Newbie-- Exhaust header tool?

[Hrvatin]

I am the proud new owner of an 84 with 20K miles.  (I pick it up tomorrow). The previous owner said there is a special tool to tighten the exhaust headers.  Where can I get one?
Thanks, and looking forward to some good conversations on this board.

[montmil]

San Jose BMW sells an aluminum exhaust Header nut tool for the best price you'll find. Be advised that the  header nut tool is R65 specific. About $20.00 plus a little shipping.

And welcome to the herd. Hope you score the R65.

Pictured is the Fugowie War Club, aka: San Jose header nut wrench. I bought the delux version.

Monte

[Bengt_Phorqs]

I respect Monte like nobody's business, but buy the San Jose tool with caution.  The cheapo one that I had bought from them broke the first time out of the box.  Ended up getting this laser cut tool from Northwoods and haven't looked back.  Be sure to use a generous portion of anti-seize when you re-install the header nuts.  http://www.northwoodsairheads.com/Tools.html  I've used it on the R65, my R90, and a R100GS.
True, it will cost you the equivalent of several cups of Starbucks, but learn to get your coffee for free at funeral homes and save the money for tools. [smiley=bmw_smiley.gif]

My two cents and your mileage may vary.

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

You must have gotten a bad wrench, Monte Bengt Phorqs.  I've been using my San Jose wrench for several years with no problems.

[nhmaf]

Uh, that was Mike with the broken wrench.   you can also get this wrench in 'indestructible' form from a BMW dealer, but they are quite pricey.   The northwoodsairheads.com laser cut flat steel tool is handy & lighter than the BMW.  You can also get a 'portable' version from Ed Korn's tools - handy for travel:
http://www.cycleworks.net/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=29_33_51

As you may/may not know - if you try to remove the header nuts and they start to bind -STOP!!!!!
Airhead exhaust nuts can bind up on the cylinder head's threaded exhaust ports and gall the threads - a very expensive repair.   Easier to cut & split the nuts off and replace them for ~$12 each instead of shelling our $300 per head to get it repaired.   (All airheads have this issue - routine annual removal, cleaning, and applying antiseize to the threads will keep the boogeyman away).

[zebedee]

Be advised that the  header nut tool is R65 specific. About $20.00 plus a little shipping.

Hi, just found the forum from a thread on advrider.com.

I've had my 1984 R65 since 1987 and 4200km.

About 1995 my header pipes and mufflers rotted out so badly that even a student couldn't ignore the problem any longer.

Being an engineering student, I naturally built my own replacement stainless steel exhaust, and naturally I discovered I needed the special tool to remove the exhaust nuts.

I measured mine up, made an educated guess about the intended dimensions of the tool (metric, whole numbers of millimetres) and drew up a tool in CAD. The cost of having extras laser cut was trivial, so I had a batch done. It fitted beautifully and some years later when eBay appeared I sold most of the rest through eBay Australia. Some I hand delivered and they definitely fitted larger Boxers.

I'd be hard pressed to compete with US$20 though, especially posted to the US.

Graham in Melbourne

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Be advised that theheader nut tool is R65 specific.  

The NUTS are R65 (and R45) specific.
The TOOL will work on any finned exhaust nut.

I had one from Ed Korn for a while.  I gave it away.  I like the way the cast tool meshes with the fins better than the cut tool.

[zebedee]

Be advised that the header nut tool is R65 specific.  

The NUTS are R65 (and R45) specific.
The TOOL will work on any finned exhaust nut.

This makes sense. The header pipes on the R65 are smaller in diameter than the larger boxers. It took me ages to find suitable stainless steel tube and someone who could bend it for me.

[nhmaf]

Monte forgot to pick up his free coffee that morning, and I think the rest of us didn't pick up on it!   As Rob indicates, the nuts are R65 specific (and actually, the compression ring used with it is also specific to the R65/R45) but the tool itself will work on any BMW airhead.

[montmil]

Monte forgot to pick up his free coffee that morning...

Well, D'oh...

As both my BMWs are R65s, that little detail slipped by me.

Hey, lady! More coffee over here...

Monte