weak battery?

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

We were talking about this in Feburary:

http://www.bmwr65.org/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1263884723/42#42

[Patrick_Krivacka]

I rode the r65 to work today (I know, I need to do the spline lube. This weekend! ) it started fine and ran fine. just got back from the honda place to pick up some moly 60. we're in COMPLETE agreement about that being the grease of choice for spline lubes, right ? ; ) . Ran as it should then too. Along with the spline lube I'll check the battery level and all the suggested connections and let you know if I notice anything is out of the ordinary. thanks for all of your feedback.

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Take some emery paper to your electrical connectors and make them all shiny.

Apply grease on assembly - preferably dielectric.

[Patrick_Krivacka]

i started the tear down for the spline lube tonight. everything looks pretty good, but I'll certainly take your advice and make everything shiny then grease.

[montmil]

are r65's know to be cold blooded?

a short story. . .

When I bought my '81 R65, the PO said it was "cold natured". When the bike fired, it ran only on the right jug until a bit of engine temperature built up and the left side would then join the circus. D'oh. At home, an inspection revealed the fuel reservoir for the enrichener circuit inside the left Bing was clogged with fuel sediment. A quick clean out of the passage and the "cold natured" R65 wasn't.

New primary battery cables were fabbed; electrical terminals were cleaned and massaged with a bit of dielectric grease; carb cables also tuned up.

Present start sequence for the formerly annoyingly "cold natured" R65:  Fuel on; Enrichment Lever full on; Hands off twist grip; Ignition on; Push start button. Purrrrr.

As in life, it's most often the little things that, when overlooked, cause the most frustration. Take care of the little things.

Monte  

[Bob_Roller]

R65's can 'act' cold blooded, like Monte said get the carbs cleaned out, and synchronized .

Another weak spot, is the ignition coil .

The original OEM coil, is gray and black, it has earned the nickname the 'crack-o-matic' coil, for the notoriety of developing cracks in the plastic case, usually will give you problems in damp or wet weather .

The upgraded OEM coil, red and black in color, isn't much of an improvement over the original, I only got 8 years out of mine, before it started giving me problems, which was hard cold starting .

I ride my R65 all year round here in Phoenix, and while our 'winter 'weather here, can hardly be called winter, as compared to other areas, my bike routinely sits outside at work for 18 hours in mid 30's F. temperatures, and it fires right up with no problems .

[montmil]

...Another weak spot, is the ignition coil.

Oh, yes. Forgot about my cracked coil and those related start issues. Pull the tank, wipe off the road dust from the coil and inspect the coil thoroughly, including the ends. Tiny cracks. A magnifying glass and light can be a help.

The Dyna "brown" coil is a good replacement. Have them on both R65s. Rick Jones at Motorrad Elektrik can hook you up. May as well add fresh ignition wires and the nice NGK sparkplug caps, too. http://www.motoelekt.com/index.html

And do freshen the heat sink paste between the ICU and its aluminum heat sink body. Radio Shack has a small tube of the paste that will last you, oh, like, forever. A buck or so...

Monte

[Patrick_Krivacka]

speaking of coils- here's mine-at least the frankenization process on my r65 is both inside and out! and before you ask- yes that is fence hardware holding it on. problem? ; )

[Bob_Roller]

We need a section on this site, called 'The Wall Of Shame', for pictures of previous owner(s)  'creative modifications' .

[Darwin_R65]

Wall of shame???   that takes creative ingenuity to produce some of those modifications, and often more work than just buying the original part.

[Patrick_Krivacka]

  I hear you darwin. I admire those folks like Bob who are horrified at such hack work. but if I'm honest, I have to admit that if I had a non-original coil laying around, and some fence hardware, and i really wanted to ride..... I also must confess that I won't be taking this off anytime soon. as ugly as it is, it seems pretty solid. Better still, it's keeping with the bikes mutt theme! : )
  one thing though, there is a wire that's unpluged from somewhere that i can't find a home for. any chance this is my non functioning Tach? I'll post a picture on the other thread that I started on this subject.

[Bob_Roller]

I hear you darwin. I admire those folks like Bob who are horrified at such hack work

It's probably my lengthy aviation maintenance career (34 years), that has me look at things a lot differently than most R65 owners .

My project LS, the ignition coil was 'cobbled' together, from bits and pieces, like what has been said, it took more time to put this together, than just go get an original part, and be done with it .

My LS's previous owner, wasn't keen on trouble shooting, the ignition quit on the bike, replaced the electronic 'bean can', then the ICU, before realizing that the original gray and black coil had quit .

But thanks to him, I have a spare 'bean can', and ICU .

[Patrick_Krivacka]

I guess being responsible for a plane running or not would give you a different perspective!! ; ) . like I said, I sincerely admire folks who do things the RIGHT way. It's a mind set that I'm trying desperately to cultivate. Doing something half a$$ on a motorcycle,while not as bad as a plane, would still be bad news.

[Lucio_Lopez]

There's one battery cable connection, that gets overlooked .

It's a bit of an odd set-up .

The positive cable from the battery, goes to a threaded stud on the starter, the output from the diode board, also goes to this same stud .

It's hidden under the top engine cover .

Seeing as how these bikes are approaching 30 years old, hard to say what condition the connections are in .

I would say "It's first 30 years old". animo!

[Bob_Roller]

Age is definitely a factor when working on these bikes .

Brittle wiring harness insulation, brittle plastic, rubber parts .

Corrosion, especially if the bike has been operated in a damp environment/coastal area, or someplace where salt is put on the roadways for de-icing purposes .