Love my first bike

[Bob_Roller]

From the looks of the trees, fall is way on  it's way in the southern hemishpere, great time for riding !!!

[Bengt_Phorqs]

Glad to have you join us Canbera Gal.  Like Aida and the others say don't worry about the occasional drops.  My son, Earl S. Phorqs, just got his m/c endorsement a few months ago and he's riding my '83 R65.  We went for the first long ride last weekend and of course he dropped it in an intersection.  Fortunately no cars around so now injury except to his pride.  

I'm with the others on the paint scheme.  Do it for yourself since you're the one that's riding it.  That's a cool blue too.  This is my second R65, and I'm 6'1" and it fits just fine.  My fiance', Feyonce', has her own R1100R and I think it's cool that women are finally accepted in the sport.  You go girl!

[Melena]

Marilyn Canberra Gal!  WELCOME!   [smiley=vrolijk_26.gif]

I've been too busy to do other than lurk lately, but I wanted to make sure to give you a big welcome.  I love the color of your bike - it is definitely Violet.    

I got my Lil Bee 6 years ago and she is my first bike.  I took the MSF course before I got a bike and then decided there that YES I did want to ride.   I took the course in the spring and found the bike in the fall.   It took a few parking lots and easy rides on weekend mornings when there is no traffic to get started.  Then I rode to the 49er Rally here in California with my partner - about a 200 mile ride - as my first long ride with a loaded up bike.  That was fun!  

I'm 5'7"  and I can almost flat foot it.  You will just need to practice practice practice.  You'll be amazed one day when you do something automatically that used to take some hard thinking to do correctly.  Just remember to always keep learning and ride your own ride.   You'll keep up with the others when you're ready to!  

 Here's a picture of my bike.  It's the classic black, but it runs great!

[Altritter]

Welcome, Canberra-gal! I'm a relatively new born-again rider myself, and although I joined two other BMW-rider fora in addition to this one, the R65 is the only one I read every time I check my email. The others don't even come close to the level of friendliness you'll find here.

You wrote:  << I know this may sound stupid but which way is the fuel tap when on.  straight down with the long part down?? >>

You showed intelligence by asking a very important question! There have been several BMW fuel petcock styles over time, so if there is a style that differs from what I write, I hope someone will correct me. To operate the bike on its main fuel supply, it's important that the long end of the petcock handle point Down. If it points Up, you're operating on your reserve fuel supply, an arrangement that can complicate your ride making your reserve unavailable when you need it. (If you use your reserve first, you can correct the mistake, but it requires tilting the bike far over to one side—a two-person operation for most riders.)

Unlike you, I showed my own stupidity by not asking your question. Fortunately, I finally figured it out for myself and confirmed my guess shortly afterward when I obtained a copy of the Rider's Handbook for the R45, R65, and R65LS. (The fuel shutoff is covered on page 17, with a photo diagram and text.

If you did not receive a copy of  the correct Rider's Handbook with the bike, I recommend that you obtain one. The BMW part number to request is :

01 41 9 798 291 (My version was printed in 1983, if I read the code correctly.)

If you can't find a bound copy, I think that a member of this forum posted a message that an electronic download copy is available (perhaps as a link on this forum; I forget).

if you buy, insist on that part number. Some sellers will try to sell you a later "replacement" covering post-1986 R65s, R80s, and R100s. This is of limited use.

Good luck,
John

[ambrose78]

Hey Canberra gal,

Welcome. Congrats on the bike. Its a great first bike

You'll be fine for the P-test on the r65. I did mine in february and the R65has no problems at all doing the u-turn or the slalom. Infact it did the u-turn tighter than most 250's that were there on the same day.

here is guide to what is in the test
http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/licensing/downloads/most.pdf
the only differences between the ACT and NSW is the swerve in the act is only on one side and the cones are a slightly different offset.

When you feel confident riding and ready to take the test my best advice is to practise a few times on the pre marked practise courses located around Canberra. Theres one at natex behind the stadium on the west side off flemington rd (though when I went to practise there was always some show on hogging hte car park). There is a better one in Kamba behind a Church on Jenke cct just off drakeford dr. I went 2 times to practise before my test and it sat me in good sted.

The main things to be prepared for are
the slalom - which is easy once you get used to driving the bike wide and slowly around the cones.
the u-turn - which is pretty much just practise.

Both of these tests are done at your own pace.

Good luck with it and hope to see you out and about around Canberra sometime.

P.

