In June 1962, Cycle World magazine published a review of the R69S. Its initial and concluding paragraphs read: "Ask any motorcyclist what he considers to be the two-wheeled equivalent of the Rolls-Royce and you will almost certainly be told 'BMW'. That answer will not be too far wrong, either, except that the products coming from the Bayerische Motoren Werke incorporate a good deal more in advanced engineering features than does the famous English car.
"Actually, the BMW motorcycle is more like the Mercedes than a Rolls-Royce: conservative in many respects, but quite advanced nonetheless. In any case, the BMW has attributes that make it unique, and it has acquired a reputation that makes it a 'prestige' motorcycle – even among people who ordinarily don't give two-wheelers a second glance…"
"Whatever the BMW’s merits in a contest of speed, it is still the smoothest, best finished, quietest and cleanest motorcycle it has ever been our pleasure to ride. To be honest, we think that anyone who would worry much over its performance-potential is a bit of a booby. The R69S is fast enough to handle any encounter, and it has attributes that are, in touring, infinitely more valuable than mere speed. All things considered, if we were planning a two-wheel style vacation/tour, the BMW would have to be our choice of mount."
The 42hp R69S was produced from 1960 to 1969. These models were designed as high-powered, high-compression sport bikes, although the R69S came with sidecar lugs installed on the frame. The lugs were deleted from the telescopic-fork 'US' models.
The author of these pages had an R69S with Steib and considers it one of the top three machines of the hundreds he has owned.
Sources include Webbs NZ.
