70 years ago a BMW motorcycle was Rudi Zimmerer's pride and joy.
Now his son Matthias wants to drive the same model.
The only thing missing is the TÜV.
Moosstetten - Matthias Zimmerer shows an old photo of two young men on a BMW motorcycle.
“They are the two of them in June 1949 at a vehicle inauguration in Forstern,” he says.
The two in the black and white picture are Rudolf "Rudi" and his brother Josef "Sepp" Zimmerer from Harthofen.
Rudi was Matthias Zimmerer's father and he was proud of the machine 70 years ago.
A few years earlier he had been happy to have survived the war.
“My father was only 16 when he was drafted in 1944,” says Zimmerer.
Rudi's brother Josef was two years older.
After their return, the two shoemakers threw themselves into work.
“Shoemakers were needed after the war,” says son Matthias.
And they were economical.
After the currency reform in 1948, the Zimmerer brothers were able to fulfill a dream: for 1750 marks they bought an R 24, the first post-war model of the single-cylinder series from BMW, from the then BMW dealer Alois Schiessl in Erding.
That was a lot of money back then, according to his son Matthias, the hourly wage in the Eicher tractor factory was just 80 pfennigs.
The brothers soon felt a major disadvantage of the 12 hp two-wheeler: the machine had no rear suspension.
"Back then, the roads weren't paved, and driving was correspondingly bumpy," says Matthias Zimmerer with a smile.
It was soon too hard for his father, and so the R 24 was sold again and an R 25 with rear suspension was purchased - again at Schiessl and again for 1750 marks.
That was in March 1951.
In a photo, the new owner proudly poses with his new machine, which doesn't even have a license plate.
The family dog watches curiously.
Rudolf died, as did his brother Josef, who later became known as a master shoemaker in Isen, in 2016.
As a child, son Matthias was fascinated by the stories of the motorcycle that he never saw live.
He was very interested in his father's life and, on the occasion of his 85th birthday, put memories and old documents together in a book.
“He has often said how proud he was to be able to afford this mobility so soon after the war.
He has also made two trips to Lake Constance and two trips to his sister in Frankfurt.
We found several ignition keys for the motorcycle in his estate, ”explains the 52-year-old.
The first corona lockdown in spring 2020 also gave the self-employed master electrician more free time.
Normally he is active in several clubs and as a CSU councilor in Pastetten, but now Zimmerer suddenly had time to deal with the past.
“First I got in touch with my aunt in Frankfurt.
Despite being 96 years old, she could still remember the first two motorcycles, ”says the father of four.
He also dealt with the history of the R 24 and R 25 series.
He learned that around half of all R 25s at that time were designed for sidecars.
“Then I looked on the internet for a solo machine with rear suspension that was as similar as possible to my father's.
It should also have been approved for the first time in March 1951, ”says Zimmerer.
He finally found what he was looking for in Trier.
"The seller just wanted to hand the machine over to good hands and only agreed when I sent him the old photo of my father and explained that I wanted to drive it myself."
Together with his daughter Anna, he picked up the R 25, which had been in a garage since 1978.
“The engine was running.
Above all, it is very good that the motorcycle has not been tinkered with, the frame and engine numbers match the nameplate, ”says Zimmerer happily.
He took the machine apart and repaired the technology.
He made sure to preserve the patina.
But: “I don't want a museum piece, I want to drive the motorcycle normally.” Before that, the TÜV has to give its blessing at the end of March, after which “ED RZ 3” is allowed to go on the road.
"The license plate should remind of my father Rudi," said Zimmerer.
Henry things