Routine Ride
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Routine Ride
by mogu83 Fri Mar 25, 2022 9:46 am
Routine ride
it’s funny how sometimes a routine activity can turn into something special. On my routine maintenance ride to my local WaWa I was standing outside having a cup of coffee with my /5 parked nearby. A lady of a certain age (my age) came out looked at my bike and asked ‘Is that your BMW?’. Pettit and very well dressed she didn’t seem the type that would even know BMW made motorcycles. (ED: Excuse me ladies, a child of the 50’s here, in my father’s house the idea of a young man riding a motorcycle was considered ‘I’ll advised’ and the idea of a young woman riding on the back, or God forbid actually operating one, was unthinkable. Sometimes it comes out.) She walked around it and said ’It’s a 71, right’, I was shocked, most BMW riders can’t tell the difference between a SWB (Short Wheel Base) and a LWB (Long Wheel Base) /5 much less the year. I asked how She knew the year. She told me she worked at Butler and Smith during the late 60s and early 70s and her job was doing all the import paperwork on the new bikes. No doubt She did the import paperwork on my bike. She recounted how the guys ‘in the back’ would fire up a new bike at lunch time and the office girls would hop on the back and they would ride into New York State for lunch. We had an interesting talk about the BMW motorcycle situation in the 50’s and early 60’s, especially AMOL Precision, one of the few BMW dealers in the States in the 50s.
A long time ago in a land far away there was a company that made motorcycles. After the devastation of WW II BMW was struggling to just pay the bills, they survived by making motorcycles. People were looking for a dependable means of transportation and the small single cylinder motorcycles fit the bill. They also made some bigger twin cylinder bikes in displacements up to 600cc. Some of these bikes made it to the States, usually sent back by servicemen serving in Germany. The bikes soon developed a reputation for quality and dependability. A company in New York City began buying the bikes in Germany bringing them to the United States, doing all the paperwork, and reselling them. Soon Butler and Smith became too big for its NYC location and bought a building in Norwood, NJ.
Amol Precision Tool and Die (BMW dealer) was in Dumont, NJ, the town I grew up in, I walked past it every day on my way to grade school (we all walked in those days), and Amol was right across the RR tracks from my High School. In the summer, with the windows open (air conditioning in those days) you could hear the mechanics test riding the bikes up and down the street in front of the dealer. Amol was cool, being basically a tool and die shop that sold motorcycles, German was the language used in the shop and I imagine in the 50s they might have sold 5 bikes a year. The two brothers that owned the shop raced the bikes and their ‘Liberman Special’ outperformed the factory racers of the time. On the weekends BMW riders would show up and hang out. Being a late teenage BSA rider at the time I and my mates always got a laugh when they showed up, on their black bikes with white pin stripes that didn’t make any noise (/2s), most of the riders were old guys (mid40s) in black leathers and usually a little overweight.
Sometime in the mid-60s Honda approached Amol and offered them the Honda franchise for Bergan County, they took it and then the “You meet the nicest people on a Honda thing broke out’, they were selling 10 Hondas for every one BMW. Bikes were going out the door like hot cakes and the tool and die business shut down.
Around the early 70s the BMW Motorcycle Owners Association was established and the BMW riders that hung out at Amol established the BMW riders Club of North Jersey (Charter #39). I remember going to Amol to check out the new /5 Beemers when they came out, heralded to be the new modern BMW with a choice of colors, a new light weight frame and a high-performance engine they were priced above my pocket book. My new BSA at the time cost $1400 while the BMW was $1000 more. I moved down the shore and got out of touch with what was going on at Amol but it seemed that they made a lot of money in the 70’s, mostly on Hondas.
