The New And Improved Unofficial R65 Forum V2
General Category => General Announcements => Topic started by: daveco2 on March 29, 2008, 10:38:22 AM
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Hello,
Just joined the forum. Thinking of getting an R65 in the next few weeks and expect to be asking a lot of questions.
First question: Any general comments on buying an almost 30 year old bike? Parts availability, etc?
I'm in Los Angeles. Any clubs or riding groups around here?
Thanks,
Dave
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Welcome Dave !
As you may or may not already know, the R65 is a bit "different" from its larger airhead brothers, but it shares
the same roots/heritage and quite a few parts, though it also has a number of parts specific to the R65, and its
littler (and very rare over here) brother the R45, that was primarily designed for European markets. IF you
are mechanically inclined or like to tinker/maintain your own bike, this is a good one to work with. They can be very
reliable and maintenance friendly, but sometimes one does look at some bit in the design and say "what were they thinking ?".
Is the R65 which you are looking at a 1980 (or earlier) model, or is it an '81 - 84 model, or even a post 85 monoshock
model ? By your "30 year" statement I am assuming pre-1980. There are a number of folks here who have this vintage,
and perhaps more of us have the 81-84 model year. Parts can still be found for all of these, generally speaking, though
sometimes one does have to shop for used bits in various places. Let us know the specifics about the bike you are considering
for purchase, and I am sure that folks here can help you with advice on what to look for, etc. to help you get a good deal, or
have an understanding of what you are getting in to ! :)
We have members in your state, but I'm not sure just where they all are - check out our "Frappr" map, though I think we
have many more members who haven't posted their locations on the map yet:
http://www.frappr.com/r65org
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Thanks for reply,
The bike I've found is a 1979 with 36,000 miles on it. Seems like it would be ideal to putter around town with. And I do like to maintain my own machinery. Actually, I spend more time in the garage than riding.
Dave
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Welcome to our little universe, Dave! Good to have you aboard! [smiley=thumbsup.gif]
One of the moderators here, Rob Valdez, has a 1979 R65 that he bought brand new! If there's anyone who can help you with any problems you may encounter along the way to getting your bike roadworthy, it's him!
Post a pic of your ride when you can! We just love pics!! ;)
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Welcome.
To elaborate on the answer to your parts question the answer is that most parts are still available new from your local BMW Stealer, errr Dealer. If you don't mind a fairly long wait then parts can be ordered on-line with a 20% discount off list from Chicago BMW. Moto-Bins in England is a good source for some parts as well and often cheaper even with the shipping and exchange rate.
My experience has been that BMW factory parts support for older machines is hands-down far superior to that of any of the Jap offerings.
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Welcome Dave
I order my parts from Max'x BMW.
Not the cheapest I'm sure.
But the service its putstanding.
And they always put a bag of M&M's in the box with my parts.
Troy
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Welcome Dave,
The big unknown, is how the bike was maintained, or more importantly, what hasn't been maintained, how the bike has been stored , and how it was treated when ridden.
It can get a bit costly to get a bike back into reliable condition.
There's no way to know, until you start taking things apart.
As mentioned the availability of most parts is not an issue.