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I just added this one, my first ABS bike, my first 6-speed bike, my first telelever bike. Now it's one of 5 BMWs in my home.

View attachment 996742

These oil-head BMWs have gotten so affordable I don't understand why everyone doesn't have one! :bigok:
Poor fit for me, inseam and stature incompatibility, high cg, cylinders where feet go. Otherwise, always admired the original Max Fritz config brought forward.
 
Poor fit for me, inseam and stature incompatibility, high cg, cylinders where feet go. Otherwise, always admired the original Max Fritz config brought forward.
I should also have said "my first bike with height-adjustable seat". I've ridden BMW boxers now for over 46-years and the opposed-cylinder design never gets in the way of my feet. I guess it's whatever you're used to! The design would also seem to lower the center of gravity over any upright-cylinder design. Regardless, I'm just doing what the title of the thread asks . . . and enjoying riding maybe even more now than I did when I was eighteen!
 
I just added this one, my first ABS bike, my first 6-speed bike, my first telelever bike. Now it's one of 5 BMWs in my home.

View attachment 996742

These oil-head BMWs have gotten so affordable I don't understand why everyone doesn't have one! :bigok:

That is a real beauty! Congrats! I agree 100%. I think the scarcity of trained service techs has something to do with the reluctance of folks to take the plunge. I find the handling, power to weight ratio and handling characteristics of the Telelever bikes superior most bikes on the market. The recent growth in BMW sales seems to support this hypothesis. I have not failed to impress any of my riding buddies who have taken the GS for a ride.
 
I should also have said "my first bike with height-adjustable seat". I've ridden BMW boxers now for over 46-years and the opposed-cylinder design never gets in the way of my feet. I guess it's whatever you're used to! The design would also seem to lower the center of gravity over any upright-cylinder design. Regardless, I'm just doing what the title of the thread asks . . . and enjoying riding maybe even more now than I did when I was eighteen!
I was responding to the rhetorical "why doesn't everyone---?"
I've owned and ridden a few of them, from an R-26 thru an R70/5 to a 1000cc flying brick. The R70 was the least pleasant of the lot and the most work I ever did on a round the country trip in 1975, teething problems of a first year model new design not ready for prime time. The little single was fun when it ran, needed an overhaul no doubt. Too bad I didn't keep both of the R-26 I gathered CA 1970. The K bike was quite good but too tall for my safety, so it went.
One of the newer lower R bikes might be fun, but that ship sailed with unanticipated developments in my life limiting my options.
 
I was responding to the rhetorical "why doesn't everyone---?"
I've owned and ridden a few of them, from an R-26 thru an R70/5 to a 1000cc flying brick. The R70 was the least pleasant of the lot and the most work I ever did on a round the country trip in 1975, teething problems of a first year model new design not ready for prime time.
I understand. My first was a '71 R50/5 bought new in May of 1971. Rode it everywhere and with no prior experience with any other bikes, we meshed beautifully—except for the lack of power in the Colorado Rockies. One point of correction that I'm sure will register in your memories: Yours was an R75/5. I've owned two R27s, and held on to one of them, a white 1967 all still original. Interesting but one trip half-way across the country was about the last time I ever rode it as a serious way of getting somewhere. It has earned a place as the odd-ball single-cylinder shaft-drive anomaly that it is. I also owned a "brick"—K1100RS—briefly, but I guess I'm just a boxer guy.

Cheers!
 
I understand. My first was a '71 R50/5 bought new in May of 1971. Rode it everywhere and with no prior experience with any other bikes, we meshed beautifully—except for the lack of power in the Colorado Rockies. One point of correction that I'm sure will register in your memories: Yours was an R75/5. I've owned two R27s, and held on to one of them, a white 1967 all still original. Interesting but one trip half-way across the country was about the last time I ever rode it as a serious way of getting somewhere. It has earned a place as the odd-ball single-cylinder shaft-drive anomaly that it is. I also owned a "brick"—K1100RS—briefly, but I guess I'm just a boxer guy.

Cheers!
Thank for response.
You remember better than me, mine was in fact a 1970 60/5 early production short swingarm. Bad geometry and a stiff front suspension gave it no sense of "head", making keeping it on the road labor intensive. And the limited foot positioning was uncomfortable long term. It's replacement was a 1980 Honda CX500 Deluxe. Honda service was easier to find, something experience had made priority with that choice, plus it intrigued me as a newer approach to transverse engine shaft drive, with liquid cooling and tubless tire spokeless alloy wheels. Looked at other R series BMW from time to time, but other choices arose and age and infirmities dictated less sporting mounts in later years.
 
I just added this one, my first ABS bike, my first 6-speed bike, my first telelever bike. Now it's one of 5 BMWs in my home.

