It is finally about time...

[azcycle]

Not much work on the BMW this weekend, as I'm waiting for parts to arrive from various parts of the world. The Trailtech Vapor arrived and I was mighty tempted to tear into THAT project, but I think it needs to wait until I get 'er back on the road.

But I did spend 3-hours cleaning layers of grease and dirt off the rear of the bike, as well as scraping of the petrified and yet very stubborn oil pan gasket. Man, that was a horrible job... lying on my side, neck straining, trying to scrape that gasket off with various tools.

[Adrian]

as well as scraping of the petrified and yet very stubborn oil pan gasket

Hi that sounds like very hard work. Have you considered using a gasket removing aid. I use a product made by CRC called Gasket Stripper. It softens up the old gasket as well as any sealing compounds. Brilliant stuff and saves so much hard work and scrapping that hard could damage the surfaces. Good luck.

[montmil]

...and scrapping that hard could damage the surfaces. Good luck.

Adrian makes a good point.

When I'm faced with a gasket removal chore, I also use a chemical remover to soften the old gasket. Afterwards, a wooden or plastic scraper is all I use. Just one little "oopsy" with a metal blade and you've created a potential leak.

Monte

[azcycle]

Thanks guys.... I thought about that about 50% through the job but didn't want to run out and grab some gasket remover. I finished the job okay and was VERY careful with my scrapers. I might go over the edge with a very fine grain of sandpaper to remove any small imperfections I caused but I can't feel anything with my fingernail, so I think I'll be good.

All you need to do, is to remove the top cover on the engine, there's two allen head bolts holding it on .

Regarding the starter. I could NOT get it removed, Bob. I removed the two bolts and disconnected two of the three wires I could reach, but it was still held in by some sort of bracket at the front of the motor. I could remove one small bolt and push the bracket away a bit, but it still was held by something. I could lift the back (gear side) of the starter a few inches but it definitely was not coming out. Thoughts?

[Bob_Roller]

I've used single edge razor blades, they won't 'dig' into the metal and break easily, that with the mentioned gasket remover makes quick work of gaskets .

If you do use a gasket remover, spray it on, leave it for 30 minutes or so, then spray another 'coat' on it .

I don't know about all gasket removers, the few that I've used had methylene chloride as the active ingredient, needless to say if you've ever used it, it's not ' friendly' to hands, fingers, eyes ........

Use heavy rubber gloves .

[azcycle]

My shipment from Motobins UK just arrived... shiny new clutch bits! So I'm just waiting on the guide ring o-ring and I'll start reassembly Saturday morning! Once the transmission is back on, I will remove the front cover and see if I can get the starter out of there for a clean/lube.

Then clean/rebuild carbs.

Then install/bleed new brake lines.

Then (hopefully) VRoom!

[azcycle]

Once again I didn't quite get as much done as I wanted, as I was thwarted by the transmission neutral switch/ground wiring loom. As I was putting the new transmission back in, I noticed the neutral switch wires were twisted and nicked, and one just broke off in my hand.  So I've got to order that before I can get the transmission back on.

Question regarding the switch wires: One is obviously a ground and one is brown with a black line. Which goes to which tab on the neutral switch? Everything was so filthy when I pulled them off I didn't notice where each went. Does it matter?

But... I did manage to get the main seal and oil pump cover installed.

Setting the seal depth:


Pulling the old seal out. I noticed that the "old" seal is the exact same type as the new seal I purchased, so it had been redone in the past.


More evidence it had been done in the past. A previous owner nicked the inside face a bit removing the old seal. It was definitely noticeable and I wasn't confident I could do a nice job adding some metal repair putty stuff. So I sanded it very gently with a high-grain sandpaper until I could barely feel it. Hope that is good enough.


New main seal seated:


New oil pump cover on the right doesn't have the same exterior design:


New oil pump cover, guide ring O-ring, and main seal in place. I had a bit of a problem with the lower right oil pump cover bolt. The threads at the very edge of the hole were damaged/cross-threaded and I couldn't get any bolt to start correctly. It would catch and immediately angle slightly. I didn't want to damage the threads so I bought a thread tap and gently screwed it in. Worked like a charm!


