Markel Builds Beemer Fun

Markel BMW MOA Bike Assembly

markelbuildsfun — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:38:34 +0000

Here we go! Time to put this thing together!

Markel R75/6 Powdercoating

markelbuildsfun — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:25:52 +0000

In this episode we go through the powdercoating of the frame of Markel’s 1974 BMW R75/6!

Markel’s BMW MOA Bike Paint

markelbuildsfun — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 02:46:46 +0000

Here’s the painting of the tins of the 1974 R75/6 we’re building for the BMW rally in Wyoming.

See you there!

The BMW MOA R75/6 Seat is Finished!

markelbuildsfun — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:18:16 +0000

A little elbow grease to get this bike sparkling!

markelbuildsfun — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:11:46 +0000

So, Mark’s been hitting the parts hard recently. Obviously, a 1974 is going to have some grime and oxidization on it, so we need to clean them up a bit.

Give Mark a can of WD-40, some brushes and some steel wool and you get some great results!

Here’s a couple photos of the process…video coming soon!

See the rest here.

Gusseting the frame

markelbuildsfun — Mon, 05 May 2008 19:50:28 +0000

Here’s when things really get going!

Things are moving along!

markelbuildsfun — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:53:50 +0000

Just a quick update. We got word today that the seat we had customized for the bike is done! We’ll be putting up some photos/video of the completed seat soon, so be sure to subscribe to this site to get updates!

Introducing Mark and making some sparks fly!

markhoedel — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 18:29:39 +0000

Hey, Mark Hoedel here! I’m in charge of making sure this BMW R75/6 gets finished before the International Rally in Gillette Wyoming. That means coordinating the work from outside vendors as well as doing a fair amount of the work as we move through the process. I’ve got years of experience on and around BMWs, so I know what it will take to make this project something worthy of a Beemer!

Last week we headed over to Thoroughbred Cycles to join Glen Bishop (owner) and Aaron Haefer in the gusseting of the frame. Aaron and Glen both have prior experience in this type of fabrication and know how to do this according to how the racers in the seventies did.

We put some gusseting at the front steering neck, back of frame, as well as front to back frame stiffing tubes. That should get the wollow out of that stock frame. (Been there, felt that!) Then we added the tubular, truss type reinforcement on the underside of the swingarm. Very cool.

You can see all the photos here. We’ll be posting the video soon!

Mark

Introducing Thoroughbred Cycles

markelbuildsfun — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:34:44 +0000

In this episode we talk with Glen Bishop, owner of Thoroughbred Cycles about the plans we have for the BMW MOA commemorative bike.

See the motorcycle as we found it!

markelbuildsfun — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:39:47 +0000

Here’s the 1974 R75/6 as we found it…in a barn in East Troy, WI.