The New And Improved Unofficial R65 Forum V2
Technical Discussion => Restoration Progress Logs => Topic started by: CaptainSlow on February 14, 2013, 11:58:04 AM
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Well today was the first day that I managed to get any time to look over my new acquisition - the 1983 R65LS previously called the Red Tomato owned by beemer. We haven't come up with a new name yet, but something suitable will be found soon..
Anyway, I've spent about 6 hours on the paintwork today. She was a bit faded, somewhere between pink and orange in places rather than bright red. So I washed it, T-Cut it, then used Dodo Juice paint cleaner, followed by 2 coats of coloured wax and another 2 coats of carnuba wax. It took a while as I've been disassembling bits to get them clean - even removed the grab handles lol. The result...
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.duckfieldengineering.com%2Fforums%2FR65LSshiny1.jpg&hash=89ebc2cbcfd72185f08a4cfa24e37b5690ec4710)
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.duckfieldengineering.com%2Fforums%2FR65LSshiny2.jpg&hash=281a4f1cb9e2a1d8114d844370fa5c6236085602)
Yes she really is that shiny :) I've taken the two side panels off as they were horribly pitted, so I've sanded them nice and smooth and am currently repainting them black - as luck would have it I have a couple of cans of primer and black paint handy. Two coats of primer, and one coat of black done so far. Not sure how it'll take as its a damp 5 degrees here :-/ It'll either work or it won't!
On the downside, I've found an oil leak - she's pee'd while she's been parked up, so I'll have to take a look at that before going for the MoT. She fires up on the button and runs nicely, all lights work fine, so I'm hoping that she'll go straight through. Might change the brake lines first though - not sure if/when they were changed and I'd rather not trust 30 year old rubber brake lines when I'll be doing 12000+ miles a year on her. I'll change the fluid and put ATE Super Racing Blue brake fluid in - I've been using this stuff for years in my cars and bikes and love the stuff. Anyway, that'll be featured in a later update no doubt...
Thanks for reading, I know I go on a bit lol
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Hi Sam,
She looks very nice!
Whereabouts in Yorkshire are you? I am in Honley 4 miles from Huddersfield.
I am in the process of restoring an 81 R65, it's slow for various reasons, but I hope to be back on the road by the summer!
Cheers
Chris
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That is one very nice looking bike, You should be real happy with it.D2
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Thanks! To be honest she desperately needs a respray, the photos don't show all the scratches which have been touched up in different shades of red. The wheels are a creamy yellow and chipped in several places etc. But she is exactly what I expected for the money, so yes I'm very happy.
I'll run her for a year to identify any problems and get used to her, then I'd probably strip her down and do a full rebuild next year - for a 30 year old she is in far better condition that any 30 year car I've seen! The frame has some cosmetic rust, nothing serious found so far, and the condition of the oily bits seems to confirm the low 29k mileage. Beemer looked after her well.
I've got some crash bars and period panniers to go on - the pannier frames are from an R100RS so need 'adjustment' as the rear cross brace hits the rear lamp. So I need to modify that or else get a proper R65 frame set - depends what pops up at the right price in the next few weeks.
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Sam
Looking nice, it looks so shiny a Ferrari badge wouldn't go a-miss on the front mudguard!!
I've quite a gathering of parts (inc wheels) if you need anything feel free to ask.
Elliott
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Thanks Elliot :) As it happens... I don't suppose you have some R65 luggage frames do you? The R100 ones that came with the panniers I bought are too long. I could butcher them but I'd rather get the correct ones to be honest.
Cheers, Sam
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Sam
I don't actually, I got rid of mine but kind of wish I hadn't!!
They pop up on eBay often for around £50
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OK, thanks anyway :)
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Well I was measuring the size of the carbs to see if they'd fit into an ultrasonic cleaner that I was considering buying, when I noticed a few crushed wires that will need some attention. A further few minutes of inspection revealed the fuel tank overflow pipe being routed to deposit any excess petrol over the left exhaust pipe :o And then I glanced at my rear wheel and saw this -
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fduckfieldengineering.com%2Fforums%2Fwheel-crack.jpg&hash=e82db4af287ab78a1ae32bc08f73259c861c11df)
Now the wheel has obviously been subject to a quick n nasty repaint (not sure if its housepaint or from a spraycan to be honest) but the surface has cracked all the way around the rim on both sides of the wheel :-? I've heard of the rear wheel getting quite hot due to the heat of the shaft drive being transferred to it, but would this heating/cooling cycle be enough to cause this kind of crack? I'm just hoping that the rear wheel isn't FUBAR'd ! At the moment I can't tell if the crack is in the wheel itself, or is just the paint. I'm going to get some paint stripper later to see what is hiding under that creamy nastiness...
