R65LS Fork Gaiters

[Kelvin]

Back in the 1980s my R65LS had fine ribbed gaiters, at least 15 ribs. Current parts listing on both BMW and RealOEM list the bike without gaiters, something that I associate with the 1982 model run (but I'm aware that there was much variation).

According to Mr Boxer2Valve the /5 models have 13 ribs, and /6 and later have 11 ribs. My bike currently has the 11 rib versions installed. These are what seem to be offered as gaiters for the 'LS on sites like Motobins.

Does anyone know what happened to the old gaiters? Are they still available anywhere? It's been years since I've seen a pair, I'm starting to wonder if my memory is defective.

[Bob_Roller]

I  installed gaiters on my 81 R65, 13 rib type .
Got them from an aftermarket supplier  BMW dealership here in the US, it was Bob's BMW, or Capital Cycle can't remember whch one,  both on the east coast of the US .
I don't know how much this matters but when I bought mine I was told to get the 13 rib type, the 11 rib type may restrict the front fork travel .
I just checked capital Cycle and they have the 11 rib and state, not for R65 .

https://www.capitalcycle.com/Fork-Boot--Accordian-Type-WIth-11-Ribs_p_408.html

https://www.capitalcycle.com/Fork-Boot--Accordian-Type-13-Ribs_p_416.html


I put the Capital Cycle part number for the 13 rib type into RealOEM and it is a good BMW part number .

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=0214-USA-08_1967_T50_BMW_R50_2&diagId=31_0512#31422002115

Now whether they are still available from BMW I have no idea .

[tiggum]

Bob's shows 13 rib fork boots for $34.95 each under "reproduction parts".

[Bob_Roller]

Here's Bob's BMW gaiters .

https://www.bobsbmw.com/store/product/fork-boot-13-rib-repro

[BPT]

I remember reading somewhere (I thought here...?) to be sure to get the "good" ones, and I thought that Motobins was supposed to have them.  They show these 11 rib versions in the R65 section.  Are these not correct, or "good"?
I'd assumed that it was quality people were talking about and hadn't thought that the problem could be if they were too short.

[Bob_Roller]

I did some searching today about which boots were the correct ones for an R65 .
I found references for the 11 and 13 rib ones and also 14 or 15 rib boots .
So an honest answer I don't really know now !!
I do know if you install one of these boots, the area for a clamp, is very narrow maybe .25 inches, 6 mm .
Regular worm gear clamps are too wide .
The BMW clamps are available for a reasonable cost .

[BPT]

Haha, yes, it is very confusing. And I think that's why I hadn't gotten any yet.  I screenshot-ed that above because I couldn't copy the link for some reason. Right above the gaiters they have clamps as well, about £1.50.

I was thinking about putting in an order to Motobins and try to wait until I have enough stuff to make it worthwhile. Coincidentally, I was wondering about these for that reason.  I guess we can wait and see if anybody else can provide some input...........

[Tony Smith]

I have been running the gaiters from Motobins since 2013 until I swapped out the forks for K100 ones.

My opinion is that the gaiters are just fine = and yes i bought a set for the K100 forks too.

[BPT]

Thanks for the confirmation Tony.

One more thing I remember reading about: do thsee require the little breather tube thing?  I'd  read that on the bikes that came with these as standard, there was a little hole or notch in the gaiter and that lined up with a tube on the triple tree?

[Bob_Roller]

The boots I put on my '81 R65 hve a single breather hole in each one .
I've also seen references to a roll pin  I thnk it was on the lower triple tree .
None of my R65's have this .
Here's page from RealOEM, it shows a roll pin and a tube on the lower triple tree .

 https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=0349-USA-10-1982-2471-BMW-R_80_ST&diagId=31_0293

[BPT]

Yeah, Bob, that's what I was talking about.  I figured that as long as they had the hole they'd be able to "breathe" - but you know those BMW engineers....... Sometimes they have a reason for the tiniest things.
I mainly wanted to make sure it wasn't absolutely necessary since I've got custom triple trees and I knew I didn't have that setup.

     Thanks for the info

[Kelvin]

The later gaiters are functional (even if they look odd). They have a hole for the roll pin (breather), however, they foul the LS fairing, so don't properly engage. The original fine ribbed version had a plastic (neoprene?) ring for the top that had the hole for the roll pin in it (the gaiter went over the neoprene, the hose clamp over that).

Thanks all for the responses. I'm resigned to never seeing those early LS gaiters again.

[jp9094]

Speaking of gaiters, I was looking for something else on eBay and found fork gaiters for about US $ 12. These were more than 13 ribs and were found on the r65 LS  parts listings I have bookmarked about 6 pages in. They are, of course, Chinese but have measurements in some of the the photos. Might be worth looking at. Here is a link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-Pair-Black-Rubber-Accordion-Style-Motorcycle-Front-Fork-Shock-Absorption-Boots/293181341023?fits=Model%3AR65LS&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item4442f83d5f:g:sL4AAOSwwrFdS7~z&enc=AQAEAAAB0BPxNw%2BVj6nta7CKEs3N0qUHiG8%2FaU3rvr6QqF%2F1kNl0GTsM39o%2FbHmHOnKxrfRCsIBk2dc3RCWWX18RyL1hCq1buai5IHqavEcMvNJETiHMQbsIb9kMRJXPlYglo9o%2Fq5hdyY6332ZKH00DLUBqI7qW88vUqRjp4UgG6HkEVWkgqmuiVtCEPW93ZPF67OoEhyLHG3KmzLEiCJSq6hmFYLUSPdOxVNwolzEWdYYp59xcZvtws4pp1RFG95UWGEga2ZoLr2gFzkERB9941TWuUeGDDmnYjqyhKgM%2By5YWZv5VF442n0juNwuDx%2Fy9e2I50zHhmYhOpFl%2FAjBBqv8uLD9aHjQQDG%2BDkM9aT0RTZHLS8zqiSSlSa5BMvKzJQ8xHkTKd73d0IQGSCWEBLojWzDlYv0DXRIbm92yN0H1GFS9BmfP%2BiPF02yR0XDIBMIov%2BWSHiSRd%2B7jB%2BC6qcHKrvbRvXFdy4k%2FgaUzrXOCOzuNuX81Ar%2FgVaoXo166RUNNqOYQDJDvmkuZlgWjonPtjWCI6TuJVKDi%2BhSv73jQ9H6kdnAgQDyA7K3%2BwgELE4IvBHI%2FEEPfQ0Ifpx4W0b4X7gR81YAyrbl0rFMLrpZXEyi7A&checksum=293181341023503ef7bd629c4f588d012324bba9341a

FWIW

[Kelvin]

Bullseye! They look correct, I'll follow up. Thanks.

[skippyc]

Gaiters ain't always Gaiters I know a few brit bike people who have drought cheap gaiters only to have them fall to bits in less than 2 years.