The BMVW Flat Four: Something Weird

Vintage motorcycle enthusiast Ron Nichols had his mind blown at the 2022 Barber Vintage Festival Swap Meet.

The Canadian says he’d taken a friend to visit the Barber event because “He’d always wanted to go, and had never been able to,” Ron says. “In appreciation of him helping me with a house renovation, I told him I’d take him down. It was my second trip to the Barber Festival, which is an unbelievable event.” While wandering the acres of swap meet vendors, Ron walked past a motor home. Parked in front of the RV was an old BMW with a For Sale sign that “sort of caught my eye, but I didn’t know why. It all looked correct, but there was also something weird, and unfortunately, I didn’t look too closely. But that night, I started to think about it more, and I said to myself, there’s something really weird about that bike. I’ve got to take another look.”

The next day, Ron returned to the RV. Although the BMW was still there, the For Sale sign was down. Notably, there was indeed something different about the machine. “It was an old BMW R60 with a Volkswagen Beetle engine in it. And I thought, that’s too cool for words. How in the heck did they make that happen?”

Ron spent his entire career working with corporate VW in Canada and has restored 10 air-cooled Beetles, three Karmann Ghias and five Buses. He also has extensive knowledge of BMW Boxer twins. Given that background, he says, “My god, this is a perfect marriage — what are they like? How do they ride? Why have I never heard of these things before? Had I realized what this was when I first saw it, I’d have been immediately interested.” He spoke to the seller, who confirmed the deal was solid and the machine was certainly sold. He told Ron just a snippet of information that, essentially, in the late 1960s VW-powered BMWs had been built in Southern California and there were a few of them around. “The seed was planted,” Ron laughs.

Regular readers of Motorcycle Classics might recollect a story featuring Ron and his Whizzer project. Based in High River, Alberta, Ron likes odd and unusual machines and after returning home from his Barber experience he immediately began researching the topic of BMVWs, as he calls them. He says there’s a crowd of enthusiasts, but it’s one that’s “extremely small.” A local friend put him onto a Facebook group that regularly discusses BMW “Slash Six” conversions and there, Ron found a sub-set of enthusiasts with some knowledge of the BMWs powered by VW Beetle engines.

Digging in

As he began to learn more about BMVW conversions, he discovered that in the late 1960s there were at least three U.S.-based “companies” building either kits to install a VW engine in a BMW or complete machines. There have been other builders and companies powering motorcycles with VW engines — for example, the Brazilian built Amazonas, produced between 1977 and 1989. That, however, is not a converted BMW.

According to a short history written by New York-based BMVW enthusiast Richard Hahn, many have created BMVWs using their own engineering skills to create one-offs. However, Rich says there were others building complete machines. One of the first small-scale producers was Helmut Busack of Hamm’s Motorcycles, then of Norwalk, Connecticut, having constructed his first in 1962. It’s thought that over the next several years, Busack built as many as eight of them.

Busack’s first motorcycle was unusual, as it incorporated not only the VW’s engine, but also the transmission which, according to a 1964 article in Modern Cycle, delivered power “to the Harley-Davidson rear wheel by means of a 8 foot long drive chain.” Busack raised the engine height to create 8-inches of ground clearance, and the VW engine became a stressed member of the customized frame. Instead of a kickstarter, it featured electric starting. Hahn says Busack’s later conversions utilized the BMW gearbox instead of the VW.

More history and more builders

Next, relying mostly on oral history, Rich is also aware of California builders who formed a “group [together, and then individually] that produced well over 100 complete bikes and sold perhaps more than 200 kits,” he wrote. Around 1968, he says, in Fresno, California, at Jack’s BMW, co-owners Bruce Butterfield and Jack Pruett worked with Rodger Willis to convert BMW “Slash Twos” to VW power. They built the adaptor to mate the VW flat-four to the BMW transmission, selling both kits and complete machines.

