Update on my bike - it works!

[Ian_N]

Hi

Only my second post. I've been busy. Maybe.

Anyway. At the end of last year I took on a 1979 R65 that had been sat for 3-4 years but ran fine with a new battery. It is down in Cornwall (in father in laws garage) - I'm in Bristol, so work has been slow so far.  I identified a list of MOT failures, spent a small fortune at Motobins, booked an MOT and took a week off. I should stress before I catalogue my bodges that the object of the exercise was to make sure it would pass an MOT before sending too much time and money on it. Years spent playing with cars taught me that it is cheaper to buy a good one in the first place, unless you are actually after a project -  but there are limits.

Along the way I have found that this is a 1979 frame with a 1982 LS engine. Older airbox so 1979 gearbox I assume. Twin ATEs , but round reservoir (larger dia) master cylinder suggests original fitment.
It has some very neat round holes in the air-box which probably means someone tried to make it go faster at some point. Currently covered with duck tape! If it was jetted accordingly it may explain why it starts so well.

Major work:

Replaced the master cylinder (could have reconned it, but time was short). All sorts of problems finding washers - thanks Cornwall Kawasaki - and then the banjo bolt was too long.

Reconstructed the base of the seat with galvanised sheet (ex washing machine i think) and fitted a new hinge (wrong one as it turns out, but live and learn - at least the seat stays on now). I dismantled the back of the bike so i could have the frame on the bench to line every thing up. The rubber bungs are a right pain to fit so it now sits on strips of rubber conveyor belt. I think I need a new seat...

Replaced the drive shaft boot. Didn't fancy attempting to retorque them according to the haynes manual technique. It's amazing what you can do with super glue and strong fingers.

Everything else worked, so off I went (having checked oil was reasonable colour!)
It promptly failed on steering head bearings. Nuts. I'd run out of time so had to pay for this to be done.

The ride to the test centre revealed some issues, as you'd expect.

The front end  judders (for want of a better word) at about 40 mph. Could be springs / fork oil, maybe the front brakes were grabbing. I couldn't find a flat spot on a tyre. Any thoughts?

One disk was hot, one was cold - Seized caliper I expect.

Odometer not working. I've got the fix for this from the Airheads site.

Advisories were slightly bent handlebars (- I disagree, but easy to fix) and a dinged front wheel - can you get these fixed? Is there a new/ modern alternative?

Other bikers waved at me. Good grief - that hasn't happened since I had a Kwak 500 - when I had the R1150RS I was ignored by everyone. There's a lesson there somewhere  

The bike is still in Cornwall, but I am slowly emptying the garage of wood and have built a 'loft' out of dexion to keep the roofbox etc. Now the weather is warming up I am formulating a plan...

[Justin B.]

Every Beemer I've had that has wobbled at that particular speed turned out to be front tire.  Can you take hands off bars below 40 and above 45?  I have had 3 Metzlers that displayed absolutely no wear with that symptom.  Make sure it is properly inflated and balanced.  Loose steering head bearings can also cause this...

Sounds like you about have it sorted out.  It's not an absolute given that you have the old tranny as the airbox will fit later years without too much dificulty.

[Bob_Roller]

I find it quite interesting about how many riders have had vibration / handling issues with Metzeler tires.

Not only on this site, but all of the BMW websites I have visited over the years.

I've had Metzeler ME 33 tires  on the front of my R65 since '86 or '87 (about 70,000 miles), and never had a problem with them.

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Along the way I have found that this is a 1979 frame with a 1982 LS engine. Older airbox so 1979 gearbox I assume. Twin ATEs , but round reservoir (larger dia) master cylinder suggests original fitment.  
It has some very neat round holes in the air-box which probably means someone tried to make it go faster at some point. Currently covered with duck tape! If it was jetted accordingly it may explain why it starts so well.

I have a 1979 R65 with a 1980 R65 engine.  I installed it.  The 1980 engine had the new airbox in the USA.
Not only did I prefer the old style clamshell airbox, but I did not get the airbox with the replacement engine, anyway.  My original engine broke a connecting rod.
The holes in your airbox are quite likely from the factory.  Mine are.


clickable image


Replaced the drive shaft boot. Didn't fancy attempting to retorque them according to the haynes manual technique. It's amazing what you can do with super glue and strong fingers.  

I am not sure what you are saying here.  
You replaced the rubber boot.  That is good.  Could you tell if you still had the original binding straps?  Original equipment is best, here.

The re torquing, are you talking about the 4 bolts connecting the drive shaft to the output flange on the transmission?  If so, I hope that by "super glue", you mean something like blue Loctite, and "strong fingers", I hope there is a 10mm box-end in them!!!

That is how I do it.  I step on the brake and snug them up one at a time, and then go around a couple of times, giving it all I have with just my hand and the wrench from the kit.

Make sure your threads are clean and dry.
If it is a new bike to you, you may want to consider fresh bolts, if you didn't.


Don't strip out your drive shaft fill and drain plugs!  It is easy to do!


Have the steering head bearings been replaced, yet?  Were they in before the MOT?  If not, I would say the notchy bearings could be the source of much of your handling trouble.


Good luck!  Be safe!

[Ian_N]

I should have been clearer! I was not confident about retorquing the drive shaft to transmission bolts, so I cut the boot lengthways and stuck it with cyano-acrylate glue ("superglue" in UK). It feels like a bodge, but the join is good so it should last well. I've been told cyano acrylates are routinely used for similar jobs in industry. I do intend to do it properly when I get a chance, and before too many miles.

The original straps / giant jubilee clips are still in good condition.

I've since read lots on the retorquing of these stretch bolts on the internet. Haynes disagrees with Clymer (about calculating the torque based on lever length), while loads of other people say do them up fairly tight, but don't go mad, and use some blue loctite. As long as they don't fall out (or snap!), I'm sure it doesn't matter.

Interesting that the airbox holes are original. They look just like the ones pictured.
They have been blocked off for probably 10 years, which raises interesting questions about the fuel / air mixture.

I'll keep the forum posted about front end wobbles. I haven't had a chance to ride it since the MOT.

[Bob_Roller]

The specified torque for the 12 point bolts for the drive shaft from BMW, is 38 + .4 Nm, or 27 +.3 foot pounds.

So they do need a fair amount of torque for their size.

I would keep a close watch on the repair to the rubber boot, I did a repair, and it lasted only about 6 weeks, or about 600 miles before it failed and started leaking.

When you do replace the rubber boot, the clamps have a small piece of metal in the shape of a channel that covers the gap between the two ears on the clamp where the screw goes through.

Quite easy to lose it in the  dis-assembly process .

Also the orientation of the boot is important, when you get your new boot, look it over, it should have the word 'oben' molded into it, my german is quite rusty, but it means up or top, or something similar.