View attachment 996742

These oil-head BMWs have gotten so affordable I don't understand why everyone doesn't have one! :bigok:


It is a very nice bike.

It was the last generation before BMW got crazy stupid adding questionable electronics and other stuff. They became more expensive and less reliable.

Hopefully, the windscreen and seating position work for you. A lot of people modified them into a sportier version of the RT.

Keep on top of the tire pressure. Those rims were prone to denting if the pressure was not where it was supposed to be.

Make sure you fasten the panniers properly. They have a nice mounting system that works nicely if attached properly.

Good luck with it.
 
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I just added this one, my first ABS bike, my first 6-speed bike, my first telelever bike. Now it's one of 5 BMWs in my home.

View attachment 996742

These oil-head BMWs have gotten so affordable I don't understand why everyone doesn't have one! :bigok:
In another younger incarnation (me, not the bike), this is one I'd like to live with for a while.
 
Oh yeah! LOVE the CBX and always wanted one! The very thought of 6 carbs in our ethanol age scars the crap out of me! What a work of mechanical art!

Having six carbs wasn't the issie - trying to keep them synched up could kill a lot of time though.

PS ... always thought that was the kind of bike Deere would build ... <G>

deere-cbx.jpg
 
It is a very nice bike.

It was the last generation before BMW got crazy stupid adding questionable electronics and other stuff. They became more expensive and less reliable.

Hopefully, the windscreen and seating position work for you. A lot of people modified them into a sportier version of the RT.

Keep on top of the tire pressure. Those rims were prone to denting if the pressure was not where it was supposed to be.

Make sure you fasten the panniers properly. They have a nice mounting system that works nicely if attached properly.

Good luck with it.
Agreed. I've sold BMW cars as my vocation for over 40-years so I know how they can overcomplicate a machine to the point of sucking the life out of it. I find the seating position just fine. I'm 6'-1" and owned my first BMW RS back in 1977. My favorite bike over that time has been my 1981 R100CS. I even have Euro bars on my R69US. I recall an excruciating pain between my shoulder blades the evening I rode my first RS 100-miles home from the dealer. Got me worried—but it never recurred and I suppose my body adapted rather quickly. I didn't want an RT, or anything with that much Tupperware, so I think the RS and I will be just fine, thanks! And thanks for the tip on the tires and wheels. Good to know. I've got the hang of the bag mounts. I remember the first oilhead riders were always losing a bag!
 
I still have the low voltage timing light I made for setting the points in the R60/5 in the motorcycle tool pouch I've carried for all bikes since, but I still can't find what I did with the superb optional BMW tire irons that went with it.
 
I still have the low voltage timing light I made for setting the points in the R60/5 in the motorcycle tool pouch I've carried for all bikes since, but I still can't find what I did with the superb optional BMW tire irons that went with it.
They weren't an option, they came in every tool-kit on the /2 an /5s I've owned. Along with a tube-patching kit in a small tin box which I tried to use on a Sunday in South Carolina coming home from a rally, failing twice. Luckily the local dealer had opened his shop for those needing help heading home and had a new tube in stock.
tool1.jpg
 
They weren't an option, they came in every tool-kit on the /2 an /5s I've owned. Along with a tube-patching kit in a small tin box which I tried to use on a Sunday in South Carolina coming home from a rally, failing twice. Luckily the local dealer had opened his shop for those needing help heading home and had a new tube in stock.
tool1.jpg
Reminds me of an incident on the Mojave during the 1975 round the country trip involving a rogue spoke end, a Latin American gent with an old pickup full of old tires providing a rescue lift, and a couple of sympathetic service efforts, the last successful.
I remember buying a set of the irons separately, dunno if the kit for the R-60 had them or not now. They were excellent for small size, but roadside tire service not on my list of favorite activities.
 
Agreed. I've sold BMW cars as my vocation for over 40-years so I know how they can overcomplicate a machine to the point of sucking the life out of it. I find the seating position just fine. I'm 6'-1" and owned my first BMW RS back in 1977. My favorite bike over that time has been my 1981 R100CS. I even have Euro bars on my R69US. I recall an excruciating pain between my shoulder blades the evening I rode my first RS 100-miles home from the dealer. Got me worried—but it never recurred and I suppose my body adapted rather quickly. I didn't want an RT, or anything with that much Tupperware, so I think the RS and I will be just fine, thanks! And thanks for the tip on the tires and wheels. Good to know. I've got the hang of the bag mounts. I remember the first oilhead riders were always losing a bag!

Yeah, losing a saddlebag sucks. Losing it with a camera, a bunch of tools and some other stuff REALLY sucks.:smoke:
 
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