'54 BMW R25 'barn find'

berettafan · 06-23-2008, 04:49 AM

Picked this up Saturday evening. Last ridden in 1975 been parked since. Owned by same guy (and his brother) since the '60s. Missing a few bits and there is not one piece of sheetmetal that is ding free but it's mine!

Some before and after wash pics. Bike will be coming apart for what i think will be a pretty involved resto. It surely is a LOT easier to wrap your head around a bike than a car when it comes to a 'to do' list.

gassy · 06-23-2008, 04:52 AM

sweet--looking forward to the progress
c

berettafan · 06-23-2008, 04:53 AM

you can see how nicely the front wheel cleaned up. took a WHILE to get it that way. Didn't have time for the rear wheel but as the entire thing is coming apart there's not much sense in doing it just yet.

Joeaksa · 06-23-2008, 04:59 AM

Excellent find! Keep the photos coming. Bobs BMW in Washington DC has some parts for the old singles the last time I looked.

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

VERY cool find!

You don't want to sell that, do ya?

berettafan · 06-23-2008, 05:35 AM

btw, seller was a very nice fellow who avoided the urge to pull the ad or go ebay after getting quite a few 'very interested' emails. it's good to know there are still people like that in the world. i invited the guy to visit any time and told him i expect him to come ride the bike when it's finished. he seemed to like that idea and i am really looking forward to that moment.

if anyone knows of web sites with restorations documented on /2 bikes i'd love to see them.

1967 R50/2 · 05:39 AM

My kinda bike!!

I'd clean it up good before you take it to bits. You may find that you don't need to. I know a lot of guys who do needless restoration. Tough to tell from pics but the bike seems to have good patina. Judging by the lack of wear on the Pagusa seat horn, I am guessing it wasn't used much??

Looks like as far as major parts all you need is an exhaust and those are readily available.

Contact Craig and Elaine Vechorik of Bench Mark Works for parts. They have the best supply in the US ad their prices are good. If you need tools contact Ed Korn of Cycle Works. If you want to order parts from Europe, Mark Huggett and Uli's. Of course for genuine, super high quality stuff, any BMW bike dealer can supply you parts. Many are still made by BMW Mobile Tradition

BTW...the pillon pad is worth some cash if in good shape.

PS. There are a ton of sites documenting /2 restos. Just google. Also go to http://www.vintagebmw.org for the vintage club.

PPS. Your bike is mostly complete, but BMW restos can get expensive quick if it needs work. Its a BMW afterall, and generally things are not cheap...even if they are "cheap".

berettafan · 06-23-2008, 05:43 AM

Ya know i got nixed on a nice original, regularly ridden '66 R50/2 by the wife @ $5600. I'm actually kinda glad as my riding experience is limited to a '66 Honda Cub so this little two fiddy should be an easy transition.

Interesting on the rear pad. I really prefer the look of the 2nd Pagusa w/ the strap vs. the pad that is on there so will likely switch that out.

Need a carb as well as only a small bit of it is there. Seems new replacements are around $400 but that seems utterly silly so i will keep an eye on ebay and other sites. Tom Bridgers also mentioned Vech and Cycle Works as being good people so i'll do as much as possible with those guys. First order will be their engine rebuild videos!

berettafan · 06-23-2008, 05:45 AM

re doing a resto my initial thought was to embrace the patina and ride it like it is (after getting necessary parts) but finished bikes are just sooooo pretty!

VincentVega · 06-23-2008, 06:10 AM

Nice get.

See if you can get it running and safe before you tear it to pieces.

K. Roman · K. Roman's Garage

Subscribed.

Gogar · 06-23-2008, 07:09 AM

That's awesome! I love that 50's-60's BMW look. Congrats!

daepp · 06-23-2008, 07:14 AM

Sub'd

barndoor · barndoor's Garage

subscribed,heres mine '60 R69

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

Awesome! Keep us updated.

RPKESQ · 06-23-2008, 02:27 PM

I love the old BMWs. I have owned five of them in my life and am looking for another. BMWs are the most reliable and comfortable vintage bikes out there. You are a very lucky man.

berettafan · 06-23-2008, 04:34 PM

you know i had given small consideration to an R65 for all of $700 or so more than this bike was and it would've been running and i'd be riding from the get go.

but i know when this puppy is running i'll be glad i pulled the trigger on it.

for those that encouraged trying to get it running i just finished cleaning up the exhaust w/ WD-40 and 00 steel wool. not bad! has too much rust on the back side to be considered 'decent' but that's patina right?

encouraged by this i took the 00 and WD40 to the headlight bezel.

WOW! not perfect but waaaay better than i thought it'd be. might be a nice period 'rat bike' to play on for the remainder of the riding season if i can get it running (gotta find a carb -hint hint). Then i can tear it apart this winter and get it to cream-puff status.

Tim Hancock · 06-23-2008, 04:54 PM

I love it! Man, I after seeing your pics I want one to restore myself BAD!

LakeCleElum · 06-23-2008, 05:19 PM

Berettafan: An excellent find, be proud. My collection includes a '62 R25 and it has an "Earles" Fork. Is your telescopic fork the correct one for this year? Just curious...

1967 R50/2 · 06-23-2008, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LakeCleElum

Berettafan: An excellent find, be proud. My collection includes a '62 R25 and it has an "Earles" Fork. Is your telescopic fork the correct one for this year? Just curious...

LakeCleum-

There is no such thing as a '62 R25.

All R25s had telescopic forks. This model was superceded by the R26 and then the R27 in 1960/61. Both of these models had Earles forks. They were however 250cc, just like the R25 which often leads to confusion. The R27 is quite a nice machine.