1968 BMW Motorcycles R69S

The R69S, R69US, and R69 are motorcycles, fitted with 594 cc boxer twin engines, that were manufactured by BMW in Munich, Germany. From 1955 to 1969, 15,347 of these 594 cc shaft-drive, opposed twin motorcycles were built. The 35 hp (26 kW) R69 was produced from 1955 to 1960, the 42 hp (31 kW) R69S was produced from 1960 to 1969,[1] and the 42 hp R69US was produced from 1968 to 1969.[2] These models were designed as relatively high powered, high compression sport bikes. The low compression 30 hp (22 kW) R60/2, produced from 1955 to 1960, was designed primarily for sidecar use, though it was popularly used as a solo bike, along with the 30 hp R60US, which was produced between 1968 and 1969. The sport-oriented R69S, R69US, and R69 succeeded the plunger-framed 1951 to 1955 R68, which had an engine very similar to that in the later R69. The R69US models, with telescopic forks, which were used later on the BMW R-/5 series motorcycles, were introduced in the United States for the 1968 model year and then continued for 1969. About 11,000 were built over the model run, including both the R69S and R69US models, and many are still on the road 40-plus years later, a tribute to BMW’s quality engineering and manufacturing.