As purchased, my 1936 R2. Every once in a while I got a bike that WASN'T missing some impossible to find part just to see how the other half lives. Naw - it's too easy...

NO, I'd MUCH rather knock my head against the wall and buy THESE! Back row, right to left: 1936 R17, 1939 R51, 1951 R67, (only wheel showing) 1950 R51/2. Front row, cut off by the camera: Steib LS200 on R25, 1937 R20, engine from my R67/2.

See what you stumble across on your search for BMWs? Nine military Harley-Davidson WLAs left over from WWII, as found in Greece. Circa 1986.

Sometimes you don't find much. 1932 R2, or at least parts of one.

My 1968 R60/2 with Steib S501. The S501 was a sweet sidecar to drive, and much more comfortable than the S500 I piloted before it.

The Steib S501 (see previous photo) before restoration was complete. It's always nice to start with such a solid sidecar. No rust on this tub. It sat in a basement, next to a furnace for many years until it came into my possession.

An RS54, better known as a "Rennsport". Displayed by its proud owner and a fellow Vintage BMW Club member, along with several equally choice spare parts. A true beauty.

My 1944 R75, as found by me in 1988. This machine was "captured" by a GI after the Battle of the Bulge, out of gas and abandoned. He sent it home as his war souvenir in 1945. After a year of negotiation I managed to buy it. With only about 4,500km use, it was the find of a lifetime. I heard about it second-hand over a campfire at a BMW meet.

Another very rare machine, and one that I now wish I'd kept, a 1957 Zundapp KS601EL. Only about 200 of these machines were ever made. I was so involved in my R75s that I just couldn't think about spending the amount of time this bike would need to be right, so I foolishly let it go...

Zundapp Unobtainium! An original owners and parts manual for the KS601el.