Forum bmwbike.com

Anyone,

I am restoring my R69S in view of running with sidecar. BMW recommend to use a 2.75 rim in rear and put a 4.00x18 tire. Since I do not want to go to the extra expense of buying a new rim can I just slap a 4.00x18 tire on my present 2.15C rim? Also, I will be running solo for a while until I can find a 26/6 bevel gear set (suitably priced). What tires should I purchase that will add versatility? ie. for riding either Solo or sidecar!

Salü Pierre

It is not advisable to try and fit a 4.00 x 18 tire to a 2.15 rim. Hi strongly advise against it.
I prefer AVON MKII as a side car tire but its certainly not for solo. If you use a solo tire for sidecar use eg. Metzler C Block, it won't last too long.

Some Germany grey dealers sell a 26:6 crown wheel and pinion form the far east which is cheaper than ours, but as far as I am concerned, we have checked and measured them and they are rubbish. As official suppliers and consultants to BMW, our crown wheel and pinions are manufactured to original specification and are individualy tested. Each one is sold with test report.

Pierre, I can only advise you to be extremely careful if you are trying to save money on such a project as trying to save will cost you more at the end. Rather extend the duration of a restoration project to spread costs then buy cheap and have it finished before Christmas.

I don't mean to become personal, but I have made this experience many times myself in my life. To often then I care to mention, and see our customers making this same mistake every day.

Best regards,

Mark
Mark Huggett GmbH

An apology to all those BMW enthusiasts who read the nonsense that I wrote in the previous restoration tip.....of course one can mount a 18 x 4" tire to a 18 x 2.15" rim. We do it ourselves in our work shop just like every one else does. I guess that I had worms in my head when I wrote that.

Mark
Mark Huggett GmbH