Barry Tomlin likes BMWs. Since the 1960s, he hasn’t been without one, with the R60 pictured here, photographed alongside his more recently acquired R69S, the one which has remained a constant in his garage.
The prestige attached to the BMW name in the motorcycle world of the 1950s and 1960s is perhaps underestimated by the classic enthusiast of today, though a look at price lists underline just why a Beemer was so revered – in 1955, on launch, an R69 was £489 while a Vincent Black Shadow was £355, an Ariel Square Four £308 and a Golden Flash A10 was just under £230. By the time of the R69S, in 1960, the Vin and the Squariel were long gone (Vincent) and just extinct (Ariel) which left the ticket price of the BMW, £530-15-0, a standalone in terms of expense.
For context, in 1960 (well, November 1959 price lists) a 650cc Triumph Bonneville was listed as £283-13-6 and a BSA Gold Star £307-11-11. During the 1960s, the BMW remained far and away the most costly of motorcycles in terms of pricing; it all added to the allure.
So it’s no surprise that to chaps like Barry, owning a BMW was aspirational. Barry acquired his November 1958-registered, 1959-model R60 when it was nearing 10 years old, in May 1968. He was its fifth owner, or sixth if one takes into account that it was initially registered
