Like a lot of other motorcycle enthusiasts, I search Craigslist, FB, Ebay, BaT , Cycle Trader and local ads for bikes that meet the criteria for buying and restoring. They are becoming harder and harder to find, as a lot of owners of these older bikes have aged out of riding, stored the bikes for a long time and have a very inflated view of what they are worth. Most paid too much when they bought the bike and have put way too much money into them over the years. Like all of us who have this crazy hobby of restoring older bikes, you discover when it comes time to sell that you rarely, if ever, get your money back. Sometimes, you lose big.
On this occasion, the bike was located only a couple miles from my home. Searching a local FB page, I came across an interesting ad for a fairly recent (for me) BMW. But this one wasn’t a typical airhead, but a bike made for only a short time back in the early 2000’s….a BMW F650CS. I had seen a couple listed on FB, but never looked into them. This was not your typical ad. It was posted by the owner’s daughter, with only one really bad picture and a very limited description. It was, basically, a “barn find”.
To make a long story very short, I called the owner and found out that the bike was a 2003 BMW F6560CS. It had fewer than 1,500 miles, hadn’t run in at least 10 years and had, basically, been in storage its entire life. Who does that? I went to see the bike and it was like a time capsule. It looked amazing….but, it hadn’t been started in a decade. I did some research online and found out that a lot of these bikes had fuel pump and electrical problems if left neglected for years. Was the engine locked up? Were the brakes locked up? Had the electrics corroded? I took a chance and brought the bike home to find out if I would be lucky and get it running….or have what is basically a parts bike at the end of the day.
Four months later, after a lot of research for advice online and a lot of parts (many were sourced from overseas)….I got the bike running. Not a miracle, but close. Fortunately, the Rotax engine used on these bikes is a really, really great one. Bombproof was a typical comment. I had experience with these engines from the early 90’s, having flown ultralights that used them (and still do). I also knew that literally thousands of them are in constant use on Skidoo’s and Seadoo’s. The pedigree was there. BMW had chosen well for an engine to power this bike. They entered into a joint contract with Aprilia and Rotax to get the bike built. The bikes were built in Germany using some Aprilia parts and engines from Rotax in Austria.
And the rest, as they say, is history. The pictures you see are the final result of getting the bike running and riding. It rides and handles great, as it has a low center of gravity since the gas tank is under the seat. The Rotax engine fires up immediately and is a very torquey motor. For having only 650cc and 50HP, this bike will easily outpace a lot of 650 twins. It also stops on a dime with dual Brembo brakes and ABS on the front.
I’m not sure if I’ll keep the bike as a daily rider, or pass it on to the next owner to enjoy? My main interest is still with the classic BMW airheads from the R50/5 series until the last model rolled of the assembly line in 1996. We’ll see…..