This bike is rapidly descending from a nice, original R65LS to a moderately extensive overhaul project! ::)
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Gota love eBay sometimes - got a large ex-dental ultrasonic cleaner now - the tank is roughly 240mm x 140mm x 150mm deep, so it'll take the carb bodies fully submerged. That means I can strip them down and get them uber clean, inside and out.
Also managed to be the only bidder on a K75C handlebar, so I won that for the opening bid [smiley=thumbsup.gif]
Still a bit concerned about the wheel, but I won't get time to look at it again until the weekend... I'm crossing fingers, toes etc etc that it is just the paint that has cracked.
I've had a few quotes in to get both wheels prepped and powder coated glossy black, and one of them also does anodising, so I'll probably get those handlebars anodised black while I'm there...
Yes, I've decided she's a project not a running rebuild, so I'm getting a game plan together, and she won't look like an LS afterwards sorry. I'm going old skool black, white & chrome [smiley=thumbsup.gif]
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Found these pics on the web - a combination of these is what I'm hoping my R65 will look like... eventually !
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fduckfieldengineering.com%2Fforums%2FR65%2Fthe-one.jpg&hash=6b95eb4c5ef6f3e7b3a5a70d95d964ff13e0da90)
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fduckfieldengineering.com%2Fforums%2FR65%2Fbmw4.jpg&hash=5db0aff5adcc34cef623e24d053ede1825fc1da7)
What do you think?
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they look nice, but i'm not a fan of the snowflake wheels!
you going cafe style with the rear pod?
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Probably more along the lines of the second pic Mr.E.
If I change the tank to a sculpted one, I have to think about where the electrical gubbins are going to go - I want to keep the airbox as I'll be riding in all weathers, so open air K&Ns probably aren't a good idea. So I need a bit of room for the relays etc, or possibly a gel battery (with the relays in a custom box on the battery tray). All fluid ideas at the moment, the only constraints are money (as always!), time (ditto), and keeping the wife sweet... ;)
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We will all look forward to reading about your fitting of a disc brake on the rear wheel -if that's part of your plan. As you mentioned, Cap'n, it's always the money... and time. Plus the money. [smiley=happy.gif]
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lol, no I think the rear disc is a step too far at this stage montmil ;D While I'm sure its do-able (everything is, given time and money) I think I'll just stick with the rear drum for now.
One quick question if I may - am I right in assuming that the airhead monoshock tanks will fit the R65 without the need to rejig the electrics? As you've probably noticed, I'm discounting the toaster tank straight off as the chances of finding one of those at an affordable price are zilch!
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Bagged an R80RT monoshock tank this afternoon -
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.duckfieldengineering.com%2Fforums%2FR65%2FR80tank1.jpg&hash=9359fa03be9cf42f1b95df1cee7553fd191aefe6)
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.duckfieldengineering.com%2Fforums%2FR65%2FR80tank2.jpg&hash=69d01701d80f89538c82e6bd543e6090464862bb)
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.duckfieldengineering.com%2Fforums%2FR65%2FR80tank3.jpg&hash=20e8bb1dcdc2f6467d0253fefda27728a581ba62)
As I'll be painting it white I'm not too bothered about the scratches. It seems to be in fine fettle. A bit of jiggery pokery and it'll fit just fine... I hope lol.
Bruce, if you read this - thanks for your write up on fixing the spinning fuel cap... yep mine failed to open today ::) Do you think she knows whats coming over the horizon???! ;D
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Had a couple of hours to myself yesterday so I had a play! First thing was to give that new tank a further check over. I initially thought that it had a nasty rust patch in the recess in the filler neck - luckily it turns out that it isn't as bad as I thought and won't need welding - phew!
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.duckfieldengineering.com%2Fforums%2FR65%2FR80-tank2.jpg&hash=ec260e323ba7a22c6a835d15328b40515e7c02cb)
So it was onto the test fitting. I'd read on here that any monolever tank should fit an R65, but not having seen any pics of such a tank I was still a bit concerned. This is the underside view of a mono R80 tank -
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.duckfieldengineering.com%2Fforums%2FR65%2FR80-tank.jpg&hash=34a5bd4280478afd45910be4f5220a09bb72a573)
You can clearly see the shape of the tank and where it'll clear the under tank electrics - so I won't have to relocate everything! :)
However... the front mounting bar is at a different height - a quick measurement indicates possibly 40mm difference -
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.duckfieldengineering.com%2Fforums%2FR65%2FR80-front-mount.jpg&hash=3a388b2a6eded3304602f88c6653fc96ff4017d0)
... so that'll need relocating. I think I'll modify the tank rather than the frame - as I've said previously, I want my project to be totally reversible as although the bike is in barely average condition it is easily savable and a bit of effort could make it a show winner.
