1973 BMW R60/5 Special
(Page 2 of 3)
July/August 2009
By Phillip Tooth
As part of the rebuild the flywheel was lightened, and Nikasil barrels and new pistons fitted. Josh originally wanted to keep the 4-speed gearbox with kickstart, but soon realized the kick lever would interfere with rearset linkage. Instead, he opted for a 5-speed transmission from a 1975 /6 somebody had given him as a spare for his daily ride. “Fortunately, the 1971-1984 airheads have many interchangeable parts,” Josh points out.
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Cleaning, blasting and spraying
Professional help didn’t run as far as cleaning the engine case. “I used my own elbow grease,” Josh says. The aluminum timing and valve covers were cleaned with a baking soda solution before polishing, and were then sprayed with a heat-dispersion clear coat to finish off the job. One particularly nice detail is that the starter cover on top of the crankcase says “BMW” in aluminum, a feature unique to the 1979 engines. Earlier engines included the model designation, as well, while later models used a black plastic trim.
The 40mm Bing carbs were bead blasted to give a nice finish, and Josh ditched the bulky air box cover to trim some fat and mounted K&N filters straight to the carbs. “I have a friend in New Jersey who works as a machinist for Coca-Cola,” Josh says. “I would send him templates and he would bend and fabricate stainless steel sheet to make a cover for where the airbox used to live. That’s how I got the license plate and tail light bracket made, as well.”
Josh converted the R60’s swingarm to the shorter unit used when the /5 series was first introduced to give a more aggressive look better suited to a café racer. New fork springs came from Progressive, while a pair of Koni Dial-A-Ride shocks look after the back end. Italian rearset pegs were adapted with an Omar rearset linkage to help complete the look.
But then the project almost came to a very unhappy end. Josh sent parts for powder coating but the shop vanished over a weekend. “Crazy huh?” says Josh. “Turns out it was a shady guy trying to avoid his rent and he pulled out all the stops to move a powder-coat booth over night. It took me months to track down my missing components.”
The original BMW fenders were too bulky for the café racer look, so Josh trimmed a few inches of fiberglass off the front guard and “tons” off the rear. Because of his work in advertising he knew a couple of companies who prepare cars for photo shoots. “Those guys painted the fenders and tank for me,” says Josh. That’s probably why the Toaster café racer looks pretty as a picture. Other neat touches are the drilled alloy triple clamp, the clubman handlebars and the custom white speedometer.