Getting Started

[Dave 2]

Hello, I've been busy getting ready for my daughter's wedding which took place at our house last weekend.  Last Friday I fianally reached an agreement with the other driver's insurance co. So now with the wedding done and with the $2500.00 payment in the bank I'm ready to start stripping the bike down to the frame for restoration. I've read that Adrian and AZcycle are both in the process of restoration so I'm looking forward to following their efforts and to post pictures and updates of my job. I'm glad Lucky Lou is feeling better. Dave

[montmil]

Good to hear from you, Dave. And best wishes to your daughter on her recent wedding.

Post pics and keep us in the loop with your rebuild.

Monte

[Adrian]

I'm ready to start stripping the bike down  

Hi congrats to your daughter and new son - in - law I hope they have a great life together. Good luck with the bike resto. I have to leave the engine in place this time around. Health constraints and all that. Most of the main frame is in okay nick with regards to paint but what isn't I can reach with a brush and some excellent paint I've found. The rest of the frame assembly is being taken off the bike and stripped off for rust treatment where necessary and respraying by yours truly. I will be going over my wiring loom with a fine tooth combe as I've found some cracked and split wires.  Lots of elbow grease for the alloy bits and some engine mechanics just because its getting a bit old. And any thing else that crops up along the way. I hope you have as much fun with yours as I'm going to have with mine.

[clonmore1]

Enjoy the bike resto, the wedding and even the weekend Dave.

Chris

[Dave 2]

I had an almost finished message when I hit some lurking button that was delighted to erase my message...So...Message in summary: "Thanks, Stay Tuned

[Dave 2]

Hello, Here I go with my third attempt at this posting [smiley=wall.gif] First of all thanks for your postings from all over the world! The wedding was a lot of fun and a fine gathering of family and friends. As you can see from my photos I have the Tank, seat, fairing, headlight, and instruments off. I hope that the impact of the accident was absorbed by the fairing, headlight and handlebars, and NOT the front forks. I read a posting recently about checking the alinment of the forks, so I will look for that. I have never undertaken anything like this before, so I am excited to begin. I know that if I get stuck I will get the help I need right here [smiley=bmw_smiley.gif] Adrian, thanks for telling me about your progress. Dave

[clonmore1]

Interesting home for the lawn mower Dave...

[Dave 2]

I'm trying to pretend it is not there

[Adrian]

Isn't that your alternative ride while you fix up the Beemer?  

[Dave 2]

Well it does have a 3 speed transmission I could get little chains for snow and Ice I think we have a plan going [smiley=bmw_smiley.gif]

[kyle_a_r]

Greetings all,

This is it, Post Number 1.

I have an R65LS that is now due for some resto work. My main stumbling block seems to be the black instrument cowl. You can see from the photos how it has come away from the red part of the fairing.

Please can some one point me to the wisdom that is the options for this lapse in BMW design?

Other work to be done includes giving the front brake hydraulics a good talking to. New master cylinder acquired, and braided lines being considered. Repaint. Everything red has suffered somewhat over the years. The coils are not above suspicion. The battery has died over the last 6 years of storage, and the list goes on. It has some great Staintune mufflers (silencers?) fitted, and performed well at its last outing.

There you have it.

It's great to be here, I will commence the catch up reading that seems to be necessary when joining a well established forum.

Kyle

PS That is not me in the photo, but a great picture of rural Australia.

[Adrian]

Hi there Kyle and welcome from a fellow Aussie. I'm in the process of restoring my '84 R65 so good luck with yours. There's a couple of us on here doing the same. The wealth of info on the forum is staggering and just ask and someone will always have an answer for you. Have a great day mate ......... Adrian in S.A.  

[nhmaf]

YAY another red LS!  (They are the fastest ones, you know..    8-) )

Welcome aboard!

The black cowling part has (or used to) have little locking finger tabs that clicked into place onto the front part of the red cowling on either side.   These things break off (easily) for numerous reasons, and it is extremely rare to find a cowling and mating fairing with all their interconnecting bits still intact.

A number of people have tried different approaches to solve the problem of keeping the front end of the cowling down.   I didn't want to drill holes, etc in mine and I have a solution that seems to work.   I bought a length of heavy duty/industrial velcro material and matching loop material with a plastic D-ring or similar device to adjust the length of the strip of velcro loop material on.   You may find something used for tidying up lengths of garden hose or electric extension cords will work too.   I then stuck two patches of velcro to the underside of the black cowling part, towards the front but not so close to the headlight that there is not clearance under it, on left and right sides.   I looped the mating velcro strips around a metal bracket  inside the fairing on either side of the headlight mount, then reach up inside and push the velcro onto the glued on patches on the underside of the black cowling.  Then I use the D-loops to shorten the length of the velcro strips to snug it down and pull a little bit (downward) on the front part of the cowling.  

It holds together well, is removable for servicing in there, was inexpensive and keeps the exterior as original as possible.   So far, it has been ~7 years without a problem.

[Graeme]

Hi Kyle & Welcome - Looks to be around Canberra  

[Dave 2]

Welcome Kyle, You have a beautiful RED LS, as  Adrian said there are a few of us in the process of restoration. It is a great adventure and the members of this forum really help to make it possible. Although some do have strange ideas,  like the relationship between the color red and speed. Personally I think Red is a great color but thought it increased your chances of getting pulled over by the police [smiley=huh.gif]  As to the black dash problem I think NHMAF's solution is perfect, I will try that if I can find one :-/ My dealer says that the parts number is "Good" and is trying to find out through BMW why they are not available. He mentioned that sometimes on parts for older bikes once they run out of an item they might wait until they have enough orders placed before they produce another batch of that item. Have any of you heard of this? Anyway good to have you aboard. Dave2