BMW R69: Embodying the ethos of BMW and an absolute treasure
BMW motorcycles have always been unique and in the 101 years since the Bayerische Motoren Werke produced its first bike, the R32, the R69 series of the 1960s have been among the most celebrated. Hagerty Insider calls the R69S ‘one of the most collectible motorcycles ever.’
From 1955 to 1969, 15,347 R69-series shaft-drive, air-cooled horizontally opposed twin-cylinder motorcycles were produced. The 35-horsepower R69 arrived in 1954 and was superseded by the R69S, which boasted an additional BHP, in 1960. As its name suggests, the 1968-69 R69US was conceived exclusively for the North American market.
To understand what makes the R69 so desirable is also to understand what has always made BMW motorcycles special. (They have often misleadingly been called the Rolls-Royce of motorcycles but it would be more accurate to liken them to Mercedes-Benz; Rolls-Royce cars produced after World War 2 were not particularly technically advanced: contrast the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III with the Mercedes-Benz 600! This of course is delightfully paradoxical because rivalry between these two flagship German marques has long been intense. It was not always thus. During the Great Depression, Daimler-Benz and BMW each had a director on the other’s board; imagine that today!)
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The R32 was radically new in its day, pioneering the use of a horizontally opposed twin-cylinder engine mounted low in the frame, a configuration that has ever since typified the marque. While this first BMW bike was impressively advanced in design, the company was still six years away from making its first car (under licence to Austin), which would be the Dixi, a Seven by another name.
The two World Wars of the twentieth century had an almost incalculable effect on the automotive industry – including in Australia: no World War 2, no Holden car! The Treaty of Versailles following the first war strictly limited what kinds of vehicles German companies would be allowed to produce. As these rules were steadily relaxed through the 1920s, BMW got into aircraft engine manufacture and was able to embark on its Dixi project.
While the USA led the world when it came to mass motorisation, Europe and especially the defeated Axis countries lagged and those German citizens who were able to acquire a vehicle in the late 1940s and indeed into the 1950s mostly bought a motorcycle and often equipped it with a sidecar. While BMW never offered a sidecar, the company did collaborate closely with the Nuremberg company, Steib, who would develop special streamlined racing sidecars.
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When BMW returned to making small cars -– its flagship ‘Baroque Angel’ limousine was sold in very small numbers from 1951 – the first in 1955 was the three-wheeler two-seater Isetta bubble car, lovingly nicknamed the ‘Knutschkugel’ (‘Cuddle Box’). The little 700 soon followed, while the car that secured BMW’s long-term future was the superb ‘Neue Klasse’ 1500 of 1962.
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The boom years of the motorcycle reached their climax in 1954 and BMW sold 26,699 that year. Contrast this with 1957 when the Isetta was peaking and the company produced a mere 5429 bikes. Cars were predominating over motorcycles everywhere and this was no problem for multi-dextrous BMW.
(Interestingly, from about 1960, motorcycles were increasingly seen as a lifestyle choice rather than basic transport.)
The success of BMW’s machines – cars and motorcycles alike – in 1930s racing was a key element in building the marque’s reputation and allure.
After World War 2, BMW management wanted a quick return to motorsport. The company’s first postwar sports bike was the R68, previewed at the 1951 IFMA Motorcycle Show in Frankfurt and put into production the following year. Highlight of this newcomer was its 594cc engine, of the familiar air-cooled horizontally-opposed twin-cylinder configuration but with sufficient power to enable the machine to hit the magic ‘ton’ – 100 miles per hour.
In 1953 BMW introduced the RS54 with a double overhead camshaft engine making 45 brake horsepower at 8000rpm for a true 200km/h top speed. The firm had intended to offer these superlative thoroughbreds to private enthusiasts but demand was met by professional racers and a new era of greatness awaited.
The transversely mounted boxer engine made for an extremely low centre of gravity and the width of the engine meant the air cooling worked brilliantly. Reliability was unmatched.
The streamlined sidecars were developed in collaboration with Steib. These uniquely dedicated three-wheelers collected 21 manufacturer’s world championships in succession by 1974! It is arguable that no other brand could equal this record in any form of motorsport.
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Australians, too, saw BMW brilliance on display on assorted racetracks around the country. The R68 was a star of the inaugural 1954 Mt Druitt 24-hour race when Jack Forrest, Len Roberts and Don Flynn covered 648 laps (2330 miles), 19 laps ahead of the second-placed Triumph 650.
In 1955 the R68 was superseded by the R69. The engine was revised with steel connecting rods and roller bearing big-ends. The compression ratio climbed to 6.8:1 and a newly configured higher volume air filter system muffled intake roar. The R69, later R69S and small capacity and rare R50S have just two horizontal fins on the rocker cover instead of the R68’s six.
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The R69 got an all-new chassis with Earles-pattern leading link front forks instead of the traditional telescopic design; there was poetic justice here with the Earles design being built under licence from the eponymous Birmingham company because the BMW telescopic approach had been adopted in the UK. The Earles configuration kept the bike level under braking. Bigger brakes were fitted. To facilitate removal of the rear wheel, the rear guard was hinged for lifting upwards. Light alloy rims interchangeable with the standard steel wheels were available at extra cost.
Where earlier R-series bikes were equipped with saddle/pinion block (either Pegusa or Denfeld), the R69 came with a plush dual Denfeld as standard. The fuel tank held 17 litres but a 24-litre tank was optional.
The frame was immensely strong and ideally suited to being equipped with a sidecar, most frequently from Steib.
The R69 could do nigh on 105 miles per hour and dispatch the standing quarter-mile in 14 seconds, despite weighing a formidable 202kg. Quality and unstinting attention to detail predominated – in the UK an R69 cost twice as much as a 650 Triumph or BSA.
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The R69S achieved its 42 horsepower at 7000rpm on a 9.5:1 compression ratio. V-max was now 110 miles per hour. An hydraulic steering damper aided high speed stability. Two years after the R69S’s launch a rubber-mounted anti-vibration damper was added.
The R69S remained in production for a decade during which 11,316 were made.
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The R69S was entered with some success in races. A road-registered example with Steib sidecar was ridden by R. Frost with passenger Henry Hales at Mount Panorama for the Easter 1961 meeting. In June 1962 young German rider Dieter Steinke won the One Hour Production Race at the Darley Street circuit near Bacchus Marsh.
BMW produced a special version of the R69 in 1967, exclusively for the North American market and appropriately named the R69US. It came with the firm’s own telescopic forks although the Earles forks were optional. Tellingly, this was the first R69 not to be equipped with sidecar attachment lugs, a powerful reflection of how dramatically motorcycling had changed from the 1950s when motorcycles served as entry level transportation rather than a lifestyle!
