R16 BMW series 2

[grease monkey]

1960's incorrect amateur IMG_7191.jpg restoration. All numbers match except crankcase. A really good super rare original bike with a long Canadian history. email me for details. Will ship anywhere. Reserve the right to change my mind about selling ! I really like this bike a lot ! bruffsup@yahoo.com

[exeric]

Barry, I know very little about BMWs but I really like the general look and profile of it. As for armature touches, I would guess the striping is too bold, otherwise a beautiful motorcycle. What year is it, and is it fun to ride?

[grease monkey]

HI Eric, I agree the R16 has beautiful lines. I particularly like the Indian style quarter elliptic front spring. The R16 was made in 5 series and this one is a series 2 circa 1931. BMW records are incomplete for this period but those facts were verified but the archives have no info on where it was dispatched to. They did not make many of this flagship model as it was the height of the depression and very expensive.An old friend said that BMW stands for "Best Motorcycle in the World" I have also owned many /2 Beemers and my favourite was an R69S. It would comfortably cruise at around 100 mph . I have a police spec 1964 R60 right now . I found this R16 through a request to do an appraisal back in 1996. .The gentleman who owned it was probably the first BMW car dealer in Canada in the 1960's in Montreal and as far as I know had it "restored" to put in his showroom for display only . That is the sad reason that I have never attempted to even start it after I acquired it about 20 years ago ! The incorrect paint and chromed wheel rims indicated to me that the mechanical aspects may also had been done with errors.I have only chipped away at acquiring missing small bits and internal mechanical parts etc for a "re-restoration". BMW guru Todd Rasmussen made me a beautiful gas cap that was missing. That took 3 years but it is magnificent. Todd told me there are only 9 known original R16's known ! I sent the speedometer to Switzerland where a genius restored the workings but left the patinated face. Only the R16 model had a 160 KPH face. I unlaced the wheels and removed all the chrome from the rims and spokes and painted them black. I then installed a set of German repo tires. One of the cool features is that the bike has 2 stands beneath the engine which makes changing either wheel a snap.
I can only speculate how much fun it would be to ride but I can't recall any vintage bike I have ever owned not being fun ! I am not eager to sell this bike which is why it is priced so high. I have some folks interested in my Henderson so if that goes first the R16 will stay here for at least another year ! It will be interesting to see how January 20th and the Mecum auction affect values.
Thanks for your interest. Cheers, Barry

[exeric]

Thanks for taking the time to explain, and define your R16 BMW as they have always been mysterious, and so different than what I am used to. I deeply appreciate when knowledgeable people share their hard earned knowledge that took years of research, dead end leads, and connecting with experts that are now gone. I love the Indian-like fork, and the right side, direct (no linkage) shifter. I had that on a '24 Big Chief and loved it. Thanks again, Barry, you are always a wealth of old motorcycle facts, lore, and insight.

[grease monkey]

Thanks for the kind words. Hopefully this won't get too boring but to me anyway there is a very interesting American connection to this Beemer that not a heck of a lot of collectors are aware of. After WW1 when BMW decided to get into the motorcycle biz they brazed up their tubular frames just as many others did. When the opportunity arose in the late 1920's to use stronger lightweight pressed steel for the frames and forks that is what they did. Here is the American connection. A genius engineer from Philadelphia named Budd had patents on the art of pressing steel .going back to the WW1 era. In 1932 Budd licensed his production methods to Citroen in France who then produced the world's first all steel stamped front wheel drive car . A stamping plant was also set up in Berlin in conjunction with a German company Ambi Budd and that is where the frames for the BMW bikes and the body panels for the BMW cars were stamped.
Of course BMW have always been ahead of the curve and in 1936 developed electrically welded oval tube frames. The stamped frames continued to be used on the utilitarian side vale R12 model right into the war year. IMG_9711.jpeg

[Rubone]

Thank You Barry for the info. I recently met Todd and his wife and hope to get together with them soon.

[grease monkey]

Here is the beautiful cap . IMG_8172.jpeg IMG_7192.jpg made for me. A work of art . The gas tank has a screen filter and marked graduations showing the level of fuel present.