[suecanada]

Welcome, welcome! Oh boy another lady in our forum family! You may be the tallest of us women at five-nine. Melena five-seven, me five-four and three quarters and Aïda at five-oh-oh or slightly less. There are a few others like Arla but not all write in that much.
We all love our R65's. I have the henna red colour 1983 R65LS with white wheels known around these parts as Little Red Baron or LRB. He is being prepared to be my main ride this summer due to unfortunate circumstances last summer with a brand new 2008 F650GS twin. Anyhoo, LRB has had a fair bit of work done recently including new valves, rear main seal, timing chain all done by an airhead mechanic. I have just completed doing an upgrade to the alternator output to get it up to 400 watts so I can be toasty warm. I am now in the middle of installing some aux. running lights...not too successful yet but....
The bike is fairly high in mileage at 88,000 miles. Guru's have said that the BMW's can go on pretty normal maintenace schedules till about 80,000 miles then they MAY need some more work like the valve work I had done. Lots of these bikes go much further but always a good idea to keep an eye on things like the valve clearances...such an easy job on our bikes!!! Keep the fluids changed...a time we can use to commune with the bike   The transmission input spline and the rear wheel spline like to be lubed. The latter you do every tire change...not big deal. The former is a bit of a pain....but this is not the time for downers.....nope. Time to rejoice in your sound judgment and impeccable taste, girl!!!! Sounds like you have someone to help you wrench??? Lucky you!! If not, this forum will see you through even the toughest of jobs. Compared to these new fangled bikes, our R65's are a joy!

[aussie]

If you did not receive a copy ofthe correct Rider's Handbook with the bike, I recommend that you obtain one. The BMW part number to request is :

01 41 9 798 291 (My version was printed in 1983, if I read the code correctly.)

If you can't find a bound copy, I think that a member of this forum posted a message that an electronic download copy is available (perhaps as a link on this forum; I forget).  

PM Balibeemer - though I haven't seen him on for awhile...I think he had some work related stuff to attend to.

Cheers

[Maz31]

   Thanks guys for all the remarks.  Will check out the Kambah practice area once I have some more confidence.   Well I dropped Violet for the first time this morning.....sob! Thank  god for the crash bar.  Had a throttle issue...could be the rider!!   Once more around the school car park for an hour and then this afternoon, took to the quite road down near the lake. The brakes were still binding and not releasing properly, so Steve took off the front calipers and serviced them.  He has not seen such a disgusting mess....(so much for well maintained bike) more grease than brake fluid...and as a Ducati perfectionist was disgusted.  Now Violet has front brakes that work like a dream and pull up reaaallll quick!!  The throttle was the next issue, took them apart and found the cam teeth are worn and binding as well.....off to the internet to source a part from Adelaide.   We'll have you running like a dream soon Violet......New spark plugs and a quick tune up as well today and she is starting to purr.

Oh Sue  .....Violet has done 165,000 Kilometers and many more I hope.  It was interesting watching the calipers being taken apart and serviced.....

I won't be able to ride her for a week, as I am off to Port Douglas for a short holiday.....this is in Sunny Qld near the Barrier Reef.  so I am gong from 0degrees in the morning to around 20 degrees in the morning and 30 deg during the day....should be beautiful. Oh that is Celsius not farenheit....

Cheers to all   [smiley=dankk2.gif]

[aussie]

I won't be able to ride her for a week, as I am off to Port Douglas for a short holiday.....this is in Sunny Qld  

Well it's a tough gig - but I guess someone has to keep the economy revolving....

[Maz31]

Well, finally took to the road this morning.  All geared up in my leathers, thermals, boots etc...all this gave me confidence plus the voice in my head....Steve.  apart from working on Violet for the past 4 weeks, he has installed a wireless intercom into the helmets for communication.  What a blessing! It was like having a driving instructor in the car with you when you first take lessons.  This wonderful device has certainly given me confidence to ride on the road. Tagging behind me watching every little move I made or didn't make, came this voice, you need to speed up or change gears...relax those shoulders etc. By the time I got home after 1.5 hrs I started to feel like I could ride the bike.

First we took to the school yard again after the work he had done on the throttle and brakes, then to a little settlement near home called Tharwa,.....still doing okay, so we took off for Tidbinbilla Deep Tracking Station about 20kms away....beautiful winding roads and kangaroos and emus....glad they stayed on their side of the fence.  Morning tea at the Station and then back home via the Town Centre and some traffic and roundabouts.

thought I had done the gear box, but actually nearly ran out of petrol, so switched to reserve and back home......bit tired and sore muscles...probably a lot of tension....looking forward to a massage tonight.

Can't wait to get out again next weekend...or maybe before...

Have a good week everyone.

[not-so-fast-ed]

Welcome aboard, and great job getting used to the R65.  That was quite a ride for your first trip.  We can all relate to the aches from unused muscles & stress that tend to manifest themselves during and after our first trip.

 [smiley=clap.gif]

Keep the great attitude and continue to pace yourself.

Best,

Ed

[msbuck]

What communicators are you using?  Once my husband and I invested in a couple - the rides took on a whole new enjoyment! We use the Collett Communicators that are self-contained as well as being waterproof.  (We have more than one bike to chose from and didn't want to hard wire anything in.)  I feel naked without them now.  It's great to have that instant response and correction when you're on the road learning.  I work for Motomark1 that offers private training for motorcycles and he uses the communication as well as video to teach.  

Glad you have a successful and enjoyable day out on the road!