PROTON1
Registered user
During the 70ties and the 80ties, BMW motorrad was not truly present in Motorsport.
In fact BMW Motorrad was lazy to do anything on own initiative as to build a name in Motorsports.
The Other European competition such as Ducati, Guzzi, etc...was more pro-active.
Many will say thats bullshit, what about Paris Dakar ?
Well BMW appeared 1979 at the Dakar with only Private Riders,
in the following years it was the french BMW importer ARCEUIL MOTOR that prepared bikes and only as from 1985 BMW took over...
with the little Dwarf from Belgium on the bar, 5 fold Motorcross Champ Gaston Rahier...
The same story for what became the milkcow of BMW, the GS...
many privateers and some BMW engineers (on private initiative) made 6 days machines, or just dirt trackers or scramblers in the 50ties and 70 ties...
out of this the GS was finally born...
In Racing it was very similar...privateers and Tuners designed bikes, privateers appeared with it at Le Mans, Spa, Nurnburgring etc...
In Germany, there were many specialists, but one of the greatest Classic Boxer Tuners of All Times was MICHEL,
for a long time MICHEL turned standard R90 bikes into very fast machines able to compete with 4 cilinder bikes and the hot twins from Italy, photo below is a nice example.
MICHEL quickly earned a reputation and orders for special BMW Boxer Bikes came from all over the world,
at the end of the 70ties, riders with Hot BMW Boxers appeared on all tracks of the world.
Its not the intention to paint in this tread the history of MICHEL BMW,
but to make an introduction to yet another Bike Project...
Having restored a few G/S bikes to perfection in terms of originality and restoration standards,
and after having build the "Rahier Replica" as indeed a very close replica of the original 1985 Dakar Winner...
it becomes a problem when one finds that fingernails do not get dirty anymore...time for another project ?
Considered 70ties Guzzi, Desmo Duc, even 70ties Kawa 900...
well that is like turning around in circles .
Finally found I got to stay with the roots...the BMW Boxer (Airhead 4 Ever).
Last year, by concidence came accross a first owner 100% original 20.000 km R65LS.
Following some necessary work like replacing seals, carb cleaning, etc...
I drove this little twister on a few occasions and found that this 50HP bike has the potential to drive most R80 and R100 bikes home on little twisty roads,
its very nimble, lower as a R80/R100, not as wide, but due to lower weight and the 50 Horses,
it is a very easy to drive bike and it tucks and flips into corners.
Its quite possible to corner with throttle open. Quite a surprise.
Anyway a fun bike and in my view a much under estimated BMW (just like the R80ST).
Not many R65LS were build (they were expensive too at the time...),
you either hate or love the Hans Muth Design,
but with only 3000 pcs R65LS build, not many survived in good condition. Its still possible to find them (in Germany) but most are not in good condition.
Because they are now so scarce, prices are now starting to rise steeply...for pristine examples...
As it happened, I found out that MICHEL BMW,
once designed a MICHEL R65 of which only 70 were build...yes they were expensive...
MICHEL was a BMW Dealer, and he only supplied the bike as a new bike.
So he took a R65 and offered it with either only cosmetic tuning (Michel Racing Fairing with Seat) as well as with additional Mechanical tuning.
A German Magazine once tested the R65 MICHEL BMW and named it "GEDOPTER BOXER" ,
in English you could say "Boxer on Speed" or something like that.
Below a picture of the Yellow MICHEL R65 as it appeared in 1981 in a German Magazine .
The MICHEL R65 was very fast...
when the MICHEL 850cc kit was mounted...combined with a hot Cam the power could be boosted to 70-80 BHP...(by MICHEL).
The 850cc Michel kit was later copied by HPN (they turned it into a 1043cc...), by Fallert, etc...
It was indeed very simple.
The R45 and R65 have the same crank and short conrods.
Thats why they are higher reving then a R80 or R100.
What MICHEL did, he took 1000cc Barrels and shortened them at the base,
basically to match the stroke of the R65 conrods.
He used 1000cc Pistons but ordered them at MAHLE (DIE CASTED PISTONS)
and these were much shorter then the BMW Pistons.
Due to the special shape of the piston heads the R65 Heads could be used.
It was however required to use special length pushrods and to use special cilinder bolts.
There were no further mods required other then changing the jet settings of the carbs.
So this gave a big bore (840-850cc displacement, depending on shape of piston heads) Short Stroker that could push out 9000 RPM
(try this with a standard R100 and you are in for a quick expensive rebuild) and it would give 60 to 64 BHP.
Of course this combined with a hotter Cam gave a few BHP extra and velocity stacks on the carbs (like Guzzi and Ducati...) gave another 1 or 2 BHP.
