B M W R 65 Or Honda Cb 72

[seekingfriends]

hi .guys i know its along shot .but i am looking to purchase a bmw r 65 and a honda c b 72 any ideas would be a great help . james

[onlycw]

CB 72? Never heard of one. I know 700 cc and 750 cc Hondas built over decades, but haven't searched for a CB 72. But i know the old R 65. Had a couple of R 45s which had the frame of the R 65. They are okay, but I would recommend the R 80 instead. Get 1 liter better mileage versus the /GS with knobby tires.

I like the frame, the feel in corners when you are not riding fast. But don't expect a lot of power.

Haven't seen a R 65 over here - who is selling one? A shop? Is it one with license and green book?

Tell us more about that CB 72, please.

Ride on,

Chris

[submaniac]

Had to google it myself.

[jackcorbett]

Had to google it myself.

Owned a BMW R-65 for several years in the early 1980's. It was black with white pinstriping. Put a small Quicksilver fairing on it. A couple of my friends had bought used 1000 c.c. BMW twins but I felt the R-65 was a better bike. It was great on the highway and it was great in city traffic as well. I once took my girlfriend all the way from South of Springfield, IL to North of Green Bay, WI into Door County Peninsula on the same day. Very comfortable for what one expects from a 650. Weighed only 408 pounds dry. Had just 50 horsepower but who cares. Still would do 105 to 110 miles an hour. And it was simple to work on and reliable. Had a 5.8 gallon fuel tank offering a range of over 200 miles between fill ups. It was simply a terrific all around motorcycle. I don't think there is anything this good today. Question is---here in Thailand where would you find parts? For that matter considering it's not been built for a long time, it would be difficult to find parts for it from anywhere.

[seekingfriends]

thanks guys . the honda i am interested in is called a super hawk cb77 305 cc. they only came in one colour black with lots of crome.i have seen a few knocking around in bangkok and the provinces /or a bmw r60/5 600 i had one of these before i got married. should have kept the bike and ditched the girl . :(i also came acrossa 60/5 in bangkok a few years ago . it was like new .this model was very popular with the french gendarme . james . sorry about the confusion guys

[jackcorbett]

thanks guys . the honda i am interested in is called a super hawk cb77 305 cc. they only came in one colour black with lots of crome.i have seen a few knocking around in bangkok and the provinces /or a bmw r60/5 600 i had one of these before i got married. should have kept the bike and ditched the girl . :(i also came acrossa 60/5 in bangkok a few years ago . it was like new .this model was very popular with the french gendarme . james . sorry about the confusion guys

Same here. I got married and figured we needed to keep up two vehicles, I wouldn't be riding the bike that much anymore, could use a little extra cash (her children were costing me too much), keeping it was selfish, etc.

So several years later I decided to hell with it and got a BMW 100 KrS with 5000 miles on it. Finally gave it up when I figured it was pretty dangerous driving it. Should have kept the 650 and thrown her to the curb instead. Just looking at that picture I put up makes me think that in the R-65 BMW created the most perfect all around motorcycle ever built. Gorgeous (even if some might find the horizontal twin engine setup to be ugly). That bike had terrific balance and was utterly smooth except between 59 and 69 miles an hour.

Edited March 6, 2011 by jackcorbett

[seekingfriends]

thanks guys . the honda i am interested in is called a super hawk cb77 305 cc. they only came in one colour black with lots of crome.i have seen a few knocking around in bangkok and the provinces /or a bmw r60/5 600 i had one of these before i got married. should have kept the bike and ditched the girl . :(i also came acrossa 60/5 in bangkok a few years ago . it was like new .this model was very popular with the french gendarme . james . sorry about the confusion guys

Same here. I got married and figured we needed to keep up two vehicles, I wouldn't be riding the bike that much anymore, could use a little extra cash (her children were costing me too much), keeping it was selfish, etc.

So several years later I decided to hell with it and got a BMW 100 KrS with 5000 miles on it. Finally gave it up when I figured it was pretty dangerous driving it. Should have kept the 650 and thrown her to the curb instead. Just looking at that picture I put up makes me think that in the R-65 BMW created the most perfect all around motorcycle ever built. Gorgeous (even if some might find the horizontal twin engine setup to be ugly). That bike had terrific balance and was utterly smooth except between 59 and 69 miles an hour.

hi jack. about 1am on a foggey night i had a motorcycle cop chase me on a 750 honda 4 cylinder .when he pulled me over he said the only reason i did not get a ticket was because he could not tell how fast i was going .when i passed him in the fog . i passed him first he had to play catch up to me . james

[LeCharivari]

the honda i am interested in is called a super hawk cb77 305 cc. they only came in one colour black with lots of crome.

