1984 BMW R-Series

WB1036403D6386837

Clear

This is a nice original BMW R65 in excellent mechanical condition and it is still very good cosmetically with the paint and chrome looking ptretty good still. It is a good working bike and it is currently registered and insured and has a clear title. I spent a lot of time getting everything right on this bike last year with the intention of keeping it for many years. Apparently this bike belonged to an elderly gentleman and had not been registered since 2001 when I bought it last year. In the last year it has had gotten new tires, a new battery, the carburetors have been rebuilt. In addition I rebuilt the brake caliper (it is a Brembo with coated parts and still good inside), put in a custom order Spiegel stainless steel brake line and a NEW, not rebuilt, BMW brake master cylinder and new brake hardware. The new master cylinder has a 13 mm bore as compared to the original 12 mm bore so the brakes are excellent and safe. And it has had the oil changed and been given a tune up. It is running reliably and started instantly when I fired it for the first time this year the other day. The plastic side covers are not original but they are correct. After I was driving it some last year the tripometer got stuck so I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the mileage. The previous owner said that he didn't know that it was not working and I decided not to make a fuss as the bike was in good shape and is clearly a low mileage bike. One of the best indicators of mileage to me is the condition of the original seat as these bikes can last a long time and this seat still looks very good. I have read of R65s that still run well with over 150,000 miles on them even though they look beat by then. I sent the speedometer off to be rebuilt and it works properly now; the repair cost close to $200 and apparently is very common for air heads. In general the bike is a very good original example with excellent mechanicals and clean shifting. Cosmetically it is still very good. The original paint is good and the mufflers look good. There is one small dent on the left side of the gas tank as shown in the pictures but its not very big It's on the left side about an inch below the Roundel and about an inch back towards the seat. Everything works including all of the lights and turn signals. The key works with the ignition lock, steering lock and seat/storage compartment lock and it comes with an R65 owners manual and some spare parts. It has the factory center stand and side stand and they both work well. The suspension feels very good to me and the rear shocks are adjustable. The bike was sold as a 1984 model but was made in late 1983. I think this is the best of all worlds for these bikes and will explain why: I used to ride a 1954 BMW twin in the late 60s and early 70s. The bike was so good that I kept it all of these years but it was in boxes and needing restoration, mostly because I took it apart to paint it many years back. Last year I started a professional restoration on it and got intrigued with the R65 as my old bike is considered one of the most collectible boxers and is worth a fortune yet the R65 is far less collectible and far less valuable while the ones from the 80s, like this one, are considered the be some of the most reliable and best handling boxers ever built. By the time this one was made it had 50 HP, all of the bugs had been worked out years before and it had the purpose built R65 frame which made it handle better than any of its larger brethren. Relative to my 1954 it has 12 volt electricals, disc brakes and a less clunky 5 speed transmission and 50 HP, so to me it was a high tech upgrade. Before buying this bike I asked the BMW mechanic working on my R68 if the R65s were good bikes and he said “Yes”. These are quotes from “BMW Motorcycle Buyer's Guide”: “The R65 was a delightful little bike that was released to the U.S. Market just in time for the 1979 selling season. Most of the parts for the R65 were purpose-built, rather than shared, and the bike is much better for it.” “Few problems are endemic to the R65. In large part they are among the best BMWs ever built. They are easy to work on, suffer none of the engine problems of their larger brethen, and tend to be easy on clutches and transmissions. I'd avoid the later, large-frame versions, but that may be my prejudice creeping in. Functionally there is little wrong with them. “ The fairing is probably after market and I just put it on at the end of last year. It came come off in minutes and there are some pictures from last Summer showing it without it; the main difference is that I bought the correct German mirror for the left side since then. This bike makes a good touring bike and will tour all day like any boxer, my 1954 included and it is a great all around bike as its a good street bike too. This one is ready to ride with new tires and brakes and a recent tune up. Its an old bike but I will at least guarantee that it is a good running bike and as far as I can tell it doesn't use any oil, the level never changed. It should be good for decades, my 54 was the same way; it always started and ran well. My friends would replace engines and I would replace a battery. Buyer to pickup or arrange shipping. When I bought this bike ebay offered a shipping service that cost much less and shipped faster than the large movers. I had the bike a week later and the shipping was very reasonable as it would have taken me days of driving and cost more for gas and hotels than the shipping service which involved setting your own price. It was about $300 from Nebraska and the guy had a truck full of motorcycles with suspension bands, it was fine.