New member from CT

[captmdc]

Just a short note to say hello from this new member and that this is a great forum with terrific information.  Never dreamed that there were so many R65 buffs around!  My history: bought black R65 new in 1982 from Capitol Cycles in DC, loved it for 15 years, traded it in for R1100RS.  In retrospect, R65 was a 'best fit' for me in terms of all-around, do it all motorcycle.  Now actively hunting for another black 1982-84 in excellent shape.

Question: a salesman at Bob's BMW said that I need to look out for the problem of 'valve recession' in the R65.  Never experienced that problem myself in ~25k miles; is this a real / common issue in your experience?  Thanks for any help you can provide!

[Lucky_Lou]

Hi welcome....there was a thread a while back on the subject of valve recession, i think it was titled "The recession we had to have" i have had a look back  and cannot find it ?? maybe someone will point you at it.
i have a mere 33k on mine with no problems but there are some members with high miles i dare say they will chip in or put a question up in the tech section.
Lou

[Bob_Roller]

Valve recession is/was a problem starting with the '81 model year bikes .

I think by '83 or so they got it figured out, that the new material of the valve seats acted like an insulator not allowing the valve to transfer heat to the seat and then to the cylinder head .

I had 45,000 miles on my '81 R65 and at best had 5,000 miles before the  exhaust valves would have been pulled past the seat and probably have the valve head broken off .

The official BMW term for the anomaly was, valve face plastic deformation .

Welcome to the forum, enjoy the 'chaos' !!!!

[captmdc]

Thanks much for the info Lou and Bob!   Wow - Accumulated miles now seem much more important on the 1981-84 models than I could have imagined due to the valve materials...... I will be checking higher mileage bikes to see if they have had the valve work done!