These are very popular with Thais, and there is no shortage of them although many will not have the correct registration and a lot are modified/painted CB72's that look the same. I can recall seeing a number for sale recently along Sukhumvit road around Pattaya: one near Au Udom, two in Naklua, one around Chaiyapreuk, and another in Huay Yai.

One motorbike restorer in Huay Yai has, as far as I can recall, two R65's, one with a sidecar. If he were to be persuaded to sell it wouldn't be cheap.

[seekingfriends]

the honda i am interested in is called a super hawk cb77 305 cc. they only came in one colour black with lots of crome.

These are very popular with Thais, and there is no shortage of them although many will not have the correct registration and a lot are modified/painted CB72's that look the same. I can recall seeing a number for sale recently along Sukhumvit road around Pattaya: one near Au Udom, two in Naklua, one around Chaiyapreuk, and another in Huay Yai.

One motorbike restorer in Huay Yai has, as far as I can recall, two R65's, one with a sidecar. If he were to be persuaded to sell it wouldn't be cheap.

hello lecharivan ,that is great news about the bikes. i will keep my eyes out for them . i would love A R65/

[seekingfriends]

the honda i am interested in is called a super hawk cb77 305 cc. they only came in one colour black with lots of crome.

These are very popular with Thais, and there is no shortage of them although many will not have the correct registration and a lot are modified/painted CB72's that look the same. I can recall seeing a number for sale recently along Sukhumvit road around Pattaya: one near Au Udom, two in Naklua, one around Chaiyapreuk, and another in Huay Yai.

One motorbike restorer in Huay Yai has, as far as I can recall, two R65's, one with a sidecar. If he were to be persuaded to sell it wouldn't be cheap.

hello le charivari . that is good news about the bikes. i would love to get hold of a R65/they are so good to ride around town .and the humm of the twin motor they just humm .and on a personal they do attract attention . james

[bbradsby]

if you want a daily driver, get neither. if you want to look cute & perky while looking for spares, get the honda. if you want classic style & quality while looking for spares, get the BMW

[jackcorbett]

hello le charivari . that is good news about the bikes. i would love to get hold of a R65/they are so good to ride around town .and the humm of the twin motor they just humm .and on a personal they do attract attention . james

I think BMW rolled out the design of the horizontally opposed twin back in something like 1927 and I still think it's the best engine design there is for an all around motorcycle. First off the two cylinders stick out there like two sore thumbs. Some might think this is ugly, I think it's terrific engineering at its best. The cylinders stick out where they can get maximum air circulation for an air cooled engine. The second thing is this....with the two cylinders opposing each other most engine vibration is canceled out. Third...this cylinder alignment with the cylinders lying horizontally as opposed to vertically gives the bike an extremely low center of gravity resulting in great stability. Fourth.....the cylinders sticking out into the wind means very quick and easy serviceability. You can get at the spark plugs very quickly, remove the cylinder heads quickly, adjust the engine timing easily and quickly, etc.

But not only did BMW develop this superior engine design so early, it also engineered shaft drive into motorcycles. Shaft drive takes away from performance in several ways so if one wants to have a racing bike, it's something to stay away from. But there is no chain to adjust, no oil collecting from a chain onto the floor, etc. And a shaft drive does not need to be replaced nearly as often as a chain, resulting in superior reliability. Another thing, note the driving position on the R-65. It allows the driver to sit close enough to the handlebars to have maximum control and the seat being long without a pillion allows the driver to slide his ass all the way back on the seat in order to get into a leaning forward position. So if I was driving my R-65 in the city I'd be sitting bolt upright close to the bars for maximum control and visibility but if I were doing trips on the interstate I could keep shifting my seating position to both avoid getting bored and to allow me to stretch out. That's why I could do 500 miles at a clip on that bike.

Lastly, when BMW designed a bike it didn't design it for just one or two years the way the Japanese too often do. They made few changes in the appearance of its bikes. So it wound up with a classy appearing bike with a timeless style. Even today, the top BMW sport bike doesn't look much different from my old 1985 K-100 RS.

