Scott: did you start a new thread about the new build?


cheers

[Okie Pete]

Scott, Great job on the first BMW. Good Luck on the 2nd.
Thank You for your service.

[Scott in Missouri]

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

[knallert]

people = me... and im sorry for the hijack scott.. wont happen again.
these machines just facinate me.. alot.. cant get my mind off them...

sure look forward to your build thread.


cheers

[Soulfur]

I know that they are slowly emptying the barn at the former Emerson Motorworks. If slashs are what you're after, I know the family would appreciate the help...

[Rubone]

Bumping this thread up. Got a call this afternoon from a woman I know from the past. Her ex-husband and I knew each other years ago. Seems she was cleaning the shed and this pile was in there. Called me and asked me to come and take it away. How could I refuse!!

[el diablo]

i still regret selling my r60/6 about 2 years ago
sold it for a cheap price ,because i had no place to put it ...

they are bullit proof and deadsimple to fix !!

[VonWegener]

Originally Posted by rubone

bumping this thread up. Got a call this afternoon from a woman i know from the past. Her ex-husband and i knew each other years ago. Seems she was cleaning the shed and this pile was in there. Called me and asked me to come and take it away. How could i refuse!!

r69us ?

[Rubone]

r69us ?

What is there is indeed R69US, however all that there is is what you see. And no title. But I do happen to have an extra R69S engine and a spare gearbox. Lots of projects in front of it though.

[Rubone]

Looking at it closer today I see that it is not a US model, merely a n R69S with a US fork added. Note the sidecar mounts, not used on US models. In fact the frame is closer to early '60s from the VIN. Not an issue for me! after all it was free!

[Mike53]

Just gettin started on this bad boy.