New friction plate and spring:


And I didn't take any photos but I got the clutch assembly together, used the alignment tool (glad I had that!) and got it all together. I didn't actually have a hex bolt fitting for my torque wrench so I just tightened them down by hand to what I thought was about 10lbs of torque. Since I have to wait a week for the new wiring loom, I'll probably pick up a hex set for my ratchet and make sure I got the bolts down well enough before I button up the transmission.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning grimy parts, ready to assemble. I should have it all together by the end of next weekend if all goes well!

[Bob_Roller]

Doesn't matter which way you put the wires on .

Is that seal installing tool, from Ed Korn / Cycle Works ?

I need to get one .

To remove the seal, did you drill two holes in the seal then use two screws to force it out ?

I've been using an automotive body dent puller, it has a sheet metal screw on the end, drill two small holes in the seal, thread the screw end into the seal, then you use the slide hammer to pull the seal out .

[Mike V]

Nice work Graeme, great pictures.

A great time to clean up and paint the flywheel timing marks with white paint.

http://tinyurl.com/3lm8zl2

You may want to consider a very very thin coat of HondaMoly60 on the pressure plate rim and carrier contact points.  My clutch assembly now operates with a huge improvement.

[azcycle]

Thanks for the info regarding the neutral switch polarity.   The seal installing tool I purchased from Jeff Trapp at NorthwoodAirheads.com along with a few other tools I've used on this job. They've been quite handy!  Yes, I drilled two holes in the seal, screwed in a couple screws, and used my slide hammer to knock the seal out. The slide hammer came with a tip attachment that looked like the forked side of a hammer. Came out quite easily... a couple knocks on each screw and it popped right out.

Nice work Graeme, great pictures. A great time to clean up and paint the flywheel timing marks with white paint.

You may want to consider a very very thin coat of HondaMoly60 on the pressure plate rim and carrier contact points.  My clutch assembly now operates with a huge improvement.

Thanks! Done, and done!  The OT mark was only partially punched, so the O of OT wasn't even visible... it was so shallow it wouldn't hold any white. But the T and the alignment mark were deep enough to hold some white so that's good enough.  I also made sure to coat the pressure plate rim and carrier contact points with a tiny bit of Moly60.

[Mike V]

Graeme,

Curious about the depth you set the new seal at.  I struggled with trying to figure out how deep to set the new type seal until I inspected the seal and guide ring surface closely.  I ended up setting the outer face of my seal flush with the case with only a fraction of inset. Seems to me that the contact point of the seal on the guide ring is so great it shouldn't really matter much as long as you use a conservative approach.  I've had no trouble with mine after assembly.  No leaks, no drips, no errors.

I also used the same installation tool and a couple of drywall screws to remove the old seal, along with the clutch alignment tool.  The job turned out easier than expected.  New clutch carrier bolts and washers?  

Keep us in the loop of the installation and assembly.  Good stuff.

[azcycle]

Graeme,

Curious about the depth you set the new seal at.  I struggled with trying to figure out how deep to set the new type seal until I inspected the seal and guide ring surface closely.  I ended up setting the outer face of my seal flush with the case with only a fraction of inset. Seems to me that the contact point of the seal on the guide ring is so great it shouldn't really matter much as long as you use a conservative approach.  I've had no trouble with mine after assembly.  No leaks, no drips, no errors.

I also used the same installation tool and a couple of drywall screws to remove the old seal, along with the clutch alignment tool.  The job turned out easier than expected.  New clutch carrier bolts and washers?  

Keep us in the loop of the installation and assembly.  Good stuff.

Thanks! Other than the damaged threads of one of the oil pump cover holes, mine has been smooth sailing, too.  All bolts (and washers where applicable) are brand new, and blue locktite was used on the oil pump cover and the clutch bolts. No locktite on the flywheel bolts, though they were coated with a very light film of engine oil per Snowbum and Clymers.  Oil pump and clutch bolts torqued down to about 7-10lbs and the flywheel are about 70lbs. The max of my torque wrench was 70 so that is where they're at.

