1955-1956 BMW R67/3

The Last of the “Plungers”
by Jeff Dean
Last updated Saturday, September 15, 2012

R67-R67/3 Engine Numbers and Production

BMW Model	Engine Numbers	Production
1951 R67   solo	610001- 611449	1,470
1952-1954 R67/2	612001- 616226	4,226
1955-1956 R67/3	617001- 617700	700

This is a 600cc BMW 1955 BMW R67/3. It was beautifully restored by Todd Rasmussen of Oklahoma City. Note the plunger rear suspension, exposed and chromed drive shaft, “mechanic's hand shift,” telescopic forks, front stand, and full-width brake drums. The finned covers over the exhaust nuts were popular aftermarket additions. The R67 was the first postwar 600cc BMW motorcycle. It was built for one year, 1951, and the R67/2 was built in quantity from 1952 through 1954.
The R67/3 is the rarest postwar BMW motorcycle. Only 700 were produced in 1955 and 1956, overlapping for two years the introduction of the Earles-fork and swing-arm equipped "slash-2" models.


The image below is from the 1955 BMW motorcycle brochure, which also included the first Earles-fork equipped motorcycles R50 and R69 as well as the carry-over R25/3. The 28 HP R67/3, here simply denoted as the R67, was carried over in production for 1955 and 1956. The R67 series was always considered by BMW to be a sidecar motorcycle. The new 600cc R60 and 250cc R26, with the R50's and R69's Earles front forks, enclosed drive shafts, rear swing-arm suspensions, and more conventional front fenders, were first introduced for the 1956 model year.

The photo below shows Albert rear-view mirrors available now from Bench Mark Works. Previously, finding appropriate rear-view mirrors designed to work on plunger BMWs was all but impossible.


How do you quickly tell the difference between and R51/3 and one of the R67 series of BMWs, both of which have six-fin valve covers? The R67 through R67/3 have pointed cylinder fins (photo below, left). The R51/3 has smaller round cylinder fins (photo below, right). This distinction is the same for the later R60-R60/2 and R50-R50/2 motorcycles.

On a more personal note, my affection for the R67 goes back to my youth. In December 1968, I purchased a 1951 R67 (photos of me and it below along with my first BMW, a 1966 R60/2) and owned it for several years. Stupidly, I sold it a few years later. Ever since, I regretted selling that handsome motorcycle. So, in 2009, I purchased a replacement for it, a 1955 R67/3, which you see in the photos at the top of this page. The R67/3 has rubber gaiters, whereas the original, 1951, R67 had metal sleeves (photo below, right).

R51/3 — R67-R67/3 — R68 Rear Drive Ratios
R51/3 Solo	35 / 9   (1:3.89)
R51/3 Sidecar	32 / 7   (1:4.75
R67 — R67/3 Solo	32 / 9   (1:3.56)
R67 — R67/3 Sidecar	35 / 8   (1:4.38)
R68 Solo	35 / 9   (1:3.89)
R68 Sidecar	32 / 7   (1:475)

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