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Resurrecting a war relic

20.11.11

ROBERTS — In October, Bob Clement test drove a piece of history.

As motorists strained to catch a better view, Clement cruised along Highway 212 north of Roberts on a World War II German motorcycle with a machine gun mounted to the sidecar and a cartridge belt of bullets dangling from the breech.

Technically, the 1941 BMW R75 is a sidecar rig.

“It’s not a trike. It’s not a motorcycle,” said Clement, a mechanic who works on vintage BMW motorcycles and owns Bob’s Motorwerks near Roberts.

For 15 years, the bike’s owner, Maj. Darren Purcell, of Bozeman, has pursued the bike’s resurrection. Purcell figures there are fewer than 25 of the bikes in the U.S.

“Of those, only about 10 are actually running,” he said.

Purcell, 42, teaches military science through the ROTC program at Montana State University in Bozeman. He pegs the bike’s value at more than $50,000, but he has no plans to sell it.

“The thing’s a treasure,” said Clement, who is one of a string of mechanics on two continents who labored to restore the World War II machine after decades of disuse.

Source: Billings Gazette