So 70 BHP was easily in, but the Horse power development is totally different as with a standard R100 Engine...
the GEDOPTER MICHEL BOXER pulled wheelees and drove like a missile...
the R100 drove on torque (don't we Airheads know that?) but the MICHEL delivered the powerband as a blast very much like a Duc or a Guzzi Le Mans.
In Germany, only a few R65 MITCHEL BMWs with the 850cc kit were sold.
The German TÜV found that the R65 frame was not strong enough to cope with the claimed BHP of 60 to 64 BHP (or more with hot cams...).
Of course certain people ordered the MICHEL R65 and bought the Michel 850cc Cilinderki extra.
Any mecanic could install in 4 to 5 hours...
So the R100 has a heavy crank and makes long strokes, so it sucks into revs like a turtle... albeit with good torque delivery.
The R65 has a lightweight crank, short conrods and loves to Rev.
Put on that Large Barrels and lightweight pistons, and you get a Big Bore that loves to Rev.
Below a picture of the 850CC Michel kit
(note the short Pistons and the reduced height 1000CC Barrels)
Well, I came this week accross a R65 MICHEL (sold by herr MICHEL in June 1982 to the owner),
so this bike was 30 years with the same owner.
Not driven for the last 10 years the man (now 67 years old) could not separate for 10 years from his bike...
but finally he found the MICHEL BMW belongs on the road and not under on blanket.
I bought it with all original documents, and suporting TUV Files from MICHEL.
Its in 100% original condition, no cracks in the fairings, just showing some little signs of the time and the 42000 Km of use.
In addition I found the original 850 CC MICHEL kit for this engine.
So the project will involve NOT RESTORING THE BIKE
but to turn it into the GEDOPTER BOXER of Herr MICHEL.
Of course, I will take the bike apart, and check every nut and bolt, and will clean up certain parts.
Of course I will improve the bike with parts which were not available in 1981 like braided brake lines (but rubber insulated to keep the original appearance)
and I will fit the RAASK RACING pedal system that also MICHEL used on the Endurance MICHEL BMWs.
Below a few pictures of the MICHEL R65 as I bought it...A nice exemple of 1970's Race Styling...heavy front nosing fairing...
I will extend this tread over the coming Winter Months,
The R65 MICHEL will become a little LIGHTWEIGHT racer that will scare the shit out of any standard R80 or R100...just watch it ...Rendez-Vouz next summer on the Tarmac...
Would anybody know where to get small diameter HOSKE pipes from ? They are not made since long...
would be nice to have a set.
In fact BMW Motorrad was lazy to do anything on own initiative as to build a name in Motorsports.
The Other European competition such as Ducati, Guzzi, etc...was more pro-active.
Many will say thats bullshit, what about Paris Dakar ?
Well BMW appeared 1979 at the Dakar with only Private Riders,
in the following years it was the french BMW importer ARCEUIL MOTOR that prepared bikes and only as from 1985 BMW took over...
with the little Dwarf from Belgium on the bar, 5 fold Motorcross Champ Gaston Rahier...
The same story for what became the milkcow of BMW, the GS...
many privateers and some BMW engineers (on private initiative) made 6 days machines, or just dirt trackers or scramblers in the 50ties and 70 ties...
out of this the GS was finally born...
In Racing it was very similar...privateers and Tuners designed bikes, privateers appeared with it at Le Mans, Spa, Nurnburgring etc...
In Germany, there were many specialists, but one of the greatest Classic Boxer Tuners of All Times was MICHEL,
for a long time MICHEL turned standard R90 bikes into very fast machines able to compete with 4 cilinder bikes and the hot twins from Italy, photo below is a nice example.
MICHEL quickly earned a reputation and orders for special BMW Boxer Bikes came from all over the world,
at the end of the 70ties, riders with Hot BMW Boxers appeared on all tracks of the world.
Its not the intention to paint in this tread the history of MICHEL BMW,
but to make an introduction to yet another Bike Project...
Having restored a few G/S bikes to perfection in terms of originality and restoration standards,
and after having build the "Rahier Replica" as indeed a very close replica of the original 1985 Dakar Winner...
it becomes a problem when one finds that fingernails do not get dirty anymore...time for another project ?
Considered 70ties Guzzi, Desmo Duc, even 70ties Kawa 900...
well that is like turning around in circles .
Finally found I got to stay with the roots...the BMW Boxer (Airhead 4 Ever).
Last year, by concidence came accross a first owner 100% original 20.000 km R65LS.
Following some necessary work like replacing seals, carb cleaning, etc...
I drove this little twister on a few occasions and found that this 50HP bike has the potential to drive most R80 and R100 bikes home on little twisty roads,
its very nimble, lower as a R80/R100, not as wide, but due to lower weight and the 50 Horses,
it is a very easy to drive bike and it tucks and flips into corners.
