BMW R65 - what can you tell me about them? .......

[Emf#53]

Looking at buying a BMW R65 that I've found for sale at what appears to be a good price but I don't know anything about them so I was wondering if any of you good folks are / have been familiar with this model, what to look out for etc and your thoughts in general please (thumbs)

[moto al]

Hi ,the BMW r65 ,and r45 ,came out in 1979, the entry level for BMW , Iv ridden both models ,the 45 was a bit underpowered , the 65 had a smooth engine ,fitted small Bing carbs ,65 mpg ,also capable for long distance touring ,a friend of mine Kevin ,used to attend Fim rallys all over Europe ,2 up, Karen his good lady .was a big lass. The bike your looking at has mag wheels, BMW had problems with wheels collapsing , check wheels to make sure they are the updated ones, they also produced a Ls model with a small fairing, they also had a gs model unfortunately were not imported too the uk. The great thing about older BMW,s theirs plenty of spare parts about. The 65 never held second hand values of its bigger brothers . So don't pay too much for it.best of luck .Al (thumbs)

[Emf#53]

Hi Al

Looking at paying £1,000 for it and that includes getting it delivered to me in The West Country. From what I can see of the photos and talking to the owner it looks in really good condition - wheels look brand new - exhausts don't have any sign of any rot on them - everything else looks clean and tidy.

[moto al]

Hi one thing I forgot too mention, that bike is fitted with ,as it was called ,been tin points, I would convert too electronic egnition, just take care removing the front casing , it,s very easy to touch the dioboard an expensive mistake for a replacement .ps sorry a few spelling mistakes . Dyslectic rool (thumbs) Al

[DanielS]

You have to buy it! If you don't, tell me and I'll buy it, seriously, I'd love to pootle around on one of these!

[geoham]

Hi one thing I forgot too mention, that bike is fitted with ,as it was called ,been tin points, I would convert too electronic egnition, just take care removing the front casing , it,s very easy to touch the dioboard an expensive mistake for a replacement .ps sorry a few spelling mistakes . Dyslectic rool (thumbs) Al

Disconnect the battery before removing the front casing!
As al said it can be an expensive mistake.
I don't have an R65 but I have an R80 and a couple of R100's and I love riding them.

[pieterv]

I had an R45 many years ago, as Motoal pointed out the little sister of the R65 (other than engine capacity identical). It was a nice bike, but I second the comment of replacing with electronic ignition, I got stuck once after a long ride in the rain, with what turned out an ignition problem (wet points).

Brakes are not nearly as good as on modern bikes.

[Simon_100]

Nice bikes, underrated IMHO. You se lost of them here in use every day on commuter duty, still purring along ...

Wish I had one ...

Simon

PS sadly like most bikes they go for silly money here - €3 - 5k - but they usually are in good nick.ç

Not so sure about this one tho'

[phillh]

I was loaned one way back when my bike was in for repair.

I really loved it, great to ride. Wanted to keep it but the
dealer wanted too much to swap so got my old Yamaha XJ600 back
instead

[Emf#53]

Nice bikes, underrated IMHO. You se lost of them here in use every day on commuter duty, still purring along ...

Wish I had one ...

Simon

PS sadly like most bikes they go for silly money here - €3 - 5k - but they usually are in good nick.ç

Not so sure about this one tho'

I'm thinking about turning it into a café racer style - something me and the girlfriend can pootle about on - but I'll skip the massive mirror on the engine bars like the one in the picture - not sure what good it serves other than for the rider to admire himself