This came to me as an R61 with a running engine. I found it in Southern Germany, and it was nearly given to me.
I had an R71 engine in good condition, so in it went. I took this bike on the California 1000, and it was the oldest bike to enter and the oldest to finish. I only had one mechanical breakdown. Somehow I kicked the battery wire off of the battery. I fixed it in a few minutes.
Other riders were encouraging me during the event. The fastest that I would ride, was about 60 mph. We had removed one cylinder for examination, and it looked very good, but still, why push it. Because of the slow traveling speed, I was riding most of the time. I was able to get about 5 hours of sleep. I carried my sleeping bag in the back.
We went from a hot desert to a high mountain in a snow storm. Many newer, better bikes failed. Some riders gave up too. They gave me a plaque for something. I think that I sold this bike to the owner of “The Frame Man” in Sacramento.
Updated 14 Nov. 2019