1981 BMW R65, 649cc. Registration number PBY 360W. Frame num...

Hammer

£1,300

1981 BMW R65, 649cc. Registration number PBY 360W. Frame number 6344737. Engine number 6304629.
BMW extended its range of horizontally opposed twins in the late 1970s with the introduction of the R45 and R65. Looking very much like scaled down versions of BMW’s larger models, the duo, which shared identical cycle parts, featured sharper, more modern styling while both weight and overall dimensions were reduced. ‘A little under 900 miles on an R65 simply failed to convince me that this is anything other than an excellent all-round working bike regrettably priced out of reach of your working man,’ declared Bike magazine’s tester back in 1982. ‘The R65 really is an amazing all-rounder. If you aren’t obsessed with speed or economy it makes a very, very attractive proposition. There’s 100mph performance, 57mpg if you’re gentle and 41mpg if you’re not, a five-gallon tank that makes touring England at weekends a less anxious business than it usually is, superlative brakes, a comfortable riding position, excellent tyres, long travel suspension and handling that will get you out of trouble over and over again. Add shaft drive and relatively smooth power and you should be marketing a winner. So why don’t you see more R65s on British roads?’ The answer was, of course, price. At £2,363 in 1982, the R65 was over £600 more expensive than the faster Suzuki GS650 Katana, which likewise offered the convenience of shaft drive.
PBY was first registered on the 16th January 1981 and by 1990 was with our deceased vendor, who at that time lived in Doncaster, moving to the Scottish Borders in 2002. During his custodianship the mileage rose from 56,624 in 1990 to its current 75,894, the last MOT being in 2004 at 75,148 miles. Since this time it has been in storage and represents an original example of a R65, in apparently good overall that hopefully should a relatively easy recommissioning exercise.
Sold with the V5C and MOT's from 1990 until 2004.