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There are several very good websites showing the complete
restoration of a vintage BMW motorcycle. My intention here is to share
with you some of the differences someone familiar with 1951-69 BMW will
find on the 1950 R51/2, as well as any issues related exclusively to the
R51/2.
The first issue I encountered on this restoration was the proper location of the pinstripes on the front fender. |
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Those of you who are familiar with Slabon’s restoration guide will notice that the pinstripes do not follow along the edge of the fender as Roland indicated they should. The pinstripes you see in this picture is tape the previous owner put on top of the original pinstripes when the bike was repainted many years ago. John Borella is restoring and painting the sheet metal for me on this project. When John stripped the fender down to bare metal in preparation for my painting, he confirmed that the original pinstripes were underneath the tape. In addition, plate #7 on page 69 BMW Mobile Tradition’s Motorcycles from Munich 1923-1969 shows R51/2s rolling off of the assembly line with this pinstripe pattern. Finally, just to be sure, I e-mailed BMW Historical Archives and asked them what the correct pinstripe pattern would be for my motorcycle. They indicated that prototype and early production R51/2s had the pinstripes along the edge, and that is why all of the sales material and other publicity photos for the R51/2 show that pattern. Later production R51/2s had the same pinstripes as the R51/3. Based on this information, I decided to pinstripe the front fender as it appeared when I acquired the motorcycle. The clip holding the front brake cable to the fender is not original. The hole will be welded over when the fender is painted. |