another wrecked tranny

[bpw]

Was coming home from a nice two day camping trip up the California coast tonight.  Riding down the highway when all the sudden fifth gear blew,  just spins when any load is put on.  4th still worked so I got home that way. 1st and 2nd seem good but 3rd makes a squealing noise.  Planning to pull it tomorow.

By coincidence I had just done a spline lube about 10 days ago as well, maybe its bad luck?

Looks like this is going to be expensive.  Anyone know a good rebuilder in the San Francisco area?
What other bikes share this tranny, It seems many are the same but does anyone know what years work?

Ben
1981 r65

[Justin B.]

Bummer...    Any Airhead transmission from 1981 on should fit yours.

[Bob_Roller]

I don't know if this is a coincidence or not, but I emailed Oak Okleshen of Airheads Beemer Club fame, about the transmission problem that I am having.

He made the comment in one of his replies, that the number of airhead transmissions that he has received recently is quite out of the ordinary, something like transmission 'flu' season !! He said he has a least a 2-3 month backlog of transmissions that need repair / overhaul.

[MrRiden]

Makes me want to source a spare to have on hand. If I were to do so, would it be possible to fit the quirky but charming kick start lever on it? mine is an '82 model.
Rich

[bpw]

I was curious about kickstarts too, seems the parts are available from BMW but are big money,  not sure if they will fit on a normal tranny or are just replacements.  Or for a mere $2400 you could get a new kickstart equipped tranny from BMW.  I image you would need to get real lucky finding someone selling one as it would have to be an upgrade.  I dont think any post 81 bikes came with kickstarters.  I seem to vaguely remember seeing a kickstart equipped r100gs somewhere.

Ben

[Bob_Roller]

Looks like for parts alone , about $450, plus having the rear cover on the trans reworked so the kick start shaft can go through it.

[bpw]

Ouch, I think I can bump start a lot of times before that becomes worthwhile.  What would be cool those is having a kickstarter and no starter motor on a cafe racer or dirtbike, save some weight and if you had pods you could eliminate almost the entire upper half of the engine.

[Justin B.]

I have a 1980 model that had been special ordered with the kicker.  I have used it one time, just to make sure it worked, but have always read that they should be used sparingly on the 5 speed boxes.  Now, on my old /5 I kicked it all the time because I was too poor to keep feeding it batteries!  If somebody buys the '80 R65RS from me I'll throw in the kicker tranny for free!  

[tagordon]

If somebody buys the '80 R65RS from me I'll throw in the kicker tranny for free!

Justin, are you selling your "Garage Ornament"?
/me

[Justin B.]

Yeah, I probably should and let somebody else get some enjoyment out of it...

[tagordon]

Justin,
What exactly is a R65"RS"?
Title that came with my R65 showed it as a RS.
But I know they put what ever your tell em for model most times.
I think I recall reading that the RS model was for the R65 that shipped with the little fairing. The one I ask the group if I should put back on.

[Justin B.]

There never was an official R65RS, AFAIK.  I have a 1980 R65 with a hand-laid fiberglass copy of an R100RS fairing installed, so I "tongue-in-cheek" call it an R65RS.  The "real" R65 models that I know of are the R65, R65 LS, R65 GS, and whatever the official designation is for the cop bike with the RT fairing on it.  The little fairing you have is an accessory item that would be dealer/owner installed and doesn't do anything to change the model designation.

[dewjantim]

Hey Tagordon, does your R65 have dual discs on the front? A friend of mine has a R65 with the fairing you have and two discs on the front end. He is the second owner, the origional owner said it came that way from the factory. Just wondered if it was some kind of rare model (kind of a pre LS) or just has dealer add ons. If they are dealer add ons, it makes you wonder why a dealer would add things to a bike which would make the cost as much as a larger bike.....Dew.

[tagordon]

Dew,
My 81 R65 has dual discs. ATE not Brembo. Did a little research on brakes & found that immediately prior to R65LS release R65 shipped with ATE dual discs. Or so the story went. Don't know if true or not.
Based on the quirky chnages that have been made to Beemers during the years. And the "Rolling Changes" during a model year. I believe anything is possible.
The manufacture that I work for did some changes last Novemeber while "Rolling Out" a particular model. And infuriated some buyers. Changes that later were addressed via "Customer Satisfaction Action". Modifications were made for customers that wanted them, to have function as customer had expected/wanted.

[Ed Miller]

Mine too has the dual ATEs.