Regarding the depth of the main seal: I didn't measure the old seal, as I was intending to use the main seal install tool I got from Northwood Airheads. It's a little pricey at $40 but it makes installation a snap. See the very first photo I posted above, that shows the tool.

You basically use three flywheel bolts to snug the tool against the old soon-to-be-removed seal. You then use a hex wrench to turn the five small hex bolts in until they bottom on the face of the guide ring. That sets the seal depth.  Pull tool off, then old seal. Install new seal, just barely setting it as even as you can by hand.  Place seal tool on top and again, using flywheel tools (I used all five but I've seen it done with only three) tighten the tool down until the hex bolts again bottom on the face of the guide ring. As you tighten, it evenly pushes the seal into place exactly where the old seal was. Super easy!

EDIT: I just re-read your post and you said you used the same installation tool so you know what I'm talking about. I'll leave it for future folks who may want to know about it. I really didn't pay attention to the depth. As you wrote... just barely beyond flush seems reasonable, and there does seem to be plenty of room there.

[Mike V]

Graeme,

The tools I used were purchased from Dan Neiner at Cycle Works (via Ed Korn).  The seal installation tool has three threaded allen screws used as adjustable depth guages (very similar to yours).  I measured the depth of the old seal before removing it by inserting the seal tool and threading the screws to mate with the existing seal face.  As excercise more than anything else.  Since the two seals are completely different in material and construction I was more careful to make observations of both and their contact points to the guide ring.  Since I found only a very minute wear mark on my guide ring I wasn't too concerned about the depth of the seal.  Just curious how you approached it.  Here's a picture of the tool I have from Cycle Works.  All very well designed products and easy to use.

Here's more photos...

[montmil]

Thinking this thread may eventually need to be archived in the R65 Technical FAQs. Good stuff all around. [smiley=thumbup.gif]

[azcycle]

A very successful day working on the BMW! New transmission installed and filled with fresh gear oil, oil change, new oil pan gasket, final drive cleaned/greased/installed, rear brake cleaned and reinstalled, airbox, battery and seat installed.

White crayon on the timing marks. As I mentioned, the OT was only partially punched so only part of the T and the alignment line above it were deep enough to hold any crayon.


New transmission splines greased with Honda Moly60, and prepared to get mated up with the new clutch.


Old airbox breather vent (right) and new (left):


Mmmm.... new transmission. New oil breather hose, and neutral switch wiring loom.


BEFORE. The r65 had a really terrible rear brake... barely even slowed the bike, let alone stop it. I think a previous owner (hopefully not my FIL) used the wrong spline grease, and it got flung everywhere, soaking into the brake pads, etc.


AFTER a good cleaning of the brake drum. Also lightly scuffed the drum surface with sandpaper. Also took the time to clean the wheel and spokes. Ugh, that was tedious.


Final drive with good splines and very dirty, contaminated brake shoes. The pads were dark and REALLY glazed over.


After a good cleaning. Degreased the brake shoes and scuffed them up a bit with sandpaper. Honda moly60 applied.


Torquing down the driveshaft bolts to the transmission output, with blue locktite, and NEW bolts, of course. The brake felt SO much better and I could actually lock the rear wheel with the pedal. I couldn't do that before because of the brake shoes.


Not much space in there. The special tool I purchased just for this purpose was WELL worth it!


"New" transmission shifted okay, but I drained the old fluid (was nice and clean) and the drain bolt showed no significant buildup of metal shavings. Only found a couple small slivers. When reinstalling the shifter and footrest, I did notice that the gear shifter input seal MIGHT be slightly weeping gear oil. Will keep an eye on it.


She's almost ready to roll!  Just have to clean/rebuild the carbs. Though I plan on installing new front brake lines and repainting the valve covers, too. It was such a nice feeling to be able to shift smoothly through the gears and see the rear wheel turn!