New Guy/79 R65 Wheels

[cash_hall]

I am brand spankin new to BMWs...  Actually, I am new to motorcycles.  I have wanted a bike for a while and kinda wanted my first to be a project BMW.   My father-in-law is a BMW lover, so I thought why not.  I lucked out and found a 1979 R65 (the frame says 1979, I am in the process of getting a new title)  in a barn that had been setting since the late 80s for $250.  It is not to bad of shape with around 18000 miles.  It is missing a few things, mostly minor.  

I want to paint the bike something different than the original blue(feel free to tell me if this is stupid).  The problem is the rims, which are in perfect condition. are painted the same color as the bike.  At first I thought that I would just have them blasted to the original metal color, but I am not sure they weren't painted this way from the factory.   The paint matches the body perfect.  I have looked for another on the net with the rims painted, but have not found another.  I don't want to mess the paint up if it is original, because they are so nice.  Does anyone know anything about this?  Did any come from the factory painted?

Thanks
Chuck

[larstorders]

Many congrats on your find. And welcome to airhead ownership.
Hmmm, I never heard of an airhead leaving the factory with, anything other than silvery/ aluminium painted wheels.
Which doesn't mean to say your's isn't some kind of special edition.  
What is the exact blue colour scheme of your R65 then?
 I think we need to see a picture    then originality can be assessed.

[tagordon]

Welcome,
My R65 has matching paint on the wheels. No idea if factory or not.
But I like it. Many positive comments from others as well.
I have a Blue R100 Cafe & a Red R65. And preferring primary colors; if I changed it would be to classic black. But black is so hard to keep clean & I'd
rather ride than clean.
Again welcome to R65 ownership & our little group here.
Troy

[Justin B.]

I think the only rims that were painted were on the LS models...

Yeah, we need pics, always nice to see a barn-find before restoration gets started...

[Semper Gumby]

Congrats.  Here you will learn the zen of the spline lube, the diaphram replacement, the front brake mods and whatever else you might ask.  Oh and BTW - paint it what ever floats your boat.  But you have to promise to send us pics so we can oo and aw.  I have seen some cool paint jobs on R65s that had nothing to do with the factory!   8-)

[Bob_Roller]

Welcome Chuck !

Sounds like you found yourself a great deal on an R65.

These bikes are tough, so being stored 15-20 years or so out of the weather isn't going to hurt them too much.

But you have a fair amount of work ahead of you !

Like has been said in other posts here, a previous owner had the bike painted, doesn't sound like a factory paint job.

We've seen a few bikes painted in non-factory colors and paint schemes, from the classic BMW look to cafe racers, and it's refreshing to see an R65 in non-factory colors.

[cash_hall]

Thanks so much to all who have welcomed me!  I have enjoyed looking through the forum learning from all of your conversations.

So here is the deal.  I had about ten great pictures, two or three that I was excited about showing my new friends here.  I went into iphoto on my laptop...  no pictures.  I called my wife and asked her to email them to me and received ONE :-/ this morning.  I thought that I had deleted them off of one, but thought that I had them backed up somewhere.  I am currently on the road, but when I get home for Christmas I will try to find the other pics.  This is the only one I currently have.  You can't see much (if you click on the picture, it is a little better), but I hope to post more soon.



I think the color is Azur Blue.  I ran the serial.  It came up under USA/R65/12-1978.  

I am still not sure what I will do about paint.  After reading Tagordon's post, I am leaning toward keeping the blue.  It is a pretty cool look (with the blue rims).  Classic Black is what I was thinking too, but I know I don't want to clean it constantly.  I guess I have a lot to do before it matters anyway.