Just joined and I thought my experience might be of interest - plus I have a question I will post in technical . In mid 1980 a work colleague purchased a new R80 . I was impressed by the quality and the overall look of the bike . A while later I went to an open / test day at a dealership and tried out an R80RT and an R65 . The weather was atrocious but the handling of both bikes in these conditions amazed me . I decided I wanted an R80 so sold my bike ( Kawasaki Z650 B1 ) and went to my local BMW dealer ( Gus Kuhn in Clapham ) to discuss the purchase . To my horror the salesman said BMW were ending the R series to replace them with the K . The only bikes available were R100Rs - too expensive and I did not want a fairing - and the R45/65 . R45 was not considered and I explained that coming from the Z650 I wanted the performance of the R80 . Salesman explained the with the weight difference there was not much to choose between the R80 and R65 but they were offering a tuned R65 with full BMW warranty see link .
http://guskuhn.net/GKMLtd/GKNews/GKNews800814.htmI purchased the R65 in silver beige . Kept it for 3 or 4 years - went to France on it and it never let me down ( punctures aside ) I was surprised by the cheapness of service parts - complete genuine service kit was cheaper than a z650 air filter .Traded it for a K75 - another story .
Fast forward to today . I have been looking for another R65 for a couple of years but 50% of bikes for sale are either scrambled, cafe racered or bobbed . Eventually came across this bike which the last owner purchased back in 2007 , put a few miles on until 2011 and then took it off the road until he died last year . It was purchased at auction with a " needs recommissioning " warning . Not sure if it was acquired by the " dealer" I got it from . Anyway it was up for a fair price - very good paintwork and seat - some very visible work had been done ( new tyres , brake lines , throttle cables , engine oil ) Transferred the money and got a phone call a few days later . They had MOT'd the bike but were not happy with the front brake ! ! ! ! ! If I wanted to do the work myself they would give me a £150 discount . I agreed as I had budgeted for new tyres which I no longer needed . Bike was delivered " free" . Courier guy was not the best ( paint damaged on front mudguard ) but dealer gave me £50 to fix it . Overall the bike was great - apart from the front brake . Master cylinder OK apart from the little bypass hole blocked solid . Calipers another story . All 4 pistons very badly corroded but calipers themselves were perfect . £230 later I have a perfect front brake - although brake switch went AWOL at the same time . Went through the rest of the bike . I don't think the fork oil had EVER been changed - had to poke a screwdriver into drain hole to even get the "oil" to move . Should really have stripped forks but I am waiting to see if fork seals are OK . Oil filter had not been changed by "dealer" but last person fitted the filter with the seal and shim the wrong way round ( seal was damaged ) . Gearbox , shaft and diff oils were very dirty but not much "fluff" on drain plugs .
There is one interesting thing I will ask in the technical section ,
Phil
