G'Day from Oz

[Darwin_R65]

Well I figured I'd better introduce myself.
Some of you would have noticed I've already made a couple of posts on speedos.

John Price
I'm in Darwin Northern Territory, Australia.

Electronics Technician by trade, so I tend to make my hobbies more mechanical so it's nothing like work on the weekends.

I have just acquired last weekend a Blue 1980 R65 (Dual shock) my first BMW. Actually my first road bike, I've always had dirt bikes, road/trails.

I thought all it needed was the brakes overhauled to get it roadworthy and registered.
Calipers need a kit, master cylinder needs a kit, rotor is badly grooved. took it for a test ride down the street and due to lack of brakes made it only 100 yards before going back.

Discovered odometer doesn't work. When I pulled of the dash to get to speedo, I thought what's with the gaffer tape around the bottom of the ignition and when I removed it my ignition switch fell apart on the ground. (Oh well better now than 100kms out of town while riding down the highway)

Anyway it shouldn't be long before I have it on the road, it's just a question of how big a dint that puts in the bank account, and how much more i discover to be repaired.

So for now it's sitting in the carport in front of my 1962 Valiant I use to get to work every day and behind the 1952 Sunbeam S7 deluxe I'm reassembling. (I bought that 100% complete, 100% dismantled)
Unfortunately I don't have a garage to work in, only a 10foot square shed already full of other bits. The wet season is about to kick in here in the tropics. But I'm looking forward to getting this bike on the road and using it every day to get to work instead of the Valiant.

John

[steve hawkins]

Great to hear from you.

How does the 1962 wife handle?  Hope she isn't high maintenance!

Guys and Gals from the good old US of A will start chiming in soon.

Cheers

Steve H

R65 Cafe racer
R100 running project.

[Darwin_R65]

I get into trouble all the time when people ask what year the Valiant is and I reply
"1962, same as the wife.
Both sagging in the rear and in need of panel beating"
I usually end up with bruises.

My God I love that girl, and she puts up with a lot of crap from me.

John

[Justin B.]

I'm staying out of this one...

[not-so-fast-ed]

Welcome aboard John.  Post pictures when you can.

Let us know how you make out on the ignition switch, speedo, brake work.

Many of us have had (and still have) all of those problems.  I replaced the switch a couple of months ago, did the Brembo caliper rebuild, and still haven't gotten the guts to pull the speedo and repair the odometer/adjust the speedometer.  

Great to hear that the Valiant's still rolling.  Is this the Plymouth six that was also sold here in the states?

Keep posting.

Best,
Ed

[Justin B.]

Welcome John, I was an electronic tech in another life and I know exactly how you feel.  Those old slant sixes were almost indestructible as long as they had oil in 'em!  Almost like my Volvo 240, got close to 250k on that one...  

If you study the switch real good you may find a way to splice it back together.

I bought a 1971 Datcun 240Z that was in boxes, I know what you mean...

[montmil]

I get into trouble all the time when people ask what year the Valiant is and I reply "1962, same as the wife. Both sagging in the rear and in need of panel beating" I usually end up with bruises. My God I love that girl, and she puts up with a lot of crap from me. John

Not good! My bride has an autographed photo of Lorena Bobbitt that she keeps beside the bed! She says it's, "just a reminder".

The ignition switches are basically junk. I threw mine away and wired up an ultra uber hidden secret 30amp switch on my headlight shell. Oops! My bad. No secret anymore.  

Check wheel bearings. Maybe consider dumping the points ignition for an electronic upgrade.

Welcome. have fun. No filtering!

Monte

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Welcome John!

I hope to see a picture of the Valiant.

My brother's & my first car was our grandmother's hand-me-down 1961 Dodge Valiant.  2-door white w/red trim.  Push-button automatic transmission and a 170 cubic inch slant six.

I hated to see that one hauled away...  

[Darwin_R65]

when I say the ignition switch fell apart I don't mean the plastic innards fell out, that I would fix, as I've done that to a few car switches, or pulled them apart to repair, usually only on hard to acquire parts for older cars.

It fell apart into many pieces, and even I don't consider it worth repairing, it would not be worth the grief of doing a half job to find I'm 200kms out of Darwin with no electrics, and needing to hotwire a switch. But A$240 for a new switch seems awfully steep, considering what's in them. We only have one small motorcycle wrecker here in Darwin so I'm ringing interstate to see what's around. Already found the pages on R65.org suggesting where to call.

John

[Darwin_R65]

Here's the Valiant,

In Australia it was released as a 1962 Chrysler "S Series" Valiant
In USA I believe 1960 Plymouth Valiant, and Canada 1960 Dodge Valiant?
I could be wrong on the Canada bit but I'm sure someone will correct me.

She's pushbutton Automatic as well which seems to amaze alot of the younger generation.
(Having said that the cars 3 years older than me seeing as I was born in 1965)



And here's the Sunbeam in it's current condition.  


But one day it will look like this



I haven't taken a photo of the BMW yet.

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

when I say the ignition switch fell apart I don't mean the plastic innards fell out, that I would fix, as I've done that to a few car switches, or pulled them apart to repair, usually only on hard to acquire parts for older cars.

It fell apart into many pieces, and even I don't consider it worth repairing, it would not be worth the grief of doing a half job to find I'm 200kms out of Darwin with no electrics, and needing to hotwire a switch. But A$240 for a new switch seems awfully steep, considering what's in them. We only have one small motorcycle wrecker here in Darwin so I'm ringing interstate to see what's around. Already found the pages on R65.org suggesting where to call.

John

$240!!!!  WOW!

I bought a new one a couple of years ago, and it was less than $75 as I recall.

I would be happy to send you my old one.  It works fine.  I replaced it because the large, fine threads that hold it in place are a bit messed up.

Your's for shipping with a key, maybe two!

[Chris_in_BC]

Discovered odometer doesn't work.

Hi John,
Welcome aboard. If as you say you are new to BMW, you might want to read the following article on odometer repair.
It is a pretty common failure with the gear becoming loose on the shaft. Relatively easy fix, except for the pain of removing the bezel. The writeup is for the /7 speedometer, but the internals are the same once inside.
http://www.airheads.org/content/view/160/98/

Sunbeam was a great looking bike. Here is a picture of a friend , Max Corkill and his cat ,'Rastus', unfortunately both deceased. The cat would ride around town balancing on the headlight.

Chris

[Darwin_R65]

Here's the R65 squashed in between the Sunbeam under cover and the Valiant

[not-so-fast-ed]

That is a very stylish Valiant, John!  I'd forgotten just how far out Chrysler styling was in the day.  Had a friend in high school with one of the first models.  Still remember the floor shift on his three speed.

Good luck on the Sunbeam restoration.

Ed

[nhmaf]

I had a friend in high school that also drove one of those old Valiants - also had mag wheels and the pushbutton transmission.  His was painted silver and black (Definitely not original) and we called it "The Batmobile", though with the Slant-6, it definitely wasn't as fast as the batmobile..

If you can wrench on a Valiant and on a Sunbeam, the R65 will be "piece of cake" for you - and there are plenty of folks here to ask for help if you need it.
We've got a number of  R65 members down under, though I think that they are still far from you, towards the lower coast.