In 1981 BMW realized there was money to be made selling their product in the United States so BMWNA was born, also in North Jersey. Butler and Smith were out of business overnight. No thank you for the time and money they spent introducing the BMW motorcycle line to the States. The company pushed the dealers to only sell BMWs and to upgrade their showrooms. The two brothers that owned AMOL (sadly time has erased their names) were ready to pass the business on to their kids and the kids were more interested in making money than loyalty to BMW so the company was asked to pack up their stuff and leave. Unfortunately, the kids ran the business into the ground and the business no longer exists.
Late 50s early 60s, great time to be a motorcycle rider, the bikes were raw and the fast ones were killers. The riders truly experienced comradery no mater what we rode because it truly was a ‘us against them’ situation as motorcyclists weren’t accepted anywhere. In the late 60s with the advent of the CB750 Honda everything changed, leading to the everyone has to have a Harley thing in the late 80’s. Todays riders talk about comradery but really have no idea what it was, maybe because back then it was rare to even see someone on a motorcycle.
it’s funny how sometimes a routine activity can turn into something special. On my routine maintenance ride to my local WaWa I was standing outside having a cup of coffee with my /5 parked nearby. A lady of a certain age (my age) came out looked at my bike and asked ‘Is that your BMW?’. Pettit and very well dressed she didn’t seem the type that would even know BMW made motorcycles. (ED: Excuse me ladies, a child of the 50’s here, in my father’s house the idea of a young man riding a motorcycle was considered ‘I’ll advised’ and the idea of a young woman riding on the back, or God forbid actually operating one, was unthinkable. Sometimes it comes out.) She walked around it and said ’It’s a 71, right’, I was shocked, most BMW riders can’t tell the difference between a SWB (Short Wheel Base) and a LWB (Long Wheel Base) /5 much less the year. I asked how She knew the year. She told me she worked at Butler and Smith during the late 60s and early 70s and her job was doing all the import paperwork on the new bikes. No doubt She did the import paperwork on my bike. She recounted how the guys ‘in the back’ would fire up a new bike at lunch time and the office girls would hop on the back and they would ride into New York State for lunch. We had an interesting talk about the BMW motorcycle situation in the 50’s and early 60’s, especially AMOL Precision, one of the few BMW dealers in the States in the 50s.
A long time ago in a land far away there was a company that made motorcycles. After the devastation of WW II BMW was struggling to just pay the bills, they survived by making motorcycles. People were looking for a dependable means of transportation and the small single cylinder motorcycles fit the bill. They also made some bigger twin cylinder bikes in displacements up to 600cc. Some of these bikes made it to the States, usually sent back by servicemen serving in Germany. The bikes soon developed a reputation for quality and dependability. A company in New York City began buying the bikes in Germany bringing them to the United States, doing all the paperwork, and reselling them. Soon Butler and Smith became too big for its NYC location and bought a building in Norwood, NJ.
Amol Precision Tool and Die (BMW dealer) was in Dumont, NJ, the town I grew up in, I walked past it every day on my way to grade school (we all walked in those days), and Amol was right across the RR tracks from my High School. In the summer, with the windows open (air conditioning in those days) you could hear the mechanics test riding the bikes up and down the street in front of the dealer. Amol was cool, being basically a tool and die shop that sold motorcycles, German was the language used in the shop and I imagine in the 50s they might have sold 5 bikes a year. The two brothers that owned the shop raced the bikes and their ‘Liberman Special’ outperformed the factory racers of the time. On the weekends BMW riders would show up and hang out. Being a late teenage BSA rider at the time I and my mates always got a laugh when they showed up, on their black bikes with white pin stripes that didn’t make any noise (/2s), most of the riders were old guys (mid40s) in black leathers and usually a little overweight.
Sometime in the mid-60s Honda approached Amol and offered them the Honda franchise for Bergan County, they took it and then the “You meet the nicest people on a Honda thing broke out’, they were selling 10 Hondas for every one BMW. Bikes were going out the door like hot cakes and the tool and die business shut down.
