new nc r65 owner

[Patrick_Krivacka]

Hi everyone. I bought a '81 r65 today. This wonderful forum played a large roll in my choosing to buy it. I'll try and post some picks later. It seems to be in fairly good shape, except for the seat. the previous owner decided to recover it himself and didn't do a very good job. what other bmw seats will fit our r65? also, more importantly, He only owned the bike for 6 months and in that time he changed the fluids and cleaned the carbs, and adjusted the valves. I asked if he had done the spline lube and he said he had not, and that he thought it didn't need it until about 30,000 miles (it has 19,000 on it). Is this true? I really don't want to do a major (for me) maintence job on the bike before getting to ride it some, but I don't want to break it either. I welcome all feedback, and look forward to being a member of this forum.

[Bob_Roller]

Welcome i-man, the transmission input spline lube should be a priority for you, we have one member here nhmaf, that had the splines strip out on his newly acquired R65LS, with a bit under 15,000 miles, if the splines fail, it could run up to a $1000 repair .

[Patrick_Krivacka]

thanks bob roller. i guess i kinda knew that. rats. to that end, do you have a repair manual that you recommend? are the haynes, clymler books any good? I'll go read though the wiki on the spline lube.

[montmil]

Greetings, earthling.

I'd spend your money on both manuals as they compliment each other in some areas. I would also recommend you bookmark several of the better tech sites out there.

A couple cautions that you may have read while lurking about... 1) The manual's suggested tire pressures are out-dated by newer tire technology. Share rider and load out weight estimates and peeps will offer psi's that will improve handling and prolong tire life; 2) Many of the torque figures in both manuals are too high and must have been suggested by BMW replacement part dealers and/or repair facilities. Check in with the site on small items like drain bolts, rocker box studs, etc.

Spline lube is a good thing. Yes, the chore takes a bit of time to do properly and you'll likely need a modified 27mm socket and torque wrench but then again, an expensive repair will take mucho time, too. Here's a helpful DIY link:

http://www.bmbikebits.co.uk/pdfs/Airhead%20Spline%20Lubrication.pdf  

Regarding your seat question- Do you need re-upholstery or an entire new seat? The R65 is severely limited as to replacement seats due to its SWB and chassis/tank areas.

Post some pics. Include an Easter Bunny.

Monte

[NC Steve]

Welcome to the club, it's always nice to have another "local" sign up. Hope you enjoy your R65 and have a minimum of fuss & muss, but if you run into anything that's over your head, there's an excellent Airhead mechanic by the name of George Ratterman at the BMW shop in Greensboro, http://www.carolinaeuro.com/. They are a very Airhead friendly shop, unlike many BMW franchises these days who only want to sell and work on the latest (and most expen$ive) models.

There's a bit of a Eurobike get-together in Raleigh next Saturday if you're interested. It started off pretty small, but at this point is shaping up to be a fairly large gathering. Nothing fancy, just a meet & greet and a chance to see a lot of cool bikes.



Again, welcome  [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

[Patrick_Krivacka]

thanks for that link. I had seen that one and wondered if it applied to the 81 r65. it seems pretty straight forward. thanks again.

[Patrick_Krivacka]

hey nc steve. I guess I replied before I saw your post. the get together in raleigh seems like fun. I don't suppose your going to do your spline lube anytime soon and need someone (me) to watch do you ; ) ?

[Patrick_Krivacka]

Here it is, with an easter egg too.

[montmil]

So, i-man...   Who's the old guy in the avatar standing next to your cool R65 with you up?

Monte

[Patrick_Krivacka]

good one ; )

[montmil]

If it's a seat cover you're needing, I have a self-installed NW Classic cover on my 1981 R65. Excellent product with good instructions. $45.00. Let the old guy help you. It'll make him happy.

For a photo essay on installing the cover, check my gallery in the R65dotorg "Photo Gallery".

Monte

[Patrick_Krivacka]

that looks good monte. I might have to give that a try. My efforts can't be any worse then what's on there now. It looks like a poorly stuffed duffle bag. will a r65ls seat fit the regular r65?

[nhmaf]

The R65LS seat won't fit unless you also get the unique LS-rear seat cowling that mates with it - the stock R65 seat and stock R65 cowling have a different shape at the rear from the LS parts and won't interchange.  You;ll also have a MUCH easier time getting luggage racks that will work with the stock R65 tail cowling - the fancy grab handles on the LS cowling interfere with any mounts which include a rear tail rack.

If you need more help on the spline lube than what I wrote up in the wiki we'll walk you through it somehow.    It is possibly that your splines were lubed by the previous previous owner, but if they were not, well, mileage is rather irrelevant when your talking about 29 year old machinery with unknown maintenance history.

[Patrick_Krivacka]

thanks for the info. this really is a great site. I'm sure I've just missed it somehow, computers are just one of many things I'm pretty dense about, but i'm having trouble with the wiki. I click on somethings and it does what I expect it to, and others (like the spline lube) I'm denied access. what am I missing?

[montmil]

... computers are just one of many things I'm pretty dense about...

Yea, another fellow traveler [smiley=clap.gif]

Our Wiki doesn't seem to play nice so I don't think it's just you. Note that there have been very few contributions due to an elevated frustration factor. Lots of other avenues for assistance... just holler.

Monte