R65LS Restoration Project

[Red_Hen]

I was not able to upload pictures but below is a link to share my progress thus far:

http://kentuvman.shutterfly.com/

I bought her on Valentines Day 2009 for my wife (just kidding) although it is RED!  The price was cheap $800 for a bike like this but previous owner let her sit outside for who knows how long? Everything filthy, greasy and grimy. Transmission had broken Pawl clip - Matthew Parkhouse who writes a column for the BMW MOA tore it apart & rebuilt - said it was in good shape overall - he replaced a couple bearings & clip - said she's as good as new - was worth it to ship it to Colorado from MN because I really trust Matt. He really knows Airheads.  A retired engineer friend I met on the MOA website who lives in the area offered to help me overhaul the engine which was in pretty good shape - only 20k on the clock!  Took cylinders, heads pistons & valves to a machine shop and was informed engine in good shape! He performed a valve job and cleaned everything up real nice. Bought rings, seals, gaskets, alternator brush kit & new clutch from Motobins and bought Carb rebuild kit from Bing Agency - carbs were really in need of overhaul.  Had frame professionally painted with auto grade black paint.  Did the POR treatment on tank - a 3 day process - took my time. Bike has Lufmeister 2-in1 exhaust.  Will take time over the Fall & Winter to put her back together around. My 16 year old son has his eyes all over this girl!  Oh yea, shocks were shot - bought Progressives from One Stop Moto - will need throttle & choke cables, handgrips and Spiegler brake lines - a fun project - hear they ride real nice - can't wait!  More as I progress.  Oh yea, one more thing - make sure you make note of the Ash Tray the PO installed - surprised there's not a place to hold a coffee cup too!

[nhmaf]

We all love photos and projects - thanks for posting the link.

The coopermine photo gallery thing on this site can sometimes be problematic- at least I have found so when using my preferred browser (Mozilla Firefox), but it m ore or less works OK once one figures it out.

I had a somewhat similar story with my LS, though it hand't been sitting outside, it had been sitting in storage (an apparently damp storage, too) for at least 10 years of its life before I bought it in 2002.   I've replaced pretty much all the same items that you have done, but haven't had to do the valves/seats yet - amazingly they looked very good, but the bike had only accumulated 14K miles up to that point when I bought it.   At least no one had put an ashtray or cupholder on it!

[trolle]

Good luck and welcome to the loony bin. We are very curious to see the result of your work and if the bike is as good as the gurus judge it to be, you will have a very nice bike on your hands come spring.

greetings from a precipitating, cold and grey north