This 1937 BMW R5 has an exceptionally rare and well documented restoration. Literally no expense was spared on this restoration and every nut and bolt has been refinished or replaced with correct “Ribe” hardware. This R5 cost just over $37,000 to properly restore and all receipts and photo documentation of every step of the restoration process is present with the bike along with its original keys, tool set, manuals and tire repair kit. This bike was painstakingly disassembled, restored piece by piece, and reassembled by Craig Vechorik of Bench Mark Works and Mike Dunn of Vintage German Motorcycles. This was not a hurried restoration but a 7 ½ year undertaking that utilized pre-war BMW specialists here in the US, Australia and Europe to supply the expertise, skills and parts sourcing necessary to make this bike a truly correct and useable example. In essence, this bike is now as factory new.

The bike was originally acquired by the current owner in 2005 from a broker of vintage vehicles in Montevideo, Uruguay who had in turn, acquired it from a family member of the original owner nearly 2 years prior. The bike had been sitting under a tarp on a farm north of Montevideo at the time. According to BMW records, this bike had been exported to Montevideo Uruguay to “M. Werner”, via Hamburg. This bike is documented by with two separate documents from BMW Mobil Tradition in Munich describing that motor and frame were delivered to Montevideo Uruguay and the motor case has matching cylinders and cylinder head serial numbers. According to BMW archives, the motor was originally registered to another R5 that was delivered to Montevideo during the same time but it is not known how or why the discrepancy originated. The original ID head plate was missing when the bike was found as they are often missing due to the screw on attachment, however a correct reproduction with correct period font was stamped and installed. The bike has 87 actual KM’s on it since restoration but the odometer began sticking at 84 so the unit was sent back to Germany for repair and the rebuilder reset the clock to zero again at that time and has only had one short ride since hat time. Having survived WW2 abroad, this bike emerged in the post war era with nearly all of its original parts including the rare and correctly marked Amal Fisher carburetors, speedometer, headlight bucket and other components that are often found missing or incorrect on European survivor bikes.