This bike was acquired in Fall 2016.  In a past life it had been Dave’s father’s bike but before his passing he sold it to “The Guru” Paul Horncastle.  As time went by and Paul’s riding years were coming to an end, he sold it back to us.  It came complete with a Windjammer fairing and some crash bars, but was otherwise stock.  It is a “Triple Numbers Matching” bike.

The bike hadn’t been run in a while, so after some basic servicing was done, a few minor issues were corrected, such as a leaky rear main seal

While “in there”, the oil pump seal was also replaced and the rear of the motor / gearbox were cleaned up

The oil pan was dropped to look for unwanted metal bits and thankfully there were none. Everything was buttoned up again in a new clean state

The Windjammer was removed, and replacement headlight lens / turn signal stalks were sourced to return the bike to original specs

The paint is not original. It was originally Granada Red but was repainted in the mid 2000’s. The frame was not repainted, only the tank, fenders and side panels. The paint job is in magnificent shape, the pinstripes are hand-painted. The seat is like new, the foam is excellent.

The speedometer and odometer were not working when we acquired the bike. When we bought it I asked Paul for how long they hadn’t been working and he couldn’t tell me. He was unsure of the mileage. He had a spare speedometer / odometer combo that had been purchased online but was not for the correct bike (it is a BMW part, just not the right model). I did the swap. The Odometer is spot-on, however the speedometer is inaccurate.

Other issues with the bike include the rear wheel splines have been replaced (they look brand new). The spline cup was bolted back on the rear wheel instead of the factory rivets. The job was done properly and is a non-issue in my book. The left hand side silencer had rusted through in one spot (at the seam) and has been ground down and re-welded. One cannot appreciate the repair unless one is laying down under the bike

Lastly, the nut that holds the mechanical advance on the tip of the camshaft has been overtightened at some point and the tip of the camshaft was snapped off. This was repaired by peening the remaining tip to hold on the advance unit. The points can be adjusted / serviced and replaced and the advance unit can be serviced in this configuration but the advance unit can no longer be removed. This was apparently done at some point in the 1990’s and the bike has been running problem-free since.

The bike is a solid runner, does not smoke, pulls strongly (for a 1974 600 cc BMW) and otherwise behaves like it should. The battery is of unknown vintage (we have not changed it since 2016), the tires are also probably 10 years old and should be replaced prior to any serious distance riding. they have lots of tread left and there is no cracking present on sidewalls. As far as I know the bike as always been stored indoors and since 2016 has been in a climate-controlled garage. All electrical / lights work as they should, the kickstarter works as it should and there are no other issues that I am aware of. These bikes were “overbuilt” back in the day and will last forever with proper maintenance.

Since acquiring the bike we have put 1 200 miles on it with no further issues. No big trips, just some short 30-150 mile rides on a regular basis to keep the seals from drying up.

Do NOT expect to keep up with modern 600 cc bikes. Brakes are adequate for the amount of speed generated by the motor, but are by no means “modern”, we have drums in front and back. DO expect to do some tinkering, adjustments here and there on carbs, valves from time to time, to keep it singing happily. The beauty of these machines is the simplicity and elegance of the engineering. It is happy to cruise along on the highway, but it really shines on backroads and secondary highways and is pretty good at leaving a smile on your face when you’re done riding.

Here is a video made in October 2022 demonstrating a cold start

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