Its quite possible to corner with throttle open. Quite a surprise.
Anyway a fun bike and in my view a much under estimated BMW (just like the R80ST).
Not many R65LS were build (they were expensive too at the time...),
you either hate or love the Hans Muth Design,
but with only 3000 pcs R65LS build, not many survived in good condition. Its still possible to find them (in Germany) but most are not in good condition.
Because they are now so scarce, prices are now starting to rise steeply...for pristine examples...
As it happened, I found out that MICHEL BMW,
once designed a MICHEL R65 of which only 70 were build...yes they were expensive...
MICHEL was a BMW Dealer, and he only supplied the bike as a new bike.
So he took a R65 and offered it with either only cosmetic tuning (Michel Racing Fairing with Seat) as well as with additional Mechanical tuning.
A German Magazine once tested the R65 MICHEL BMW and named it "GEDOPTER BOXER" ,
in English you could say "Boxer on Speed" or something like that.
Below a picture of the Yellow MICHEL R65 as it appeared in 1981 in a German Magazine .
The MICHEL R65 was very fast...
when the MICHEL 850cc kit was mounted...combined with a hot Cam the power could be boosted to 70-80 BHP...(by MICHEL).
The 850cc Michel kit was later copied by HPN (they turned it into a 1043cc...), by Fallert, etc...
It was indeed very simple.
The R45 and R65 have the same crank and short conrods.
Thats why they are higher reving then a R80 or R100.
What MICHEL did, he took 1000cc Barrels and shortened them at the base,
basically to match the stroke of the R65 conrods.
He used 1000cc Pistons but ordered them at MAHLE (DIE CASTED PISTONS)
and these were much shorter then the BMW Pistons.
Due to the special shape of the piston heads the R65 Heads could be used.
It was however required to use special length pushrods and to use special cilinder bolts.
There were no further mods required other then changing the jet settings of the carbs.
So this gave a big bore (840-850cc displacement, depending on shape of piston heads) Short Stroker that could push out 9000 RPM
(try this with a standard R100 and you are in for a quick expensive rebuild) and it would give 60 to 64 BHP.
Of course this combined with a hotter Cam gave a few BHP extra and velocity stacks on the carbs (like Guzzi and Ducati...) gave another 1 or 2 BHP.
So 70 BHP was easily in, but the Horse power development is totally different as with a standard R100 Engine...
the GEDOPTER MICHEL BOXER pulled wheelees and drove like a missile...
the R100 drove on torque (don't we Airheads know that?) but the MICHEL delivered the powerband as a blast very much like a Duc or a Guzzi Le Mans.
In Germany, only a few R65 MITCHEL BMWs with the 850cc kit were sold.
The German TÜV found that the R65 frame was not strong enough to cope with the claimed BHP of 60 to 64 BHP (or more with hot cams...).
Of course certain people ordered the MICHEL R65 and bought the Michel 850cc Cilinderki extra.
Any mecanic could install in 4 to 5 hours...
So the R100 has a heavy crank and makes long strokes, so it sucks into revs like a turtle... albeit with good torque delivery.
The R65 has a lightweight crank, short conrods and loves to Rev.
Put on that Large Barrels and lightweight pistons, and you get a Big Bore that loves to Rev.
Below a picture of the 850CC Michel kit
(note the short Pistons and the reduced height 1000CC Barrels)
Well, I came this week accross a R65 MICHEL (sold by herr MICHEL in June 1982 to the owner),
so this bike was 30 years with the same owner.
Not driven for the last 10 years the man (now 67 years old) could not separate for 10 years from his bike...
but finally he found the MICHEL BMW belongs on the road and not under on blanket.
I bought it with all original documents, and suporting TUV Files from MICHEL.
Its in 100% original condition, no cracks in the fairings, just showing some little signs of the time and the 42000 Km of use.
In addition I found the original 850 CC MICHEL kit for this engine.
So the project will involve NOT RESTORING THE BIKE
but to turn it into the GEDOPTER BOXER of Herr MICHEL.
Of course, I will take the bike apart, and check every nut and bolt, and will clean up certain parts.
Of course I will improve the bike with parts which were not available in 1981 like braided brake lines (but rubber insulated to keep the original appearance)
and I will fit the RAASK RACING pedal system that also MICHEL used on the Endurance MICHEL BMWs.
Below a few pictures of the MICHEL R65 as I bought it...A nice exemple of 1970's Race Styling...heavy front nosing fairing...
I will extend this tread over the coming Winter Months,
The R65 MICHEL will become a little LIGHTWEIGHT racer that will scare the shit out of any standard R80 or R100...just watch it ...Rendez-Vouz next summer on the Tarmac...
Would anybody know where to get small diameter HOSKE pipes from ? They are not made since long...
would be nice to have a set.