Rich writes, “At some point there was a legal squabble whereas the final outcome was that Rodger Willis became the sole owner of the tooling and ownership of the right to build these bikes.” Referred to as Willis 4s, this builder seems to have been the most prolific in the conversion game. Another player, however, was Brown’s BMW of Pomona, California, with another 25 complete BMVW conversions. BMVW collector Doug Whitson of California bought the tooling from Willis and started building machines he dubbed the Webley-Vickers. Whitson also constructed kits, and even manufactured a machined aluminum bell housing that accommodated an electric starter.

And then there was Delbert Needler, and this is important, because it was a Delbert Needler BMVW that Ron eventually located and purchased. We’ll get to that shortly, but first, more background. According to an article in the June 1966 issue of Motorcyclist, Needler was from DeSoto, Indiana, and opted to mate a VW engine with a BMW chassis. He put a 1962 1,200cc 40 horsepower Beetle engine in a 1964 BMW R60 frame, but that makes the conversion sound easy. Motorcyclist writes, “A casual examination of the Volkswagen engine revealed that it was a near-natural engine swap. Rotation was correct, weight and displacement readily acceptable and clutch arrangement was adaptable to the BMW gearbox.”

The author notes Needler wanted to maintain the BMW’s transmission for several reasons. Most importantly, it included output to the rear shaft drive, plus “kickstarter, speedometer drive, foot shift, hand clutch and air cleaner.” To mate the VW powerplant to the BMW’s gearbox, Needler first had to make a new bell housing. “To make it look like a factory job Needler built seven patterns in his basement workshop,” the Motorcyclist author states. “From these were cast nine castings in aluminum with 10% magnesium. The castings were as follows: a low profile generator saddle, a flywheel housing to create the marriage between the VW and BMW, two finned rocker arm covers (for appearance), two carburetor adaptors, a finned oil cooler body cover plate, [and] a streamlined cover for back of the VW generator.”

In order for the VW engine to fit in the BMW’s frame, Needler made two major alterations. First, the frame had to be cut apart and the backbone extended some 3-1/2-inches. The major modification was to the front down tubes. These were “recurved and spread in order to go around the VW oil reservoir and then extended 11 inches to be welded to the original tube just forward of the rear swinging arm bearing support tube.” Needler upgraded the clutch with two extra springs to increase pressure on the BMW clutch plate, while “An auxiliary throw-out arm multiplies the necessary leverage for effortless and controlled operation of the handlebar mounted clutch lever.”

Swapping the VW engine added about 40 pounds to the BMW R60 and the increased horsepower more than compensated for the gain. In further comments in the Motorcyclist article, the builder claims the VW engine is as easy to kick over and start as the BMW engine, and the bike “handles like a BMW and even looks like a BMW to the casual observer.” It was Needler’s use of well-designed patterns that produced critical components that made the conversion such a success. With his ability to create the parts needed, it’s suspected that Needler made approximately eight BMVWs. He would also have sold kits of his cast parts to other enthusiasts.

Rich himself didn’t use a Needler kit but in the early 1970s successfully managed to convert a wrecked 1962 R60 BMW with a VW engine. He rode the BMVW from New York to Mexico and back and later rode it from New York to Seattle. It made the return trip with no trouble, and he says, “I have had countless miles over owning the bike for over 40 years.”

Initially Ron wanted to build his own BMVW. He’d attempted to find enough of the unique parts necessary, including bell housing, exhaust and intake manifolds. No one wanted to sell him anything they might have had. Plus, he was having difficulty locating a donor BMW R60. That’s when Ron was introduced to Rich. “He was like my mentor with respect to real world for the bikes now. He was so excited to hear I was interested.”

Ultimately, Ron was alerted to an ad on Facebook for a BMVW. The machine was being sold by Mike Lesniak, a medical doctor in his mid-40s who in his spare time rebuilds Porsche gearboxes in his Cincinnati, Ohio, garage. Ron contacted him and learned Mike had purchased the machine out of Marblehead, Ohio. Mike simply found the machine interesting and owned it for three years.

“I drove across two provinces and nine states to pick this thing up.”

“I answered the ad,” Ron explains. “Mike was concerned I was just an old guy thinking this was like a Gold Wing, and he wanted to convince me this wasn’t a bike you jump on and ride to California. We talked until early this year, we agreed on a price, and he said he’d hold it for me until I drove out.”

