I have a '73 R75/5 and a '74 R60/6...I'm the third owner of the R60 that came from the dealer with Wixoms and has spent its life locally. Twenty-five or thirty ago, after tiring of having to downshift whenever I went up a hill, I found a low-mileage matching set of R75/6 jugs, pistons, heads and carbs and it made all the performance difference in the world. I also found a repainted S fairing about the same time and removed the Wixom Ranger fairing.
Last year I decided I wanted to plan a multi-state camping trip on this old gal instead of the newer rides before we both get too old and I wanted to swap the smaller tank for more mileage between fill ups. I had a /7 tank and a couple of /7 saddles so I easily mounted those on the frame.
I have been interested in the Krauser style cases for the airheads, having never really been around them before (except in the guise of K100RS system cases). Recently I stumbled across a really good deal on a set of BMW touring cases, keys and mounts for twin shocks so I snatched them up and replaced the Wixoms on this bike for the first time since it was new. I am astounded at the room in these cases...I can easily place my full-face C5 lid in the cases with a little room to spare. I have had cases on R60. K100, R1100, K1200 bikes and none of them could hold my lid.
So, my 74 R60/6 has R75 performance (almost, no camming was done), and currently has a large /7 tank, an '82 R100RT seat and cowl, a set of touring cases off a later twin shock R100...all without un-reversible changes needed. I could put the bike back into its original configuration in about a half-day.
I am amazed at the versatility of these bikes!
The 1st photo is the original config during a camping trip across the US in 1992
The 2nd one was taken last week
Great job - bike looks super. Enjoy your camping trip!
Great looking bike !
Owning an old Airhead is easy.
Keeping an old Airhead running great is the true test.
I bought my R80RT 41 years ago and am still putting on the miles. It does everything I want a motorcycle to do and I have been known to call it the almost perfect motorcycle. LOL, Almost but it is getting there.
I don't ride on dirt or gravel roads much anymore as I kind of got dinged a few times with the cost of repainting the fairing stuff and the last overhaul made it look to pretty this time to get seriously dirty. Rain is bad enough to clean up afterwards.
As for gear hauling, I was told and can attest that I could haul more gear than the big Goldwings at the time and still. I have only seen GS bikes loaded with more gear.
You have some nice bikes, enjoy them very much. St.
Beware! I do not suffer fools gladly! St.
I dig my airheads and have loaded at least one of them for long distance. Mine are pretty much stock except for a few stickers and aux lights on one. I want to add aux lights to my 2nd one.
There is so much interchangeability of parts and accessories. You can tailor the bike however you like. My favorite “period appropriate” non-bmw accessory is my Vetter tank bag. I purchased a 24L version back when my ‘78 was almost new. Since then I have added (eBay finds) the 18L and 36L versions to my collection. They all mount the same, so I can just grab the right bag for the trip. The 36L is behemoth, but has been handy for trips when cold temps are expected, as it packs a lot of gear. I still tuck a paper map in the clear vinyl map pocket. Just works!
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