1958 BMW R50 Stays Glued to the Road With Metzeler’s Perfect ME 77 Flip-Flops

The jewel we’ll be looking at today is a numbers-matching 1958 variant of BMW’s R50 range, featuring overhauled instrumentation, a chromed luggage rack and Denfeld saddles. In the cockpit, pullback risers were used to mount a new handlebar, which sports aftermarket levers, grips and switches. The Beemer also received fresh plumbing and a modern battery under current ownership, while its ancient tires have been replaced with Perfect ME 77 rubber from Metzeler’s inventory.

Now that we’ve talked about the modifications, let’s take a trip down memory lane and remind ourselves about the Bavarian’s main specs and features. Within its tubular steel double cradle skeleton, the ‘58 MY R50 carries an air-cooled 494cc boxer-twin powerplant, which is mated to a single-plate dry clutch and a four-speed gearbox.

The four-stroke mill comes with dual 24 mm (0.9 inches) Bing carburetors, four pushrod-actuated valves and a compression ratio of 6.8:1. When the crank turns at approximately 5,800 revs per minute, this bad boy is capable of feeding 26 hp to the rear wheel via a shaft final drive. Ultimately, the whole shebang translates to a top speed of 87 mph (140 kph).

Suspension duties are handled by leading-link Earles forks up front and dual preload-adjustable shock absorbers on the opposite end. Up north, stopping power hails from a 200 mm (7.9 inches) duplex drum brake, while the rear hoop is brought to a halt by a simplex module with an identical diameter.

All things considered, this machine is a real blast from the past, so you’ll be delighted to learn that it could end up in your garage! Motorrad’s old-school marvel is searching for a new home at this very moment, and you’d only need something in the neighborhood of 5,500 bucks to top the current bid – for now. The R50 will be listed on Bring A Trailer until Wednesday afternoon (October 27), when the auction will come to an end.