A few (needed) things done for Britta....

[SCJJR65]

Well, I finally got off my lazy butt and got going on getting some needed parts and repairs for my bike, in anticipation of an "active" riding season this year!

Yesterday, I placed my order with Moto-Bins for a new rotor, pads, and a seat cover, and expect the goods to arrive by this time next week.   A buddy of mine has graciously offered to help me put the rotor and pads on Britta, in exchange for a six pack of Michelob Amber Bock.  (Now that's what I call "cheap labor"!   )  I still need to find an upholsterer to put the cover on the seat for me, however.  I hope this doesn't prove to be a problem.

I also pulled my speedo out of Britta and am sending it to Palo Alto Speedometer today for refurbishing.  They told me it would be about a two week turnaround time from the time they receive it to get it repaired and sent back to me.

With any luck, by the end of April I should have Britta ready, willing, and able for the spring and summer riding season!  

[Joan]

Right ON!  [smiley=clap.gif]

It's great motivation watching other people get their R65's ready for the road. (Maybe this weekend for me.)

You GO John! Don't forget to snap some pics of your first ride to make the rest of us with PMS turn green.  [smiley=camera_sm.jpg]

[NC Steve]

John, if I may ask out of curiosity, what's your speedo doing, and what kind of $$ does Palo Alto want to fix it?

PS: Surely some local auto upholstery person could install a pre-cut seat cover for you!

[SCJJR65]

Steve,

Well, the needle wags back and forth wildly as you accelerate until you reach 5th gear, and then it settles down a little.  (Still wags, though)  Both the odo and trip meter only work sporadically at best (hell, the odo rarely works PERIOD.)

Palo Alto charges an average of about $189 plus UPS shipping for a complete refurbishing.  Several of our club members have had speedos rebuilt by them and have all been satisfied with their service.  I think there is also a place in the Atlanta area who also rebuilds speedos and tachs as well, but I decided to go with Palo Alto.  They seem to have gained a pretty good reputation over the years.

[Justin B.]

The last time I checked Chicago BMW (sometime last summer) that was about what they had the price for a brand new one listed at!

My wife and I glued on one of the Moto-Bins seat covers in about an hour counting the seat R&R time...  If I can do it...  

BTW, what did the shipping on all that cost ya?  I remember getting a 10% off coupon from them, going ape-$hit ordering crap, broke the dollar-volume where they shipped by a courier, and that pretty much wiped out the 10% coupon!  Seems the order was about 90  pounds sterling (that right?) and the shipping was almost $40!!!

[NC Steve]

Justin, the new speedos have definitely gone up: Chicago wanted $276 + s&h back in November, and I doubt they've gone down! BMW retail was $346.

John, the needle in mine does the same thing, but gets worse the faster you go. Tripmeter works when it feels like it.
Strangely, the odometer works like a Swiss watch! Of course, having now said that, I'm sure it'll stop on my next ride...

I'm still torn between the $200 Palo Alto and the $30 bicycle computer routes. :-/
When in doubt, perhaps I should do nothing & just ride the damn thing until next winter...

[Justin B.]

Ouch.  I priced one about a year ago and they were under $200.  These parts prices have gone absolutely bonkers!

[Clutch]

I've got an odometer and tripmeter that work about a third of the time I ride.  When one works, the other one does too.  I'm going to try to fix it myself sometime in the not too distant future...

http://www.airheads.org/content/view/160/98/

I've been mulling over getting one of those bicycle computers, but I really don't want to clutter up my bike with gadgets if I don't have to.  However, if I can't fix my odometer myself then I will be getting one of those computers.  There's no room in a grad student's budget for an unessential $200 repair.

[fixer]

hmmm, what's an R65 seatcover run, and what's the part number?

[Clutch]

just to let you know,  I fixed my odometer this past sunday using the link I included in my previous message.  The instructions were very good.  I took up the slack between my number wheels on the odometer and dabbed some super glue on the spindle to hold them together.  The trip meter has a spring that keeps the number wheels together (why couldn't they do that on the odometer?).  There was also some play in the worm gear that may have been a problem too, which was easily adjusted.  While I was at it, I went ahead and reset the odometer to 0, as it wasn't working when I bought the bike so I don't know how many miles is on the bike anyway.  Seemed like a nice way to give the bike a fresh start.  I was surprised how easy it was to reset the mileage (could have changed it to anything I wanted)!  It's been working for about 30 miles now (knock on e-wood).

I don't know if it is in my head, but it seems like the speedometer is reading a little faster than before.  I'll have to find one of those roadside police signs that give you a readout of your speed to see how accurate it is.

[SCJJR65]

Fixer,

The Moto-Bins part number for the seat cover I ordered is 91841. The price in US dollars after the exchange rate is about $35.45 or so, plus S&H.  I'm hoping the stuff I ordered from Moto-Bins gets here by the weekend, but I'm not holding my breath.

[NC Steve]

John, did you or Justin either one get the Ebay ad I sent to you, from a guy who recovers seats for $60?
I forwarded his listing to you both, but I know from past experience that those things sometimes get filtered into junk mail.
If you didn't, let me know and I'll try to find it again and send just the link this time...

[SCJJR65]

Yeah, Steve, I got it.  The only problem I might have is I really need a one day turnaround time on getting my seat recovered, since I don't have another vehicle to use while my seat is being recovered.  I'm hoping to get an upholsterer here in Easley agree to let me drop off my seat in the late afternoon and pick it up the next day before closing.  (Hmmm... Maybe getting rid of my car wasn't such a good idea after all!)   :-/

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

towels on the subframe!  

[Ed Miller]

Yeah, Steve, I got it.  The only problem I might have is I really need a one day turnaround time on getting my seat recovered, since I don't have another vehicle to use while my seat is being recovered.  I'm hoping to get an upholsterer here in Easley agree to let me drop off my seat in the late afternoon and pick it up the next day before closing.  (Hmmm... Maybe getting rid of my car wasn't such a good idea after all!)   :-/

Well, you obviously need another bike anyway.