What to look out for when buying a BMW R69s

[lux]

I know this is a very broad question but,,,
I'm considering buying a early 60s BMW R69s and dont know a lot about them. I'm gonna go look at it next week and am wondering what are some of the issues I should look out for on these old German bikes?
Seller says he had all the mechanicals restored at BenchMark works a short time ago and from the photos that looks true. Also he says he has the receipts to back that up.
He left all the body work original, he wanted a rider not a museum piece, which is exactly what I'm looking for.
Any help in what to look out for would be great, Thank You.

[PRG]

Howdy Lux,

I’d contact Vech directly, he keeps excellent records and can advise on what was required (particularly, out of the ordinary) in freshening those mechanicals. He also sets up right inside the swap meet compound at the Barber Vintage Festival next week if you desire a bit of an education in general. Roland Slabon and others have published still available excellent tomes on the intracacies of pre-70 BMW’s. For a quick online education you can do no better than Duane’s site below.

http://w6rec.com/duane/bmw/slash.htm

Barring that, the number one thing with /2’s not apparent in viewing or test riding is when the slingers were last cleaned. It does not take mileage to plug them up, long storage and infrequent oil changes/riding can wreak just as much havoc. Some specialized tools are required for the very fiddley process of extracting the crank to clean them. A less frequent but more daunting discovery with R69S’s is their occasional tendency to rotate the rear main bearing within the case recess for which various Loctite products may not be successful in recapturing the race. Later year machines utilized shorter spark plugs (less threads) and the heads would occasionaly strip their threads.

[lux]

Thanks Peter,
I read the site you sent and did send an email to Vech. Thanks for your help.
Also, that Vincent of your is stunning. Those motors are such works of art to look at.

[Rubone]

Actually all of them had short reach plugs until the mid '60s when the "L" heads appeared. Later are long reach (3/4").

How early!!
Early R69S had the frame as the earlier R69 without the reinforcement gussets, early ones do not have the vibration damper on the crank. BMW did not worry about model year updates, everything was a running change, so there can be differences within the same year.
What are you looking at? More info would be a big help.
Robbie

[lux]

Thanks Robbie,
Its a 1961 R69s

[Rubone]

1961 is a sort of transition year, the last of the R69 and the first of the R69S overlapped in the late '60 early '61 era. So some had early features, some a bit later, but none had the latest..

[lux]

Will the serial # tell me any of this info?

[Rubone]

Yes, to some extent. Most changes were noted at a certain serial number.

[lux]

I have the serial #, where can I look it up?

[Rubone]

Vintage BMW owners, the serial number will tell you ship date and in most instances selling dealer.

http://www.vintagebmw.org/v7/

[lux]

Thats a great site, thanks.
I emailed BMW for info, the exact delivery date is not on the sites.
It is a very early production though. Its 307 out of 11317 manufactured.

[Rubone]

My 55 R69 is #257 of less than 3000built. I also have a 65 R69S.

[lux]

Ok, I got the info back from BMW, they wrote;
"The BMW R 69 S VIN 655307 was manufactured on February 10th, 1961 and delivered on February 13th, 1961 to the BMW importer Butler & Smith in New York City"

My next question is what to look for on the frame as far as breaks or cracks? I'm thinking this bike was built before frame reinforcements were added. Can anyone tell me where these frame improvements would have been? I want to make sure this old girl has no frame cracks of stress.

Thanks

[Rubone]

The frame if reinforced will have two little straps behind the gearbox from the bottom tubes to the vertical ones. The straps have a hole in the middle. If they are not there it is the early frame. I think BMW's math may be a bit off, 3 days from manufacture to delivery? My guess would be more like the 10th was when it left the factory. But they did ship by air!

[lux]

Thanks Robbie, I assume I should look that area over well for frame cracks if the reinforcement straps are not there.

Yes, I thought three days was a short trip too, but I'm sure that February 10th was when it rolled out the doors. And February 13th was when the factory assumed it was delivered in New York.