Forum bmwbike.com

Was the R26 model 1959 already equipped with the large Hella tail light 63268054111 or did all R26 until end of production come with the small Eber tail light 63268054112?

Thorsten

Greetings Thorsten,

I believe that the smaller Eber tail light was used on the R26 through the 1956 production year, then the
larger "coffee can" tail light after that. My R26 is titled as a '59 (but it was actually built in Feb '60)
and it has the larger tail light. I have photos of bikes identified as '57 and later, and they all have the
larger light. Of course there could have been a difference between US-spec and European bikes. Hows that for
a vague answer?

Regards,

Dave

Hi Thorsten

Daves answer is quite correct. Shall I confuse you some more?
The R26 infact had 3 different taillights. In 55, the first production within the first couple of weeks/months, still had the Eber taillight with the orange heart-shaped brake light on top as the R25/3. Thereafter, the main production had the Eber with the bilux bulb and the three small cap nuts holding the red lens in place. Some time or other, Hella must have purchased Eber as I have seen Eber taillights from 1959 where the red glass lens had the name "Hella" sandblasted on them in addition to the cast-in name of "Eber". The R26 models from 1959/60 already had the large Hella taillight which was carried through into 1969. Unfortunately, the BMW archives have not been able to establish any fixed dating as to when these changes took place.

Best regards,

Mark
Mark Huggett GmbH

Thanks a lot, Dave and Mark

It is good enough for me to know now that my large Hella is an adequate choice for the 1959 R26. I guess only the beemer worker who took the last piece out of the Eber box
knows more than you guys.

Best regards

Thorsten