Around the early 70s the BMW Motorcycle Owners Association was established and the BMW riders that hung out at Amol established the BMW riders Club of North Jersey (Charter #39). I remember going to Amol to check out the new /5 Beemers when they came out, heralded to be the new modern BMW with a choice of colors, a new light weight frame and a high-performance engine they were priced above my pocket book. My new BSA at the time cost $1400 while the BMW was $1000 more. I moved down the shore and got out of touch with what was going on at Amol but it seemed that they made a lot of money in the 70’s, mostly on Hondas.
In 1981 BMW realized there was money to be made selling their product in the United States so BMWNA was born, also in North Jersey. Butler and Smith were out of business overnight. No thank you for the time and money they spent introducing the BMW motorcycle line to the States. The company pushed the dealers to only sell BMWs and to upgrade their showrooms. The two brothers that owned AMOL (sadly time has erased their names) were ready to pass the business on to their kids and the kids were more interested in making money than loyalty to BMW so the company was asked to pack up their stuff and leave. Unfortunately, the kids ran the business into the ground and the business no longer exists.
Late 50s early 60s, great time to be a motorcycle rider, the bikes were raw and the fast ones were killers. The riders truly experienced comradery no mater what we rode because it truly was a ‘us against them’ situation as motorcyclists weren’t accepted anywhere. In the late 60s with the advent of the CB750 Honda everything changed, leading to the everyone has to have a Harley thing in the late 80’s. Todays riders talk about comradery but really have no idea what it was, maybe because back then it was rare to even see someone on a motorcycle.
Last edited by mogu83 on Fri Mar 25, 2022 8:36 pm; edited 1 time in total
mogu83- Posts : 2042
Join date : 2017-02-17
Age : 80
Location : Beachwood,NJ
Mac, Kev M and 9fingers like this post
Re: Routine Ride
by Guzziblake Fri Mar 25, 2022 2:14 pm
Wow, what a coincidence that you crossed path’s with that lady! Also interesting history about the arrival of BMW motorcycles. Nice to know!
Guzziblake- Posts : 87
Join date : 2017-03-08
Location : Carbondale, PA
Re: Routine Ride
by 9fingers Sun Mar 27, 2022 8:07 am
That is a GREAT story and incredible coincidence. You meet the nicest people at a a Wawa...........
I spent most of my life in Bergen County, working in Ridgewood and my wife's aunt and uncle in Dumont and me living in Franklin Lakes. My wife is from Rutherford and I living in Midland Park when I met her. I remember Amol Cycle and a Place called the Sport Spot, which I think was in Haledon.........dealerships that sold exotic European brands of bikes.......I thought they were all cool but I was a Honda guy from 12 on, my first being a CT70H, the 4 speed with the clutch, from Tri County Honda. I bought that with my newspaper and lawn cutting money....I was not one of the typical Franklin Lakes kids.......I made money the Smith Barney way.....I earned it. Sorry I have digressed so much from your story but it is bringing it all back to me. Thanks for posting.
Scott
I spent most of my life in Bergen County, working in Ridgewood and my wife's aunt and uncle in Dumont and me living in Franklin Lakes. My wife is from Rutherford and I living in Midland Park when I met her. I remember Amol Cycle and a Place called the Sport Spot, which I think was in Haledon.........dealerships that sold exotic European brands of bikes.......I thought they were all cool but I was a Honda guy from 12 on, my first being a CT70H, the 4 speed with the clutch, from Tri County Honda. I bought that with my newspaper and lawn cutting money....I was not one of the typical Franklin Lakes kids.......I made money the Smith Barney way.....I earned it. Sorry I have digressed so much from your story but it is bringing it all back to me. Thanks for posting.
Scott
9fingers- Posts : 180
Join date : 2021-04-17
Age : 66
Location : Lafayette, NJ
Re: Routine Ride
by Kev M Mon Mar 28, 2022 8:00 am
Thanks for the great story and the history lesson!
Kev M- Posts : 850
Join date : 2017-02-18
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