First Long Ride After Much Major Maintenance

[Bob_Roller]

Took the R65 out for a good shake down ride today, put 355 miles on it, rode from home to the Arizona/California state line on Interstate-8 in southern Arizona.

Bike ran great, and while I took it easy on the speeds (65 mph), I averaged 52 miles to the gallon.

I guess that overhaul on the carbs was way overdue, my average before was 38 miles per gallon, but that included surface street riding, this was all 4 lane interstate riding with no stopping.

So far no leaks have showed up, and the only thing that I missed was securing some wiring with ty-wraps.

So I guess the bike is road worthy, after pretty much being off of the street since mid April last year.

The Progressive front fork springs seemed a bit harsh in city riding, but not complaints on the highway.

Next thing I need to get done, is having the seat recovered and having a gel pad installed, I wanted to get off of the bike after almost 6 hours on it.

I put about $2000 into the bike, transmission overhaul, replaced the clutch disc, both pressure plates and the diaphragm spring, replaced the rear main seal, oil pump cover o-ring.

Overhauled both carbs, all seals, needle, needle jet (which was quite worn in an oval shape) diaphragm and gaskets including the throttle shaft o-rings, found my problem with trying to synchronize the carbs, and a poor idle problem, the right carb idle jet was clogged, and from the looks of it, it didn't just get clogged. When I replaced the needles on the carb slide, one was set to the wrong position from the factory, it was set one notch too high.

Replaced the front fork springs, seals, and installed gaiters.

Replaced both OEM front rotors with EBC semi-floating steel rotors and EBC graphite pads, havn't noticed an appreciable increase in braking power, but the ever present front bake squeal is gone.

Replaced rear tire and tube with a Metzeler Lasertec.

Next big expenditure will probably be the charging system, the diode board is made of a light blue/green fiberglass, and it is dark brown/black for .5 inches from the diodes, so it's not going to last a lot longer, especially with running 2 55 watt PIAA driving lights .

I just got the insurance changed from Progressive to Hagerty a collectible / antique insurer, my rate went up about $30 a year over Progressive ( it's now $179 a year) for full coverage I only had liability covrage before, if the bike gets stolen ( highly unlikely) or totalled I'll get $5500 no questions asked.

[MrRiden]

Bob,
I caught you on your return trip home. I was in a company vehicle and spotted ya about 2 miles from your ranch. I couldn't believe how quiet your bike is! Nice lights! a co-werker riding with me also has a R65. We stealthily followed you for a brief while enjoying the sight of a beautiful R65 and cursing you for having fun while we had to work on a great riding day. You do have a unique seat!
rich

[Bob_Roller]

Rich,

I had the seat recovered about 11 years ago by a shop in San Diego, that advertised in the Airheads monthly newsletter Airmail, I got tired of black and I tried a light tan, and it does go good with the turquoise color of the rest of the bike, but after 11 years in the unrelenting sun of Phoenix, it's time to get it replaced again.

The driving lights, if I had to do it over again, I would get the same lights that I have on the oilhead, the PIAA 510's, these PIAA 40's are just a bit too large for this application, but nobody can use the excuse of 'I didn't see you'.

I replaced the rusted out OEM mufflers with some eBay specials that I got last November for $115, from a guy that works in the parts department at Ironhorse Motorcycles in Tucson.

Felt good to get back on the old beast after being off of it for over a year.

[Melena]

Bob, that is fantastic!  Yippee!!    [smiley=thumbsup.gif]   Glad to hear you got to get in a good shakedown ride.  How nice to have everything running so smoothly.  It makes it all worthwhile after having put all that time and money into it, doesn't it..

And how cool that is, Rich, that you actually saw Bob out riding it.   8-)

[Bob_Roller]

When I started this 'overhaul' of the R65, I wondered if it was worth the effort and expense on such an old bike, that was barely worth $2000, but after it was all done, I felt it was money and effort well spent.

What really was appearant, was the lower center of gravity of the R65 compared to the R1150, and the 100 pounds less weight.

The R65 is more responsive than the larger bike.

I would like to get the fuel mileage of the oilhead though, 60 mpg versus 52 with the R65.

[nhmaf]

Goes to show how well electronic fuel injection systems can be when they can counteract all that extra motorcycle weight and combustion chamber displacement with higher fuel mileage than the venerable CV carb..

[Spinachpie]

Ok Bob let's see the picture of it. I'm interested in the lights.

[not-so-fast-ed]

Congratulations Bob!  Money well spent.
Yes,  post some pics.
Ed

[MPKaier]

Nice to hear about another R65 back on the road.  Anybody have an idea about the 29,000 brought into the US market and how many might still be on the road?  Yes, Let's see some pictures.  52 mpg sounds good.  I put a new timing chain on and went from 39 mpg to 42 mpg, but that's still 10 miles shy of what you're getting.  Good going.

Mike