The British Racing Green BMW.
The conversation started sometime in early 2016 with a stranger in Michigan who wanted a cafe racer… but he mentioned dirt roads and Michigan lifestyle… and he’s 6 foot something tall and over 200 pounds. I didn’t think he’d be comfortable on a short wheelbase cafe racer when hitting a dirt road in Michigan. So the creative process evolved into a subtle scrambler. But he had to promise to not be rough on the bike! The R75/5 frame is single walled vs double walled after ’74. It’s the lightest frame, yet weakest of all the 70’s airheads. I found a R75/5 donor bike out in Palm Springs… and let the build begin! Oh wait.. sometime in there the owner fell silent for nearly 2 years, I had back surgery, a baby girl, restored my sidecar conversion, a Vespa, my welder’s wife passed away (which was a 4 month setback), and COVID19 caused a big ‘pause’ due to powder coat shops being closed. But once I got everything back, it was the perfect Covid assembly project to keep me from going insane.
Much thanks to the Photographers, Mitch, Amanda and Toma for the riding shots.
Osh at Oshmo bailed me out of a few jams that I couldn’t fix myself. Oshmo is a great resource for machinery, knowledge and aftermarket airhead parts. I’m happy to have worked with Osh since he started Oshmo (with my help hehe) and now he’s somewhat of a ‘sponsor’ of mine.
Safeway Sandblasting and Powder coat in Culver City
Jon the painter in Long Beach
Euro Moto Electrics
Bob’s and Max BMW supplied me with many of the BMW parts.
Motogadget bits on the bars.
Denali D7 Lights
LED headlight from Adv Monster

Bike as advertised. It’s a rough canvas… but somewhere in there is a piece of art. Bike transported home in pieces Rusted Rocker Arms on this poor old R75/5 Dirty clutch Engine cleaned and prepped for rebuild Rolling mock up Battery box test, this one didn’t end up getting used. A bit of extra stability More welding fixes and improvements Smoothed out weld area after the frame was sand blasted Black anodized top clamp by Oshmo Rolling mock up chassis out in the sun Black Excel Rims with stainless spokes laced to black powder coated hubs… with some help from a friend. 1973 Green BMW R75/5 Scrambler – Tank badge by Oshmo 1973 Green BMW R75/5 Scrambler- Photo by Toma Gostygina 1973 Green BMW R75/5 Scrambler Denali D7 accessory lights on a 1973 Green BMW R75/5 Scrambler. Yes, a high watt alternator was installed to compensate. 1973 Green BMW R75/5 Scrambler 1973 Green BMW R75/5 Scrambler 1973 Green BMW R75/5 Scrambler 1973 Green BMW R75/5 Scrambler 1973 Green BMW R75/5 Scrambler – Photo by Mitch Leppo
