R65 gearboxes - compatibility

[montmil]

Back in the magneto ignition days, when Lord Lucas, the Prince of Darkness ran my life, a kickstarter was all you needed to get fire to the plugs on the Turnip.

Someone will hopefully correct me if I'm in error but the electronic ignitions on bikes such as yours would likely be an exercise in frustration while kicking with a totally flat battery. I dunno for sure...

I've had the battery go down on my R65 when I've failed to regularly plug in the Battery Tender. Too many days of in-town plonking and the batt wasn't able to crank the engine one afternoon at quittin' time. Fortunately, there was enough power left in the battery that the Beemer lit off with the classic run, jump n' bump technique. Good reason to keep the Bings in order!

Monte

[R65_Mark]

Two quick thoughts.

While the $600 or so that a transmission overhaul seems to cost from one of the gurus is a chunk of change, particularly given the value of an R65, I'd have to be certain about either the price advantage or the provenance of a "good used" unit before going down that route.

When I was working, I’d sometimes experiment on how long the battery would hold up on my R65 having to deal with my 3-mile to/from work sprint, including home for lunch most days.  I could sometimes squeeze two weeks, but never more.  I wired a lead with an SAE socket to the battery, cable tied the socket to the frame just below the left side panel and got into the habit of simply hooking it up at work and at home.  No problems.

Mark