WTB Luftmeister vibration damper donuts

[Armen]

Looking for the vibration damper motor mounts Luftmeister used to sell. A new, or really nice set, of course : )
Or if anyone has a simmilar fix. I've seen the articles on sawing up Chevy motor mounts. No thanks.
Not asking for permission, only product : )
thanks,
-Armen

[Bob_Roller]

Don't waste the time effort and money on the Luftmeister mounts, they really didn't do anything .

I had them, after about 10 years or so, the rubber disbonded from the metal parts and they were useless .

[Armen]

Kinda why I said 'not asking for permission'.
They totally transformed the bike from unridable in the midrange to real nice. Yes, after time most things wear out.
Mine are almost 30 years old. Want a new set.
-Armen

[bruce_launceston]

I took the forums advice and put the solid spacers back in, after experimenting with torque settings to no good effect I replaced the vibration dampeners.

They work great for me and I have had no handling or frame cracking issues in over 25 years.

I have previously posted the replacement rubber donut part number and the recomended torque settings and will repost them when I track them down.

Cheers

[bruce_launceston]

Okay, you are after 'David Brown Cone-Ring Couplings' spare parts. The donuts are available in rubber part number 0860 1906 or urethane part number 0037 6006.

I use the rubber ones and they last between 5 to 10 years. I bought them from Blackwoods in Australia. They are an engineering supply chain.

Torque the front engine nuts (where the rubber spacers are) to 10 -12 lb/ft and the rear (solid) engine mount nuts to 65 lb/ft.

[Armen]

Thanks!

[Armen]

FWIW:
On my '91 R100, the mirrors became useless at speeds above 70 mph. Putting in the donuts made the ride so much smoother. I made a set of frame braces a la San Jose and installed them. Any frame rigidity lost to the rubber donuts was more than made up for. Never rode a bike that feels as secure as this one : )
-Armen

[tvrla]

Rather than going that route, I'd recommend balancing and tuning the engine. Start off balancing all rotating parts - clutch, alternator rotor, rods and pistons. And then careful tuning.

My airheads (all sizes including the R65) are practically vibration free. These motors do tend to have a few RPMs where oscillations add up and the best that can be done is minimize them, but otherwise they can be very smooth. My R65 (now an 850) used to vibrate pretty badly between four and five K, but after some recent work only tingles the feet a little in that range.

Fix the source rather than handling the symptoms.

[Armen]

On the R65 I used light weight wrist pins, balanced each part (piston, rod cap, rod big end) to .1 gram of each other. Twin plugged it. Rebuilt carbs. Sent out the clutch/flywheel assembly and had them high speed balanced and match-marked, and so on. It still buzzed enough to make me crazy.
I was working in a BMW shop at the time. They all buzzed.
Some people just have more tolerance for vibration.
All the '81 and newer big twins buzz more than the old one. The lighter flywheels don't soak up as much vibration as the old boat anchor ones.
I ran the rubber donuts on my R65 for 30+ thousand miles with no grief.
On my R100, I made a set of San Jose style frame side braces. The bike felt as though it had a hinge under the tank in stock condition, and the rubber donuts made it worse. With the donuts (I found a NOS set) and the frame braces, the bike is super smooth and flex-free.

[nhmaf]

It seems like Armen found his rubber donuts?   I'll move this to the tech section since it has some reference part info that could be helpful to others.

[nhmaf]

[movedhere] Trading Post [move by] nhmaf.

[Armen]

Dug through the McMaster Carr catalog and put together an assortment of rubber washers and such to try and make my own donuts. I think I have a combo that will work.
The early '80s BMWMOA had an article on making your own by sawing up the motor mounts from a '57 Chevy. I ordered up some of those, but cutting them is a screaming pain in the ass and look like a beaver with chipped teeth had a go at them.
Next time the R100 is on the lift, I'll try my home-made ones and see how they behave. If I like what I see/feel, I'll post part numbers.
YMMV
-Armen

[quixotic]

Has anyone ever done a comprehensive write-up on the David Brown Cone ring couplers?  It sounds like the best thing since sliced bread, but I think I'd want a bit more explanation of the process involved and a photo or two before I dived into it.  

[Tony Smith]

Okay, you are after 'David Brown Cone-Ring Couplings' spare parts. The donuts are available in rubber part number 0860 1906 or urethane part number 0037 6006.

Thank you for that one. Out of curiosity I put the part numbers into the Blackwoods web site and asked to receive a quote. Just before lunch today I got an email from Blackwoods to let me know that their local to me (Cairns) office had stock. I went there at lunch time and $6.30 later I have a pair of "standard' rubbers and a set of Urethane ones.

[bruce_launceston]

Took me a little longer to find them, I could read 'David Brown' on the old perished ones so I went to a tractor supplies shop. Luckily he knew that they had probably come from the cone ring couplers and sent me in the right direction. I had to order mine.
Glad I could help, I find the dampener setup worth while.