If There Was a Pool, June 16th Wins!

So it turns out I wasn't without a project for long...

This one, however, runs!

It's a 1974 R75/6, and I brought it home today from San Francisco. Isn't it pretty?

So here's how it happened. Since disposing of my disassembled Honda, I'd been reading Craigslist, looking for a bike like this in the Bay Area, Sacramento, Reno/Tahoe, Stockton or Modesto. On Tuesday this bike hit the Bay Area list and I had a feeling. The guy wrote a very complete description, both the good and the bad, and obviously knew his machine. I set up a tentative time to see it Wednesday evening, after working in Stockton. I liked this bike from the start - the right things are right, and the problem areas are things I can deal with over time.

But sometime in the late morning, in Stockton, I checked Craigslist again and saw a 1976 BMW R90S listed for $1,700. These bikes sell for $6 to $7K these days - they've gotten collectible as hell. So I left Stockton at noon and hauled ass to Palo Alto to see it before anybody else did and if I had been in the market for another complete restoration project, I'd have been in luck. The bike was there and the engine and frame numbers matched, but the engine was on its last legs. The guy selling it didn't really know the bike and it was obvious he wasn't comfortable with it and I walked, called the guy in SF selling this one, and went into the city.

(Just a side note, and I think it's his good karma and not mine, but I had to park my truck on city streets three times at various points in this process, and all three times a space opened up right where I needed to be. (Twice right in front of the building, once one door away. That never happens.)

Anyway, I saw this one, loved it and told the guy I'd buy it. $1,400, which I think is an incredible price. He didn't have the title Wednesday so I went back today and he gave me a bunch of spare bits, tools, manuals, the original seat, the touring bags (I took off for the photo), etc. We walked it through the DMV and it's legally mine.

I didn't post anything about it because I didn't want to jinx it. Anyway, I have opened the BMW-buying gate. Purchase away!