Legend of the Motorcycle

[darrylri]

Will anyone else be at the Legend of the Motorcycle Concours d'Elegance in Half Moon Bay, California next Saturday?

I will be showing my 1928 BMW R52. If you see it, stop by and say hello!

[exeric]

That is a stunning bike Darryl. Early BMW's are truly beautiful machines. Thanks for the picture.

[Barry Brown]

I agree that is a beauty. Can you tell me if the leaf springs were chromed originally as I have to decide what to do with mine on the r16? Thanks, Barry

[darrylri]

I agree that is a beauty. Can you tell me if the leaf springs were chromed originally as I have to decide what to do with mine on the r16? Thanks, Barry

Every photo and live bike I've seen from that era has plated leaf springs. I think yours should be chromed, but the models before the R11/R16 are nickel plated.

That will be a sensational bike when you're done with it. What year is yours? Even though they built those for several years through the depths of the depression, each year had a new set of running changes. I'm told that the parts manual details this pretty well.

[Barry Brown]

My bike has had an amateur restoration and needs attention. AS near as I can figure it is either a late series 2 , 1932 or early series 3 1933. According to Ariel Verlag's book the frame p2870 and typenshield engine number 76496 put it as late 1932. I has several features including the headlight and extra drive bearing and saddle springs etc. of the type 3 but retains the single carb of the type 2. Unfortunately the crankcase is an r11 number but the cylinders and heads are genuine 16 and /or r63 . The number on the cylinders , 75001 is interesting in that it indicates it is the first set of ohv 750 cylinders for an r63 ! The numbers on the heads match the typenshield and what was the correct engine number. It has been suggested I should change the number on the carnkcase to match everything else but I will not do this as it after all is part of the history of the bike. Thanks for the info on the spring. I have the original parts book which is the best I have ever seen for any bike.

[darrylri]

That is a gorgeous bike! Someday I hope to have an OHV bike from this era. Right now I have the R52, an R62 drivetrain and an R12, all sidevalves.

I usually look at BMW Mobile Tradition's Archives site for photos:

http://www.historischesarchiv.bmw.de/2/index.php

Search on BMW R 16 (for example -- the spaces are very important to getting the most results) instead of just R16. However, a lot of the publicity photos are airbrushed, so things like cable routing can be difficult to discern.

Fascinating history!

Here's a Series I bike: