Crankcase breather hose

[Julio A.]

I get oil my the shifter pad on my boots every time I ride the R65. Oil is coming from the tube that connects the carburetor to the air box. Isn't the tubes supposed to be airtight? Why does oil come out from there?
Can I at least directly route the crankcase breather hose so that it would expel oil out of the bike? I do think that since it is originally connected to the air intake, oil vapors gets sucked right out.

[Bob_Roller]

It's not uncommon to get oil from the left side of the intake and carb .

Not quite sure why the left side seems to do it more than the right .

The breather hoses connect to the rubber air horns in the air box on the '81 model year and later bikes .

Some members here run the oil level lower than full on the dipstick, that seems to help .

Rob Valdez has installed a hose and filter to the breather and it doesn't go through the intake system .

I don't get the drops of oil on the garage floor anymore and the accumulation of oil in the bottom of the air box is greatly reduced .

I tried a method that I read about in the Airheads Beemer Club monthly newsletter about 12 years ago .

All it required you to do, was to remove the crankcase breather housing and put a small portion of a coarse copper pot scrub pad in the housing .

The theory was that there is a lot of atomized oil in the air coming out of the breather, the pad gives it something to collect on and get returned to the oil sump .

[Lucky_Lou]

Is the breather valve working properly? could be sticking open.
Lou

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Bob's is a very good solution if you want to keep a stock appearance without a lot of extra work and expense.

With any solution, keep the oil level at the halfway point between the marks on the dipstick.
That is where I fill mine to when I perform an oil change.

Here are some pictures showing what I did: http://www.pbase.com/tomfarr/crankcase_breather

[Julio A.]

Sorry for the ignorance, but what does the breather valve look like and where is it located?  

I did fill oil only halfway to prevent this from happening, I'll look into the valve and put some pot scrubber on the breather housing while i'm in there.

Isn't there any chance of the pot scrubber getting sucked in?  

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

You need to remove the airbox, and the starter cover, to get to it.

It is located at the right-rear corner of the crankcase, on top, by the starter motor.


click for really large

You have to remove the two socket-head screws on either side of it, and then pull off the lid.
Or maybe you just stuff the pot-scrubber material down the hole after removing the rubber hose?
Bob Roller will have the answer to that.

If you remove the cover, there is a good chance you will need to replace the paper gasket, because you might tear it in the removal.

[Barry]

Another picture of the breather location taken from the RH side of the engine with the domed breather cover removed. This is the early disk type breather. You may have the later reed type but the location is the same.

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Can you get the starter cover off without disturbing the [clamshell-type] airbox?  I've never tried, before.

[Barry]

Can you get the starter cover off without disturbing the [clamshell-type] airbox?  

Yes - It's perhaps not the way its supposed to be done but that's how I did it in the picture. Saves disturbing the choke lever and struggling with those breather hoses which are a tight fit in the air filter covers. Obviously tank has to come off and can't remember if I had to remove one or both of the ignition coils to provide some clearance.

[montmil]

The small, convoluted breather hose often cracks with age and can be a contributing factor to unwanted oil drips n' mess.

The replacement part from BMW is outrageously priced -leading many airhead owners owners to employ RTV sealant as a stop gap measure. Motobins has a repop hose for coffee money... that is, if you daily imbibe in the $5.00 frappuccino at Starbucks.

Monte

[Julio A.]

My Breather hose is already in a very poor state. I just can't replace it since it has this unusual bend that I just can't seem to replicate with any kind of fuel hose.

The poor state of my breather hose does explain the collection of oil around the airbox and starter cover.

[Bob_Roller]

The breather hose is available from BMW, like you stated, you can't get a fuel or heater hose to fit and make the bends it needs to .

If you need the part number for the OEM hose, just say so, as the picture in the parts catalog is very misleading .

[Julio A.]

Oh yes please. I'd appreciate the part number very much. I think that could be the only part I could afford to buy brand new from a BMW source.  

[Julio A.]

I tried to look for the part in realoem.com but to no avail.
Instead, I found this part.

Any one knows what it is? Parts 5 and 6.

[montmil]

You're looking at the Air Injection system created by BMW to meet the California Air Resource Board (CARB) requirements. Had to do it to sell scoots to the poor folks in California

These systems on my '81 and '83 R65s are now somewhere in the local landfill. Perfect place to reside.

Believe it's #10 that you're interested in? Motobins has them,

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=0364&mospid=51897&btnr=11_1712&hg=11&fg=10

Monte