First Post - Here's my story

[mightywind]

Hi all, stumbled across this site searching for R65 stuff. Looks like a valuable place to exchange information. I just purchased my first motorcycle, a 1984 R65 in June of 2006. Here's a rundown of the history/mods:

Unknown mileage, probably 80K plus
It came with a home-made fairing and K-bike style headlight
San Jose braced swingarm
Dual plugs
Progressive fork springs
Koni rear shocks
S style bars
Bar-end mirrors
Dual disks on front, single disk rear
SS brake lines

I bought this from a local BMW restorer. The bike came from Florida. I removed the fairing and put on a standard headlight. Not that the fairing was terrible, but it was definitely home-made, and heavy. The bike runs really well, it had a stuck ring when I bought it from sitting too long, but that's cured now from riding alot.

This winter I plan to make some modifications and generally clean it up. I found an aftermarket fairing on ebay that looks very close to an S fairing. I just found a R80st tank which is on it's way, although I saw the bike on another post here with the R80st tank and now I'm not sure I like the look of it. My tank is in fairly rough shape, including a patch on one side, but I might just try to clean it up. I'm definitely going to paint the tank, fender, side covers and seat cowl.

Here's a pic:

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Looks like a good ride.  So Many modifications!  I wouldn't even be surprised to find out that is a larger engine stuck in there (dual plugged...).

[Justin B.]

And frame braces, too.    Is that fairing built from scratch or was another one modified?  What's it look like from the front?  Looks like you have a nice foundation to build up just about whatever you want.

[mightywind]

Yes, I forgot about the frame braces. The fairing is gone now, I gave it to the guys I bought the bike from. It was definitely wholly home-made. The frame was welded 1/2 inch square tube painted metallic gold and the shell was pretty rough in black. I was surprised how much it weighed when I removed it. I really like the look of the S fairing, so that's what I'm putting on. Now I have to decide on a color. I'm thinking about either dark metallic gray or pearl white.

[Justin B.]

A dark metallic gray would look nice, and an RS type fairing looks kinda nice, too...

[milkman]

I agree. The gunmetal type colour is my favourite. Is it an original BMW colour?
Either way go for that....great looking bike already though

[Justin B.]

No, when my kid was riding this one he bought a Shoei helmet and we color matched the bike paint to it.  I think Shoei called it "Anthracite"...

[mightywind]

Wow, that is sweet! Thanks for the photo, that will weigh heavily in my decision... I've seen some very nice pearl white paint jobs too. It's a tough decision, and I only want to do it once.

[NC Steve]

As much as I love Justin's "RS", I've only seen 1 or 2 pearl white R65s, and they sure did look sweet!

[msbuck]

I love the pearl white that was on the K100RS back in the mid 80's with the Red & Blue pin stripes.  Had that BMW motosport look going...  The R65 in pearl white with a cafe fairing...hmmm.... sounds cool, man!   [smiley=beatnik.gif]

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Not to mention "visible", like why I bought a white helmet.

But when, and if, I ever get all the plastic and fibreglass on my bike that is in my garage, I just don't see the final result being white.  Dover, maybe, but that would be as close as I could get.

[Chris_in_BC]

A dark metallic gray would look nice, and an RS type fairing looks kinda nice, too...

Justin , just curious, what is the cable positioned right next to the mirror on the fairing? A sensor for something?

Bike looks really clean.

Chris

[Justin B.]

Chris, stick-on JC Whitney LED turn signals.  After fixing all of the holes and cracks in the fairing I couldn't bring myself to drill any holes in it!  :-/

The bike runs pretty good and will put a new clutch in it  (thanks to Rev. Eddie   ) as soon as I get motivated as my new rear seal and oil pump cover O-ring got here yesterday.  I'm not going to automatically replace the seal but wanted to make sure I had one if I found an oily mess once I got in there.

[mightywind]

Justin, I notice you don't have the rubber boots on your front forks, which I think looks great. Is there anything I need to do when I remove mine? I'm wondering if you installed a different cap on the top of the lower fork?

[Justin B.]

It does look nicer, but the full gaiters allow your fork seals to last much longer.  It's my understanding that the gaiters were never stock on the R65s, the small wiper/dust-boot as in my picture is the stock item so you should be able to order a pair.  You will need two of the dust caps and there are is also a felt wiper strip which you will need two of unless a new boot comes with the felt strip already installed.