EASY BEING GREEN
“BMWs are considered to be nearly immortal.”
—Roger Lovin, The Complete Motorcycle Nomad (1974)
Most people who own vintage bikes put, at most, a couple hundred miles on them a year. George Canavan has put over 6,000 miles on this 1968 R69US, and he continues to ride it on a regular basis. “The ride is rewarding — it’s very, very smooth, and reasonably quiet.”
Before BMW started building sport bikes in the late 1970s, most North Americans who bought the German-built twins did so because they wanted to go from Seattle to Pensacola on two wheels, with maybe a little side trip to the Yucatan. In an era when motorcycles were expected to make noise, break down and leak oil, BMWs had a reputation for comfort, reliability and clean operation.
Few BMWs were imported to America before the late 1940s. Interest was sparked by American GIs, who were impressed by the sophisticated motorcycles of the German armies of World War II. Some bikes were liberated by the Allies and made it over to this side of the Atlantic. After the war, the Munich-based company did not have permission to manufacture motorcycles until 1947, and when motorcycle production did get the green light, it took some time to get up to speed, since all the blueprints were in East Germany. Finally, production restarted
