84 R65LS Steel braided brake lines, standard bars

[thrang]

While the wife (aka the boss, or  'she who is to be obeyed (SWISTBO)  was doing the Morrisons shopping I was wandering about Halford's (I have a trade card so always have a nose about when we're in Kendal) and found a one way valve bleeder kit for under a £10, which having tested on SWISTBO's Suzuki works rather well.

[Matt Chapter]

After all the years and miles I spent on my 1953 Triumph, I believe the R65 has bloody marvelous brakes.  
 

Not all of us were raised to brake Flintstones style.

[Tony Smith]

After all the years and miles I spent on my 1953 Triumph, I believe the R65 has bloody marvelous brakes.  

Not to mention R100s with ATE "swinging" calipers - The major reason BMW quickly went to twin ATE swingers was that a single brake did not perform as well as the drum it was replacing.

[montmil]

After all the years and miles I spent on my 1953 Triumph, I believe the R65 has bloody marvelous brakes.  

Not to mention R100s with ATE "swinging" calipers - The major reason BMW quickly went to twin ATE swingers was that a single brake did not perform as well as the drum it was replacing.

I'll certainly grant you that ill-adjusted ATE swingers can be frown-inducing.

When first acquired, the front brakes on my '78 R100S were in poor operating condition due to serious neglect. Spent many hours in the shop sorting this n' that, including a replacement caliper, both pistons, brake pads, juice, MC rework, hyd hose, the whole enchilada. Then dealing with aligning the calipers and pads to the disc. Back n' forth, one side to the other.

Most any issue can be righted, if enough time and money is thrown at it. I now enjoy those twin ATEs as they are scary strong. Forum member Mike Valenti gets a tip o' the hat for his assistance.

[Tony Smith]

The standard LS setup, is one rubber line from the master cylinder, to the brake line splitter, behind the head light bucket .

Both ends of the line , if it is stock, has banjo fittings on each end .

Not in this part of the world Barry.

The stuff below was taken from what started life as a 1981 LS, I have known this bike since it was new. In the early 90s the owner was drunk and left it parked in the St in Townsville and it was vandalised which resulted in it being repaired using standard r65 instruments, "dashboard" and seat, I know the braking system was untouched because I swapped the parts over.
 
There is only one brake line there now - I removed the other to use for something else in th ecourse of my own r65 rebuild.
 
The LS/R65 is now in its third incarnation, it now has a Cagiva elefant front end, a G/S swingarm and subframe, tank, Seat, lights and instruments. The frame was modified to monoshock by simply replicating the upper mount and welding it onto the R65 frame. in that configuration it has served its owner well, having done a number of very long tours around Australia. Along the way it picked up a late model R100 engine so there is little but the frame, gearbox and some of the harness to give away its origins as an LS.

BUT! The saga continues.

For a year now he has been amassing the "bits" to turn it into a pseudo RS using a R100RS fairing and mounts, K100 front end and a late monolever  swingarm and subframe.

Anyone know of any BMW that has had more incarnations?

I have suggested several times that he should amalgamate all the photos of the various conversions and the photos of the places its been and write a book - his answer "maybe when I get old"  (he's turning 71 in a few weeks time)

[Tony Smith]

Forgot the photos

[Tony Smith]

I'll certainly grant you that ill-adjusted ATE swingers can be frown-inducing.


Most any issue can be righted, if enough time and money is thrown at it. I now enjoy those twin ATEs as they are scary strong. Forum member Mike Valenti gets a tip o' the hat for his assistance.

I worked out my own method of adjusting them as when I first got the bike the internet did not exist and i wasn't going near the local dealer again as each time I walked through the door I felt the way a lamb feels on its way to the shearing shed.....
 
Initially i used talcum powder on the disc so that I could see the contact area, then I realized that i could use the poser of hydraulics to assist me. Remove bottom access cap to you can insert a allen key into the caliper eccentric axle, apply brakes. Wriggle axle around till you get to the point where you have a small "dead" zone prior to meeting stern resistance to further rotation. You now have pads pretty flat against the disc, any remaining lack of "squareness" will be rapidly taken up by wear in the bedding in process.
 
I used sintered pads for a while, then after i bought my first set of replacement discs I realized my error. Not shown in my recent photo of the bike (which really means that it is not a recent photo at all is the mehanite discs it now wears (have spent their first 100 years or so as a sewer manhole cover. Switching to mehanite discs means that sintered pads are back on the agenda.

BTW, you may notice that my R65 has a cast iron disc - also sintered pads courtesy of bevel heaven.

[MikeFossl]

I am very happy with Venhill.  They're from the UK but have good US distribution and support.  They also have a ebay store with good prices.

I installed a new line a few months ago for my low bars and they were able to get 10mm adapter to me in a few days for less then $5.

When I changed to a standard bar, I replaced the line with something longer for about $30.

[Zamp]

Thank you all for the good advise. Here is an update.  I held off on the steel braided lines, after looking at the brake pads, and rotors. They were both in pretty bad condition, so I replaced brake pads, and rotors.  
After 200 mile ride, she stops much better.  Thanks

[montmil]

Thank you all for the good advise. Here is an update.  I held off on the steel braided lines, after looking at the brake pads, and rotors. They were both in pretty bad condition, so I replaced brake pads, and rotors.  
After 200 mile ride, she stops much better.  Thanks

Don't overlook cleaning the i.d. surfaces on all the holes on the disc rotors. All sorts of oily gunk can hide there and foul brake pads. Carb cleaner and a small bottle brush is a nice way to spend a few hours outside. Those new pads will wear to "fit" the grooves in the brake rotors after some miles and fairly aggressive braking.