Anyone who’s ever built something will tell you that inspiration can come from the strangest places. In the motorcycle world, it could be a headlight bucket, paint chip or a set of old bias ply tires. For builder Bret Crandell it was something as simple as a 1977 Florida State Inspection sticker that set the tone for his 1966 BMW R50/2 build. While he sought to honor the life his project bike had already lived, the barn-find Beemer proved to be the perfect canvas for a few of his racier ideas as well.
Bret hails from Flint, Michigan, which he affectionately calls ‘a post-industrial wasteland city,’ and, he recently quit his full-time gig at Chrysler to pursue his passion. His business is Obsessive Compulsive Design, specializing in the development and manufacture of custom motorcycle parts. Bret is still running circles to get OCD up to speed, but he carved out time for his R50 project to help showcase his stuff—a worthy investment in our opinion.
Bret’s BMW landed on our radar after the NYC Lightning Bolt show, where it immediately stuck out for its bold combination of something old and something new. Bret will be the first to tell you that the dents and corrosion are legit, and after briefly considering a full restoration, he decided it would be an awful shame to erase character that only time could create.
“The bike had been sitting in a barn since 1976, as evidenced by the license plate still attached to the rear fender. It was partially disassembled at the time due to a broken valve seat in the left head, and there it sat for 40-something years,” Bret explains.
Breaking down the factory driveline components revealed that the important bits were still in good shape, and only needed basic refreshing to operate as intended in 1966. Where some would be tempted to vapor-blast the air-cooled boxer’s cases, Bret let them be to match the BMW’s well-seasoned exterior.
Digging into the ancillaries, Bret eliminated most of the R50’s wiring, retaining only the ignition switch, lights and brake light switch on the rear brake pedal. Flat trackers inspired the high-mounted exhaust pipes, with the BMW’s left pipe passing through the frame where the battery once lived. The clamp that supports both mufflers was machined in-house.
When it came time to define the bike’s aesthetics, Bret knew he didn’t want his R50 to blend in with the scores of boxer restomods. The bike already had so much character and needed only subtle refining to transform it from a forlorn old tourer to a rad retro roadster, and the biggest strides were certainly made with the running gear.
After rebuilding the stock suspension parts and dropping the front end 1.5,” Bret called Buchanan to have a set of 17” Excel rims custom-drilled for the BMW’s cast aluminum drums. He then ordered the widest set of Dunlop Sportmax Q4 meats he could stuff between the skinny swingarms—sized 120/70-17.
Instrumental in defining the bike’s character, there was simply no replacement for the patina’d BMW fuel tank, but the stock fenders no longer fit the program. With the massive rear fender gone, Bret needed a new solution for mounting the taillight. After trimming up the stock piece, he designed and machined a mount for the taillight that ties into the rear fender tabs. In the effort to preserve the original equipment, and be able to return the bike to stock if need be, Bret identifies the taillight as his sole casualty.
ProTaper handlebars tie together the neo-retro theme, and Bret states that he always feels right at home with an MX bend. Mounting the 1-1/8″ bars to the BMW’s top clamp was accomplished with a wonderfully sculpted custom clamp done in-house.
The saddle is another custom piece, and Bret crafted it to tie into the BMW’s rear fender mount in lieu of welding in new tabs. Citing inspiration from MotoGP, it’s covered in black neoprene.
As a final finishing touch, Bret loaded the stock headlight bucket with a vintage yellow incandescent bulb and a custom CNC-machined bezel with a black anodized finish. Whether intentional or by happy accident, the three splashes of yellow on the bulb, wheels and handlebars add a little raciness to the R50’s weathered monochromatic look.
In its time, the BMW R50 was as stoic and reliable as a tourer could be, and after being sidelined for four decades in a barn, it found a far more thrilling life in Bret’s hands. “This bike is super fun to ride. Its short wheelbase and low center of gravity make it really whippy for a 60-year-old machine,” Bret says.
Bret’s R50 is back and sportier than BMW ever dreamed the R50 could be, all without losing its roots. That may be a hackneyed old saying, but we’d wager the boxer’s original owner would still gaze fondly at every scrape, dent and ding. But probably not that pesky Florida inspection sticker.
Obsessive Compulsive Design | Facebook | Instagram | Photos Courtesy of Bryan @bryanb_photography