Ron bought a topper for his GMC pickup and in May 2023, headed for Cincinnati. “I drove across two provinces and nine states to pick this thing up,” he says. “I met Mike and saw the bike and it was everything he said it was and we fired it up. We chatted until it got dark, and I loaded up and began my trip home.” Ron hired a broker to help him clear the border, and he says the process was completely painless due to having all of the correct paperwork.

Research continues

Once home, Ron dug into the bike’s background hoping to learn if it was a one-off custom or one of the machines built in California. Luckily, Mike had an invoice from Randy’s Cycle Service & Restoration in Rhoadsville, Virginia, detailing work done to the bike in 2016 for the Ohio owner. Ron called Randy’s and learned the BMVW had come from a shop in Richmond, Virginia. Ron managed to track down and speak to the now-retired shop owner, who said, “That’s a cool bike, you got it? We had that on our showroom floor for a couple of years, we really had a lot of fun with it.”

But Ron still didn’t know where it had come from or who had built it. That didn’t become clear until, in all of his research, Ron uncovered an article about well-known BMW guru Duane Ausherman and his involvement, in 1966, with building two BMVWs utilizing Delbert Needler kits.

“I looked at the pictures of Duane’s bike, and I looked at my bike, and I said, these are the same parts,” Ron says. That’s when he knew he had something rare and unique on his hands. “Oh my god, this is a Needler. This is an oddball among the oddballs.”

It’s a 1965 BMW R69S with a 1967 1,500cc VW engine with Mahle pistons. And the machine is in remarkable condition. All of the hardware is original, and it’s thought the paint is also original. “The engineering in it is so interesting and so well done,” Ron says. “Every little thing, the way he modified the shifter, the way he modified the clutch to take the load of the VW engine. And all the little touches, but I just don’t know if it’s a Needler-built machine or if someone bought a Needler kit and did the install. I’m not done, I’m going to find out. I’d like to know just who built this thing.”

Turns out, it was Mike who actually improved the clutch. He says, “I modified the clutch with the pulley system, as coming back from one VW show I hit traffic on the freeway and the original clutch wore my arm out.”

In his workshop, Ron went through the VW engine. It has a rare 1949 VW Bus distributor on it to lower the power curve. He found new parts for that distributor, and a pre-1950s barn door Bus fuel cap that fits the BMW gas tank — it has the VW logo on it. Valves were set, engine tuned, and a few leaks fixed. The BMW gearbox has been converted to a 3-speed as opposed to the factory 4-speed.

“The BMW gearbox has been converted to a 3-speed as opposed to the factory 4-speed.”

“First gear in the 4-speed is way too tall for this engine, because it revs so low,” Ron says. “You’re revving at 3,000rpm in the VW, and essentially, second gear became first, and so on down the line, ending up with a very high final drive. It really flies, but it’s not a hot rod, it’s not a tire burner. It’s a stump puller, really, and I’m going to put a sidecar on it because it’s that kind of bike. It’s the sound, the elegance.”

Getting moving

Ron has to start the BMVW on its centerstand, and from aboard the machine. After he tuned it, it’s a one-kick starter with the dual Bing BMW carburetors. “Petcocks turned on, carbs tickled to fill the float chambers, shark tooth key in, kick it over, and it starts,” Ron says. He’s changed the wheel bearings, most of the seals, cables and rubber bits and is impressed with the machine.

It’s not a garage queen. Ron intends to ride the BMVW and has plans to install a Dnepr Cossack sidecar and will pile on miles. “I want to enjoy this thing because it just makes me smile. It handles like an Earles-fork BMW, you won’t mistake it for a motorcycle made in 2023. It’s precise in its steering, though, and the VW engine doesn’t add a lot of weight and it’s still down low. The extension of the frame doesn’t affect the steering, it steers straight and it’s a real freight train when you get on the throttle. It’s just effortless.”

Ron concludes, “But it never fails. Everybody who looks at the bike says, ‘Yeah it’s a nice old boxer’ and I’ll say, ‘Count the cylinders.’ It fooled me, and it fools most, and it blows minds.” MC