calling all BMW guys. /// and gals

axeugene27

axeugene27

Over 1,000 Posts
Have an rare opportunity to look at a 1974 R60 for sale locally. I really want an old BMW but have been thinking more along the lines of an 80 or 100 but this is what has come up and I do like bikes of slighter frame. 2 real questions. 1 How much do you think I should offer this guy. He says he wants 1500 (which i think sounds pretty damn fair) it's titled, has sat for some years but motor is free and "it just needs a carb cleaning (I Know they all do right) and it ran when I parked it (again they all did right). " It looks pretty clean but i need to go check it out in person. 2nd question is that i have a 350 for city travel so i really wanted a bmw for highway/ light touring duty so will the 60 be big enough for that? As always any insight is appreciated. Now some bike porn....
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By <a target="_new" href="http://profile.imageshack.us/user/axeugene27">axeugene27</a> at 2012-08-08
 
The R60 is a little anemic, but it is identical to the r75, so a lot of the parts are interchangeable. The plus side is that they are insanely bullet proof, and will go forever. The stock bing "tickler" carbs suck, and Mikuni's are well worth the investment. The forks are a turd to set up, as are the wheel bearings and shims, but if set up right they will go forever. They are quirky, but they are awesome bikes. Beatnik's buddy rides one from Pittsburgh to Alabama for Barber's every year, so touring is completely possible.

Experience? I own one. It's a 1973. That one being a 74 is a long wheel base, and that is a good thing. The SWB was super twitchy and caused some crashes. Pretty much everything on it can be replaced with R75 parts, and the R75 was WAY more produced, so parts are pretty easy to find. BMW, unlike Honda and the Jap brands STILL make parts for these, so everything is as easy as a trip to a dealer. Be warned though, generally parts are about 3x that of JDM parts.
 
Do you think the cost is reasonable Kanticoy? It will need prob a g to get it rolling solid so i don't want to go overboard here. They rarely come up but they do every once in a while and i would wait for a 75 or 100 if that is the right play for my needs. The thing just looks so solid in the photos like "come save me" and it only has like 37k on the clock.
 
Well, it all depends on where you are and what the market there is like. Mine had a seized right cylinder, but was complete with title and saddle bags, etc in very similar condition to yours, and I paid $400. But it is going to have to have a complete rebuild. $1500 for a running, titled bike is great, and it likely a good deal for that one as well. They are simple to work on, so it won't take you too long to get her going once you get past the learning curve. If everything looks good when you get there, it is probably worth it. Do yourself a favor and bring a battery charger to try and get her to turn over. If it turns over with the starter and sparks, you saved yourself nearly a grand. The replacement starters are $400, and the diode board, reg/rec, and bosch coils will total out to several hundred more. IF all of that works, it is likely a carb issue and they are easy to rebuild. In fact, BMW still offers a kit for $40 per carb.
 
And 37k is LOW for that bike. It will easily do 100k or more without top end work.
 
Give him $1250 and take it home with a smile on your face. I've got a 1975 R75/6 and it's more than enough bike to tour on (I've gone 10 days straight on mine). A 600 should be fine. They're awesome bikes.

The wheel bearings as Kiley has said are kinda odd, but should really never be an issue unless something goes wrong. My buddy's rear axle pinch bolt went missing and the axle backed off just enough to let the rear wheel wobble and ruin the bearings, but that was a fluke. When the time comes you send the hubs to Woody's Wheel Works in Colorado and pay him $100 / hub to swap out the tapered bearings and shims with a more standard sealed bearing setup.

Spline lube and clutch are probably the most complex engine work to be done on the bike. The front forks have a lot of parts in them but they work. Engine oil, transmission oil, shaft drive oil and final drive oil are all done separately. Fun bikes - I'll never sell mine.
 
I'd say buy it, as cheap as you can get away with.

They are tough bikes, quite quirky (which is a good thing in my eyes) and there is seemingly endless information on them on the web.

Parts availability is great as already mentioned and resale values are stable should you decide you hate it, the engineering makes a lot of sense in most cases and there are lots of mods to make it truly modern traffic ready.

The only thing I could think of that might be an issue is the valve seats, the UK market didn't get unleaded seats until much later - you may find it different where you are though - obviously this is sortable though.
 
i am a bit hesitant only because I think i want a bit larger of a bike than the 600 but these things come up so rarely I really think I can't loose at that price. This guy sounds like a real old timer too so i doubt any mods have been done to the machine. Oh my wife is gonna kill me.
 
What tank is on it though is that original all the pics i see have more of that toaster tank which i prefer.
 
That is the toaster. Usually the side panels are chrome, but those are painted....probably done after
 
no i am thinking of the taller squarer tank my terminology i am sure is off. I was looking at 60/5 this is a 60/6 and the tank is def appropriate., My bad.
 
Yep, what you're looking for is the touring tank. They're actually easier to find, so snag one up off of Ebay or something. I plan to for road trips and such. The toaster tanks are the chrome side panel tanks because they look like a toaster. They weren't popular in the beginning, but now they are desirable. They are identical to the one you have on that bike, just chrome.
 
What is your plan for the bike- are you just looking to refresh and ride or a cafe project?

$1500 is a fair price, but I would go with $1000 cash in hand and go up from there.

Good luck!
 
buckeye i would def just refresh the old girl. I really think it's look is so classic and the value will hold better as a stocker. I'll continue to cafe my cb350 and use this one as more of a goto distance queen. I am meeting the guy tomorrow so we will see what happens.
 
im only taking 1200 cash with me and leaving my atm card at home so if he won't take that he's shit out of luck..... or i am driving home to get my card depends on how much i like it in person. lol hopefully i can talk him down a bit. I will nit pick a few things and make some sighs about missing side covers and such. and how much tires will be . we will see how that works lol.
 
My R75 has the 6 gallon touring tank, and I tell you that you'll want to be stopping to piss long before you run out of gas. So unless you're riding somewhere there are no gas stations, don't sweat the larger tank ;) And if you do want a big tank go REALLY big and drop some coin on a Heinrich tank. They're about the coolest damn things on the planet and one day I'll splurge on one.

BMW_R75-5_Cafe_1.jpg
 
This is my R75 by the way. Only mods I've done are:

Woody's Wheel Works sealed bearing conversion
Buchanan stainless spokes/nipples
Thunderchild Diode board and regulator
Polly Heater heated grip inserts
Speigler brake line
Mikuni VM32 carbs
Stebel air horn
Progressive front fork springs

That's about it. Just put new AVON RoadRiders on it (BMW owners tend to be fickle about proper inch-size tires vs close metric equivalents) and need to tune the carbs. Haven't ridden it for a few years (really) but plan on lending it to a friend this fall.

Bikes2006-10.jpg

Bikes2006-8.jpg

Bikes2006-6.jpg
 
I get your point, Airheads are never that quick on paper, but they'll happily trundle along at 90% of top speed all day.

I'm not that familiar with the older Airheads, but know on the later ones you can swap cylinders & pistons from larger bikes onto them to add capacity, you can also change the bevel drive unit (and speedo) to one with a different ratio to tailor the bike to your needs.

You could take the view that if you bought it cheap enough you could have a play with it, find out you didn't like it and move it on and not lose any money on it.
 
going to check it out this morning hope she pleases. I have absolutely no will power when it comes to things like this. You know how many times i have wheeled some piece of crap into the garage with my wife glaring at me and i'm like "you don't understand these things are rare and when you see it you have to buy it" ha well here we go again.
 
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