R65 Resurrection

[skippyc]

Copper washers are good they seal with less torque.
I found no use for the smaller oring either.

[mrclubike]

I'll be interested too.  I could not find a place for the big metal "shim" either.  Nothing like that came out of the old one.

Just because you didn't remove a part when you dissembled it doesn't mean you don't need it
Previous owners are notorious for screwing things up   

The large diameter shim in the kit is critical in some applications
If your engine requires it and you leave it out  you can have loss of oil pressure and destroy your engine
I do not know the cut off dates of when it is and isn't required
But a simple search of the "2000 dollar O ring" will tell you all about it 

But the best info is here at Snowbums tech articles
http://bmwmotorcycletech.info/technical-articles-list.htm

After you are there scroll down to the Mechanical section and then to Line 51a
Every Airhead owner should be aware of the issue with properly  installing an oil filter

[Bob_Roller]

Looking at the o-ring assortment, I think the smaller black o-ring, may be for the oil dipstick .

[Aethelric]

The large diameter shim in the kit is critical in some applications
If your engine requires it and you leave it out  you can have loss of oil pressure and destroy your engine
I do not know the cut off dates of when it is and isn't required
But a simple search of the "2000 dollar O ring" will tell you all about it 

Thanks for that mrclubbike. Checking on Antons site it seems I need the shim, but not the gasket.(Canister depth is 3.5mm) When I dismatled it there was a gasket but no shim. 
The old O ring (black not white in my case) had obviously been installed with some sort of sealant. So it is now reassembled with no gasket, and one shim, torqued up to hand tight with a T spanner and loctited (I don't believe in lock washers.

The black 30mm O ring fits the filler plug and the 20mm copper crush washer fits the drain plug.

[Bob_Roller]

None of the fill or drain plugs use a rubber o-ring, they all use metal washers .

[mrclubike]

some Dip sticks use the Oring

[mrclubike]

The large diameter shim in the kit is critical in some applications
If your engine requires it and you leave it out  you can have loss of oil pressure and destroy your engine
I do not know the cut off dates of when it is and isn't required
But a simple search of the "2000 dollar O ring" will tell you all about it 

Thanks for that mrclubbike. Checking on Antons site it seems I need the shim, but not the gasket.(Canister depth is 3.5mm) When I dismatled it there was a gasket but no shim. 
The old O ring (black not white in my case) had obviously been installed with some sort of sealant. So it is now reassembled with no gasket, and one shim, torqued up to hand tight with a T spanner and loctited (I don't believe in lock washers.

The black 30mm O ring fits the filler plug and the 20mm copper crush washer fits the drain plug.

Very glad you Fixed it 

[TomHoldom]

Hello Again -
my new SLA battery has arrived and I want to check whether I will be ok using my 12 V car basic car battery charger (bought from halfords around 10 years ago).
Read about risk of damage if over charged

Thanks

[Barry]

The only thing thing to worry about on a sealed battery is continuing excessively high charge voltage once the battery has reached full charge. 

A wet cell battery will gas once fully charged but a sealed battery will eventually vent on the pressure relief valve which will shorten it's life. 

So you can use any charger on an SLA battery provided you monitor charge voltage and don't allow it to exceed the manufacturers recommendation. In the absence of a manufacturers figure 14.5 volts would be safe.  And then when it reaches full charge take it off.

Conversely leaving an SLA on an unregulated charger which might easily reach 16 volts or more once the battery reached full charge would be the kiss of death.

[TomHoldom]

ok thanks Barry
I wont leave too long.
Any idea how long a first charge might take, and can I rely on the 'ready' indicator light as a safe voltage check, or would I be better off using a voltmeter?

[Barry]

If the charger has a ready light then it's not an old unregulated type so it should be safe.   It's right to charge a new battery before putting it into service but it shouldn't need much at all.

[TomHoldom]

I'm about to order my tyres from my 1978 R65 and wondering whether I need to be concerned about not have a 'matching' pair

I don't want to spend too much and at the moment I'm hesitating between:
Front tyre: Metzeler ME22 90/90 - 18 (57P) (€29)
Front tyre: Metzeler ME22 - 3.25-18 59P. (€39)

Rear tyre: Metzeler LASERTEC 110/90 - 18 (61H) TL (€88)
Rear tyre: Metzeler PERFECT ME77 4.00R18 64 H (€89)

any advice appreciated

(existing old tyres are,  front: 90/90 - 18.51 H & rear: 120/90 H18)

Thanks
Tom

[Tony Smith]

rear: 120/90 H18)

You may well fid that to fit a 120/90 that a modified spacer kit has been fitted to the rear wheel to move it to the left somewhat. Nothing wrong with that except that if the drive splines in the hib and wheel have taken a "set" it isn't really reversible.

[TomHoldom]

ok thanks Tony, I'll have a look for that - if I upload a photo of the rear wheel would you be able to tell whether a spacer has been fitted?
Is the issue of having a matching pair important - the website I was looking to buy the tyres said I have to have a matching pair?

[Tony Smith]

You will need to measure the spacer to see if it is longer than standard - not a difficult task.

Tyres that are meant to be used as a pair should be used as such. The problem is sorting out tyres that are genuine pairs from those that are marketing hype.

Some 120/90s will fit, some will not. Unfortunately with the steady disappearance of "inch" tyres and the ever bigger tyres being fitted to new bikes the 110/90 which is a pretty much guaranteed fit has all but disappeared, other than for really ghastly tyres like Shinko.