R65 Project - Brakes

[Red_Hen]

Greetings,

My R65LS project, aka the money pit, has needed EVERYTHING.  The latest attack is the brakes.  I just interviewed the owner of Spiegler USA for a story about brakes in the BMw MOA magazine - should hit the streets in 2-3 months.  At any rate, I learned so much.  If you don't know, Spieger does rotor conversions - the carriers & rotors on mine look like they survived 10 Minnesota winters - outside.  The carriers will be sandblasted and re-fitted and I'll get new rotors to make them floating rotors - this will prevent any pulsing and improve the integrity of the stopping power. I'm replacing my pads with Carbone Lorraine pads, also from Spiegler and getting new Red stainless steel brake lines.  
I rebuilt both Brembo calipers & got the rebuild kit from Motobins - they were really in need of an overhaul. The front master cylinder was all crudded up so it was also overhauled.  
As soon as I get the parts back, will post pictures.  Bike is coming along - almost done getting the wiring harness on and just got my new BT 45 tires.

A couple questions:  1) there is a small round and ribbed rubber piece and I only have one - I'm guessing it's for the seat but I can't seem to find it on the Real OEM website - it doesn't look like it's for the gas tank - any clues?  2)I need to know where the black plastic piece attaches to the frame. 3) How does the rear brake light switch mount to the frame? 4) Something with two prongs plugs into the coil - haven't dove into that yet.

Last question, the rear drum brake liners look pretty good (is that what you call them?) Do I need to replace them?  I don't expect to get a lot of great stopping power from a drum brake anyway.

[Bob_Roller]

I just went through the same process on my LS, Spiegler brake conversion, and their braided stainless brake lines .

Haven't ridden the bike yet, but the materials and craftsmanship have the appearance to being of great quality .

They are rebuildable, if something wears out .

I also got the kits to do both calipers, and master cylinder rebuild from Motobins, and I would recommend them if you are going to do this job to your bike .

If you do work on the calipers. either the Brembo, or ATE, the small o-ring that goes between the caliper halves, is not available from BMW, just be aware of this before you take them apart .

The round rubber part, sounds like the plug that goes into the ends of the centerstand .

If the rear brake shoes, aren't oil contaminated, I'd just rough them up a bit with sandpaper to get rid of any glazed areas, and reinstall them .

[clouseau]

Ahh! So you're the one who bought up the last of Motobins rebuild kits!
Hard to believe these kits are over double the cost with stateside dealers.  
I did find them for $19 at Capital Cycle.  I doubt it comes with new bolts like Motobins.

[Red_Hen]

I'm not sure "I'm the one" who bought the last kit but they did show up.

I'd like to get a pair of reflectors - are these still available?  Motobins doesn't inventory them.

There's a lot of good to say about doing a floating rotor conversion on the R65 - going to floaters on my K75 solved my pulsing problem.  I'm just having fun restoring this bike.

[Bob_Roller]

What reflectors are you talking about, the ones near the brake light /tail light area, or the ones on the lower fork legs ?

[bruce_launceston]

The fork leg reflectors are available from Munich Motorcycles in Perth Western Australia so I guess they are readily available elsewhere.
I would ditch any 'extra' reflectors near the rear as an unnecessary and untidy USA detail, there were none on my EUR/AUS LS. (I think there are reflectors built into the sides of the tail light lens).

Munich have an online store with parts photos and prices.

Cheers Bruce

[Bob_Roller]

I installed reflector/LED marker lights in place of the OEM round reflectors on the side/rear of the bike .

Cost was about $6 each at one of the chain type auto parts stores, and about an hours worth of labor to install and wire up .

I do a lot of night riding, and as far as I'm concerned, you can't have too many lights these days .

[Red_Hen]

Thanks Bob, Bruce & everyone else:

I like the LED side light idea for the side markers on the rear.  I'm also thinking, while I've got her apart to get driving lights and a Stebel air horn - the horn works great on my other BMW's.  

Now, what do I need to do to compensate for the drain I'll be getting by putting on driving lights?  Also, I'd like to ask any of you what you did to make mounts and where you mounted the lights - any pictures will help.  My personal email is kentuvman@gmail.com

Thanks again - btw - the rubber piece I described is about 2" thick, round and has vertical ribs around the perimeter - it is definitely not for the centerstand - thinking it's either a bumper for mounting the tank, seat of just an extra part I ended up with.

Last request:  I have the long red lock with the swivel made by Trelock.  I know this is a long shot request:  if anyone has one of these locks and can make me a spare key, I'll pay for your time to do this - at least with a similar key - m a y b e  I can get a locksmith to get it keyed to work - probably a long shot.

thanks again,

Ken

Go Vikings!

[Bob_Roller]

I have a set of Luftmeister 'crash bars' on the '81, and all I did, was cut a slot into the tubing of the bars, and had a piece of angle iron welded into/onto the tubing .

I mounted PIAA 40 round lights (6.25 inch round) 55 watts each on the brackets, and the lights were too heavy for the brackets, they were constantly in a 'vibrate' mode, until I had small plates welded onto the angle iron to the crash bar tube .

In hindsight, I would install PIAA 510 lights  instead, they are 3 inch diameter, and would probably look better .

I got the PIAA 40's on eBay delivered , for about $65 .

 Most likely you will have battery charge issues, if you use the driving lights in 'city' traffic riding a lot.