Well despite 20 years of threats of divorce "if you ever think about getting a bike" :nono from my more sensible half I went and temped fate. So far I have not been served so I got that going for me.
Dad rode BMW's in the 50's and 60's so its always been a favored brand growing up around his. Unfortunately Dad passed in 83 when I was 16 and mom quickly sold his 61 R69S before I got any idea it was for sale. It was perfect with 29,000 miles on it. He would fire it up every few years do a few laps of the neighborhood change the oil squirt some oil down the plug holes and park it again. Mom says it was a dealer/collector from Alabama that came and got it. He said "I'm keeping this one for myself" when he bought it. I have a sneaking suspicion it was George Barber. I plan to contact the museum and see what the chances are its there. I'd love to at least know its still around and hopefully one day get it back. Mom is looking for any paperwork on the bike to get the VIN so I can confirm its the one. She did manage to find the paper work on the Speedster that ultimately got sold to Chuck Mitchell (as in Joni Mitchell's husband) in 1965 so I have hope she will come up with it.
Lot of bike history in the family so the fact at 46 I'm just getting my first attests to mom and my wifes effort to keep me off them. Mom showed me the back of her leg after the dumped one at 70mph and she hit a guard rail every time I talked about it in my teens. My Wifes dad had a bad wreck and T boned a car that pulled out in front of him and was laid up for the better part of a year so both have valid arguments I guess.
My Folks were friends with a lot of famous Detroit based riders including Bob Leppan
http://www.gyronautx1.com/index.html , Ron Finch
http://www.finchscustoms.com/ Dot Robbinson and her Husband and a few others and Rode with the Highwaymen Detroit before they devolved into a gang in the late 60's.
Last Saturday I managed to talk down a lady to a reasonable price on a on a 1995 Morea Green LT. She owned it for 1 year and 2 weeks. It was a little big for her and she decided to part with it. Its a little rough around the edges (both glove boxs cracked from being dropped) but reasonably low miles of 46,000. Came with full system cases with liners and tank bag as a bonus.
Enjoying the tech here and reading about upgrades others have made to their bikes.
Found the site while trying to find owners manual and shop manuals. Thanks for the well organized tech and reference sections. I have been burning them up learning about my new ride and making a list of services I plan to do in the next couple months since I dont have any documented history for the bike beyond the year the PO had it. I believe it has the low saddle and going to need to do something about that. Feel a little crowded on the bars and need move back about 1.5-2 inches to get my knees off the faring. Seat needs recovering and going to see if a local auto interior guy near me that has a really good reputation can make that happen.
I have several friends that ride and do a couple longer trips a summer and 1-2 day trips a month and plan to join them once I get my confidence up. Already noticed a few posts from others in the North GA area so will be watching for any local meet and greets.
Eric
