Baroda Royal Family’s Prince Gets Himself A Restored Vintage BMW Bike

The biking culture in India has evolved significantly over the decades. From being just a means of commuting from point A to point B, motorcycles are now widely used for road trips, leisure riding, and even collection. Some enthusiasts also collect old, classic, and vintage motorcycles as a hobby. There are several collectors across the country who like to expand their garages with rare and iconic bikes. Recently, one such collector—Pratapsinh Gaekwad, a member of Baroda’s royal family—gifted himself a vintage BMW R69S motorcycle for Christmas.

Images of the bike were shared by Pratapsinh Gaekwad on his Instagram page. He is an Indian former first-class cricketer and cricket coach, a member of the Gaekwad dynasty of Baroda, and is currently first in line of succession to the unofficial title of Maharaja of Baroda. Like many members of royal families, Gaekwad has a taste for expensive and rare cars and motorcycles.

He owns several exotic cars, many of which have already been featured on our website. In this case, the BMW R69S is a classic motorcycle, and it appears that the bike was earlier owned by one of his close friends, who sadly passed away recently.

While sharing the images of the motorcycle, he wrote: “Merry Christmas!

True to his word, @joshuacrasto delivered the BMW R69S on the 24th of December 2025.

The delivery took place at my office, and needless to say, that was the end of my workday. Very quickly, we manoeuvred the bike into my office, where I spent the rest of the day staring at it in awe.

This was also an emotional moment, as we had lost our dear friend and previous guardian of this motorcycle, Yezdi Arathna, just a few months ago. It was always my intention to have Yezdi involved in the build and to unveil the restored motorcycle in his presence, and later for him to present it at the Oberoi Concours 2026.

Yezdi, I hope you are happy with what we have achieved with this restoration. Now, very quickly, I will need to get my biking gear together and clock up approximately 300-plus kilometres of running-in before we showcase her at the Oberoi Concours in Udaipur!”

He also thanked everyone who helped him acquire and restore this classic motorcycle. It appears that riding the bike regularly is not his primary intention. The restoration was likely done to preserve the motorcycle and display it as a piece of art, possibly in his office.

This approach makes sense for a collector, as riding such a vintage motorcycle on modern Indian roads may not be practical. Maintaining and using an old motorcycle on a daily basis can be quite challenging.

The BMW R69S is a vintage motorcycle that was manufactured between 1960 and 1969. It is powered by a 549 cc, twin-cylinder engine producing 42 PS and is mated to a 4-speed gearbox.

This is not the only classic or vintage vehicle in Mr. Gaekwad’s collection. He is known for his fondness for heritage automobiles. He owns a Ferrari 328 GTS that was once owned by Vijay Mallya, along with an Aston Martin DBS, a Porsche 911 GT3 RS, a 1966 Mercedes-Benz 230SL ‘Pagoda’, a Ford Mustang Mach 1, and several other rare vehicles.