Anyway, this is the R80 tank on the LS -
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.duckfieldengineering.com%2Fforums%2FR65%2FR80-tank-on-R65.jpg&hash=9247d8076fae2e923dbaf789612a4726100455ed)
Fits nicely, and the LS seat aligns to the rear of the R80 tank pretty well too. Not sure what I'll be doing with the seat yet so this will buy some time ;)
Next up was the handlebars. I picked up an R80RT handlebar a while ago for just GBP7.00 - at that price I wasn't too bothered about whether I'd use them or not. I later won one of the desirable K75C bars on ebay.
This is the R65LS bar, K75C bar and R80RT bar for comparison (top to bottom):
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.duckfieldengineering.com%2Fforums%2FR65%2FR65LS-K75C-R80RT-bars.jpg&hash=839b604e06862e5fe34db6dafa8c91a709d8bf6b)
The R65LS bars are a tad too low for my liking hence me looking around for an alternative. The R80RT bars are much more comfy, but very wide, so I put the K75C bars on - I think something a bit taller would be nice, but with the wind taking the load of my wrists when riding I'm sure these'll be just fine :)
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.duckfieldengineering.com%2Fforums%2FR65%2FR65LS-K75Cbars-no-bikini.jpg&hash=d17f38d422b43ee5ed10a95a51aa315f418cec38)
As you can see I also removed the fairing as I never really liked it. I've boxed it up for safe keeping and will be going with the traditional look, possibly with a fly screen like on my old Guzzi. The instruments will also go, to be replaced by an Acewell unit most likely.
In the meantime, I have one carb off and partially cleaned - hopefully I'll have both cleaned and rebuilt by the end of today :) Progress is sporadic, but days like yesterday keep the spirits up :)
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That's an excellent photo compro of the handlebars. We frequently read about owner changes in handlebars from bike-to-bike but without a photo, much is lost in translation.
Those 80RT bars look like they might fit with a street tracker look.
Thanks [smiley=beer.gif]
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They feel very wide I have to say. I took a few more pics of the bars which I've merged here - I was hoping to show the differences from a rider viewpoint but it didn't come out too well lol. The good intention was there ::)
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.duckfieldengineering.com%2Fforums%2FR65%2Fbars.jpg&hash=98cceff9fc3fc1933d0d3da4c53f025c71ddece0)
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hi sam
it looks like you have a great bike to start from with your project im sure you will end up with a really nice bike look forward to seeing how it comes on good luck
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Sam
Bars look good, think I'd go for the wider option, but I like wide bars
Starting to come together nicely
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I think I've got the colour scheme decided now... I was after a smokey grey and saw an Alfa in a car park - THAT was the colour !
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.autocentrum.pl%2Fgfx%2Fawc%2Fcars%2F1999771995.jpg&hash=d8ed07a022ffee61e022fa0fb472cae8d1879507)
Its called Titanio and is a smokey grey with a hint of brown. So its going to be that colour including the wheels, over a red frame with red pin stripes [smiley=thumbsup.gif] Can't wait to get the project started properly now!
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I haven't updated the build for a while because to be honest there has been no progress! :-[ Partly because I've had so little time, but also because I'm in a real quandary - I can't make my mind up what to do.
Most people who hear that I'm considering a pseudo cafe style overhaul are horrified because the LS is so original and relatively straight... and I have to admit to having doubts myself now. While I will be changing the colour whatever happens, and I'll be keeping the K75C bars on of course, I might just keep the LS standard in all other regards.
So the decision I've made is to wait until I've made a decision ;D In the meantime I really need to get those carbs cleaned and rebuilt :-[
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It's your bike, Sam, so you are the final authority on what's done or undone on your LS. It's also your money and time.
Unless you plan to chop up the chassis, most everything else would be alterations that could always revert back to stock. Save the removed OEM bits. No problem. Customized motorcycles are fine so go with your head and heart.
Check out marcmax's R65 for some way cool mods. Very tasty, it is.
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I once saw an LS that was painted in somewhat of a dark blue/gunmental gray metallic color - it was very striking/attractive. Otherwise, the body parts, etc. were all still stock.
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It's your bike, Sam, so you are the final authority on what's done or undone on your LS. It's also your money and time.
Unless you plan to chop up the chassis, most everything else would be alterations that could always revert back to stock. Save the removed OEM bits. No problem. Customized motorcycles are fine so go with your head and heart.
Check out marcmax's R65 for some way cool mods. Very tasty, it is.
Thanks Monte, appreciate that. I've seen marcmax's ride and its fantastic - he's done an amazing job. I know the LS isn't a particularly rare bike yet, but I don't want to contribute to its future demise either.
Time to get off the fence and do something then. Its back to Plan A - and I now know where I'm going with the bike at last. No fairing, single seat, old skool [smiley=thumbsup.gif]
Thanks to you both.