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Tim Stafford and the Art of
BMW Motorcycle Restoration
By Jeff Dean, #115
(October Owners News) |
October 3, 2006
Page 1 of 4 1234 |
What is restoration? This is a dicey question which confronts architects restoring Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, owners of rare Ferraris wanting the best for their cars, and even owners of vintage BMW motorcycles.
A favorite term of those who restore old Beemers is “ground-up restoration.” That means someone reduced the motorcycle to its smallest pieces, cleaned them up, and put them all back together. But that does not answer the fundamental question: How do you do it, and for what purpose?
Old BMW motorcycles have become highly treasured by their owners, all the way from the legendary David Percival in Maine (see BMW Owners News (September 2005) to the garage tinkerer who “found one in a barn” somewhere. Some people collect cars or coins or other artifacts of the past. A few of us become obsessed with old Beemers.
My own obsession goes back to 1967, when, at age 27, I could finally buy my first BMW. It was a year-old R60/2, which was my idea of the most wonderful motorcycle in the world. For many of us, our idea about heritage is tied to some signal event or artifact of our personal past. For me, it is that R60/2 that took me some seven years to afford. Today, it embodies my personal sense of history. Sure, it had terrible brakes by today’s standards, its ponderous Earles front forks produced heavy handling, and its suspension was, to put it charitably, minimal. But when I ride one today, I feel I am 27 again for a few heady moments. Nothing can equal it for its magic, not even the vastly superior R1200RT in my garage.
My image of the R60/2 of my youth is hardly accurate. It has become more lustrous and sublime over time. It is no longer just an R60/2 motorcycle manufactured in Munich on an assembly line, it is the Platonic ideal of the perfect motorcycle. It cannot exist in the real world. It can only exist as an ideal in my mind. It has no rust. No scratches can be found on it. It is not sullied by oil. The tires have no cracks. There are no dings or dents. Every head of every bolt is perfect: no wrench has ever slipped when tightening one. The paint possesses a deep, lustrous glow unsurpassed by any artist.
Into this world steps the restorer. What is restoration? There are as many ways to define it as there are restorers. One way is what I call the practical restoration. It seeks to put an old motorcycle back on the road looking good and somewhat original, and working well. This covers most restoration projects and is a worthwhile activity.
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