The New And Improved Unofficial R65 Forum V2
General Category => Chit-Chat => Topic started by: nhmaf on October 12, 2013, 09:33:16 PM
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Of all the airhead scrambler projects I've seen lately, this one seems to come closer to the mark of what I think a scrambler should look like, but I'd still prefer to have a bit more parallelism in the mufflers...
http://www.moto-verso.co.uk/motorcycles/bmw-r65-scrambler/
.. and, while I certainly appreciate the effort required to fabricate/modify wheels to fit the 18" front and preserve steering geometry, scramblers really ought to have spoked wheels and not cast alloy. But, there isn't so much for me to find fault with this particular scrambler interpretation!
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They seem to think it's a finished piece of work. Me, I feel it's got a little ways to go yet.
Wire wheels. YES!
GS oil pan and bash plate. YES!
One muffler - 2 into 1. YES!
A decent seat. YES!
A full length front fender to keep the muck off of me and the bike. YES!
And how about a tail light? ::)
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Why didn't the guy just
But, there isn't so much for me to find fault with this particular scrambler interpretation!
Allow me >:(
Exposed paper air filter on a scrambler... really?
Cast wheels (the only thing left on the bike from an LS)... might be ok for adventurous riding if they kept the tubes in em.
less brakes than it used to have
the front "fenderette"
The "stay close to a station" tank
No improvement on ground clearance
Flat paint and brushed metal would be real fun to clean up after a dusty ride.
The tool/document storage went from dry to wet.
Don't get me wrong, it's a cool bike... but mostly an exercise in styling IMO. I'd rather take my Spitfire shod LS off the beaten path (and have) than this thing.
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I like the 2-1 muffler design Honda used on it's 70's era bikes like the Honda 350 scrambler
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Not to quibble, the previous comments all have merit, and while I'm not normally a fan of modifying the nearly perfect R65LS, this little guy appeals to me. I like the tank, wonder where that came from? It looks like a H-D job.
Now for those who may be interested in some leather options, I would encourage you to check out Joe Bill Matous' leather works. http://www.matousleather.com/ Joe Bill is in College Station, TX and does first class work. He's been in the leather business for over 30 years in custom saddlery and leather. I have one of the small tool pouches and it's top quality work.
Now where can I find an R65LS that needs remodeling?
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No reason to modify or cut up an LS. The frame is pretty much identical to all the others except lacking some stiffening. The thing that makes the R65 different is the front end, 18" front wheel, slightly narrower engine and short swingarm.
Build one from scratch. That's what I want to do, using an R80 or 100 engine, frame from a larger airhead, R65 front end and swingarm. Build some wire wheels to fit.
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I had a couple of the Honda CL350 bikes back in the mid 70s. They also made a CL450 if a few more beans were needed...
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.walnecks.com%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2F1973%2520Honda%2520CL350.JPG&hash=a6cbd0022a4e3beb0537d45791ce8bff91965c87)
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Build one from scratch. That's what I want to do, using an R80 or 100 engine, frame from a larger airhead, R65 front end and swingarm. Build some wire wheels to fit.
Out of curiosity, why would you want the frame from a larger bike. I had no difficulty in putting an R80 engine into my wife's R65 and that means that an R100 would fit as well (now there is an idea!).
The one thing I should have done all those years ago when I put the R80 in was change the final drive - I am quietly looking for a 32/10.
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I'm looking at my /7 bike, which presumably has the stiffest strongest frame of all the /5, /6, /7 series, and I don't see that it is appreciably more gusseted than the R65 frame, which is a little bit shorter, which might even help it with stiffness. Definitely, the R65 fork/steering assembly is better, at least until the monolever models that had triple clamps and forks more like the K bikes'