There is nothing like a BMW R-65 and there will probably never be again. That little 650 would do everything. It would even feel right at home in Pattaya traffic (except the cylinders sticking out would make it a little wide for getting through 30 inch gaps in traffic) and it was a wonderful interstate cruiser. I think BMW killed the R-65 simply because it was too good of a bike to fit in with BMW's plans for ultimate profitability. I paid $3300 for my R-65 when the 1000 c.c. horizontally twin models at that time were selling for $6000. At that time BMW hoped to introduce new riders to superior BMW engineering so it came out with a low ball price hoping new BMW owners would upgrade later to the bigger machines. The problem in my estimation is the R-65 was so good there would never be a reason to get a bigger and more expensive machine for most owners and with a relatively small profit margin on the R-65s, BMW ultimately ceased production. And as for the current crop of 650's, here it is more than thirty years after the R-65's introduction and I think they are clearly inferior in most important respects with exception of higher horsepower and better race track handling, but who cares, unless one is a racer. We've taken an evolutionary step backwards in motorcycle design in my opinion.

[seekingfriends]

hello le charivari . that is good news about the bikes. i would love to get hold of a R65/they are so good to ride around town .and the humm of the twin motor they just humm .and on a personal they do attract attention . james

I think BMW rolled out the design of the horizontally opposed twin back in something like 1927 and I still think it's the best engine design there is for an all around motorcycle. First off the two cylinders stick out there like two sore thumbs. Some might think this is ugly, I think it's terrific engineering at its best. The cylinders stick out where they can get maximum air circulation for an air cooled engine. The second thing is this....with the two cylinders opposing each other most engine vibration is canceled out. Third...this cylinder alignment with the cylinders lying horizontally as opposed to vertically gives the bike an extremely low center of gravity resulting in great stability. Fourth.....the cylinders sticking out into the wind means very quick and easy serviceability. You can get at the spark plugs very quickly, remove the cylinder heads quickly, adjust the engine timing easily and quickly, etc.

But not only did BMW develop this superior engine design so early, it also engineered shaft drive into motorcycles. Shaft drive takes away from performance in several ways so if one wants to have a racing bike, it's something to stay away from. But there is no chain to adjust, no oil collecting from a chain onto the floor, etc. And a shaft drive does not need to be replaced nearly as often as a chain, resulting in superior reliability. Another thing, note the driving position on the R-65. It allows the driver to sit close enough to the handlebars to have maximum control and the seat being long without a pillion allows the driver to slide his ass all the way back on the seat in order to get into a leaning forward position. So if I was driving my R-65 in the city I'd be sitting bolt upright close to the bars for maximum control and visibility but if I were doing trips on the interstate I could keep shifting my seating position to both avoid getting bored and to allow me to stretch out. That's why I could do 500 miles at a clip on that bike.

Lastly, when BMW designed a bike it didn't design it for just one or two years the way the Japanese too often do. They made few changes in the appearance of its bikes. So it wound up with a classy appearing bike with a timeless style. Even today, the top BMW sport bike doesn't look much different from my old 1985 K-100 RS.

There is nothing like a BMW R-65 and there will probably never be again. That little 650 would do everything. It would even feel right at home in Pattaya traffic (except the cylinders sticking out would make it a little wide for getting through 30 inch gaps in traffic) and it was a wonderful interstate cruiser. I think BMW killed the R-65 simply because it was too good of a bike to fit in with BMW's plans for ultimate profitability. I paid $3300 for my R-65 when the 1000 c.c. horizontally twin models at that time were selling for $6000. At that time BMW hoped to introduce new riders to superior BMW engineering so it came out with a low ball price hoping new BMW owners would upgrade later to the bigger machines. The problem in my estimation is the R-65 was so good there would never be a reason to get a bigger and more expensive machine for most owners and with a relatively small profit margin on the R-65s, BMW ultimately ceased production. And as for the current crop of 650's, here it is more than thirty years after the R-65's introduction and I think they are clearly inferior in most important respects with exception of higher horsepower and better race track handling, but who cares, unless one is a racer. We've taken an evolutionary step backwards in motorcycle design in my opinion.

hi .i tend to agree the R65 is a great bike .i got the bmw and at the same time my brother got a cb 750 honda 4 cylinder . the colour was candy yellow .that was at the time when jap multi cylinder machines were all the rage in australia .i colud think of nothing better than riding around pattaya. or hat yai on a bmw 650 . james ps it will happen