Motorcycles have come a long way in the last half century, but for some folks, the allure of old machines is too hard to resist. The owner of this early 70s BMW R60/5, Wolfgang, has a much newer R1200GS parked in his garage. But when it was time to take a road trip, he picked the classic boxer over the globetrotting GS.
To make sure his aging Beemer was up to the task, Wolfgang reached out to Ralf Eggl at Woidwerk for a makeover. Based in the small river town of Viechtach in Bavaria, Ralf’s a master mechanic with multiple BMW builds under his belt?so this one was right up his alley.

?Wolfgang came in with his 1973 R60/5,? he tells us, ?and wanted a facelift with modern components, but still a classic look.? A restomod, in other words. High on the list were upgraded suspension and brake components, and more power. As for cosmetics, Ralf had a little wiggle room?as long as most of the original R60 DNA was retained.

Ralf set to work on the engine, upgrading it with the cylinders, heads and carbs from a newer R80. He also installed a Silent Hektik ignition and alternator, and kept the original air box for reliability’s sake.
A pair of Hattech silencers was added for a period correct look (and a better soundtrack), with Ralf eventually managing to eke 50 hp out of the old airhead?a useful bump of around 10 hp.

To nail both the suspension and brake upgrades in one shot, Ralf installed a set of Kawasaki Ninja ZX-7R forks, along with its twin disc brakes. The fo...