I bought my second R65 yesterday!!

[Jowettdriver]

Hi All,

I have been a lurker here for some time since buying my first R65 a couple of years ago and yesterday I bit the bullet and bought a second one. So I decided it was time I joined the forum and introduced myself to everyone.

My first R65 is a 1981 R65 that has frankly seen a very hard life. I bought it blind off eBay in 2009 as a non runner and did enough to get it back on the road almost immediately the  gearbox started to give trouble. When I bought the bike I changed all the fluids and found nothing but gunge in the gearbox and no lubricant at all in the final drive and drive shaft, so I knew it was only a matter of time before something would have to be done. So the decision was made to take the bike off the road and strip it down to see what the problems were.

To be frank it was like the opposite of Aladdin's cave, the deeper I looked the worse it got, if you can imagine a bodge then my bike probably has had it done!!! The entire transmission is well past its best. The gearbox is salvageable but requires all 6 bearings replaced, the gear sets themselves though worn are serviceable. The drive shaft requires rebuilding as the Hardy Spicer joint is toast. The final drive has an awful lot of backlash and makes rumbling sounds. The drive splines are almost nonexistent, I'm amazed that they haven't sheared right off!! Other than that the engine needs the top ends looked at as the rocker end float is enormous. Almost every fastener is odd and rounded off or in some way knackered. All the swing arm, headset and wheel bearings also need replacing. The list just goes on.

And then just as I was about to start ordering parts, what do I find on eBay? Not 10 minutes from where I live a Pristine 1980 R65 comes on the market. Well I went and had a look and what can I say, I don't think I have ever seen such an original R65. It has done a genuine 12175 miles from new, this is backed up by a folder full of old bills and MOT's. I would say this is probably as close to buying a new R65 as it is possible.

The guy who was selling it had bought it from an acquaintance of his who at the age of 90 had decided his bike riding days were done!! He got it with the intention of cafe racering it, but on looking at it more closely he realised what an immensely original bike it was and decided that it would be sacrilege to cut it up, so he decided to sell it on in the hope that an enthusiast would buy it and look after it. So this where I step in, I won the auction last night and paid the sum of £1550 for it. Having seen the daft money some people seem to think their R65's are worth, I was well pleased. So I pick it up Wednesday, I can't wait!!! I have attached a couple of photo's so have a look and tell me what you think.

As for my old R65, I am undecided what to do. I have priced up the parts required for her as well as painting and other consumables and the bill come in at over £2000. My feelings at the moment are to keep it as both a source of spares and a project I can tackle if I ever get bored!!

Cheers
Tim.

[Barry]

Welcome Tim

Looks like you got a great buy there. You could have spent  £1500 on the 81 bike it and would still never be as good as his one.

You'll soon be an expert on the differences between the 80 and 81 models and there are quite a few.

[Jowettdriver]

Thanks Barry,

I'm learning already!! I did some research before going to look at it, I never realised there were so many small differences between them!

Cheers

Tim

[2dogs1cat]

Well done!  And welcome to the forum.....lots of interesting conversations.

Cheers
:^)

[Graeme]

Twin discs on an R65. I may be wrong but I thought that it was only the LS that had the twins?

Oh! & congratulation by the way, good one  [smiley=clap.gif]

[montmil]

Nicely played, Tim. You scored a beauty there, yes sir. [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

Behind those flat top Bings sits one of the prettiest air filter housings BMW has ever produced.

Proper eleven bellows fork gaiters and twin disc brakes. And just look at those perfect mufflers. Envious, we are.

Monte

[Jowettdriver]

Thanks for all the replys, nice to hear that it looks like good'un!!
I'll post some more pics when I have picked her up.

On the subject of twin versus single discs, my 81 R65 also has twin ATE front calipers. I have searched the forums and the web but I can't seem to find a diffinitive answer to which brakes UK spec R65's are supposed to have. Did the UK R65's have twin discs from the outset?

Cheers

Tim.

[Dizerens5]

My 79, always UK-registered, has a single front disc (ATE). Btw if you have a serviceable Jupiter as well as an R65, you're a very lucky man!

[Jowettdriver]

No I have a Javelin that was my Grandfathers, so has been in my family for 48 years. I have been brought up with Jowett in my blood though, my dad, uncle and granfather have all owned Jowetts. It also explains my weakness for flat engines!!

Cheers

Tim

[Barry]

Ok Tim

Now we've all said nice things about your bike and it is a cracker. There are 2 minor things which I'm sure you have already spotted.

Looks like the seat has been deliberately lowered and the 80 would have been lower than the 81 to start with. If you find the riding position a bit cramped and need to remove and replace the cover it's not too hard and a few here have done it.

It's quite common for the centre stand to go too far over centre which makes heaving it off the stand harder than it should be. Curiously it makes it seem harder to put on the stand too because of the excessive drop once the stand goes over centre. Your 81 stand might be better as they did improve the design as time went on. Alternatively a bit of welding on the stand end stops works wonders and makes it feel like a new bike.

[steve hawkins]

I am under the impression that the vast majority of UK R65s were twin disc.  It is only rarely (or at least significantly less common) that I see one that has a single disk in the UK.  Even the R45 more often than not, had dual disks......same weight.

Rev. Light

[steve hawkins]

This was the colour/year of my red Cafe Racer before I got a hold of it.  : )

[Barry]

There are certainly a lot of bikes around with twin discs. I suspect some of them may have been fitted by the supplying dealer for marketing purposes. They often fitted pannier sets for the same reason. Mine had the panniers but not the 2nd disc.

I have an original 81 sales brochure  at home and both the R45 and R65 specifications show a single disc. Of course that might have changed from one year to the next depending on markets and sales figures.

[Jowettdriver]

Ok Tim

Now we've all said nice things about your bike and it is a cracker. There are 2 minor things which I'm sure you have already spotted.

Looks like the seat has been deliberately lowered and the 80 would have been lower than the 81 to start with. If you find the riding position a bit cramped and need to remove and replace the cover it's not too hard and a few here have done it.

It's quite common for the centre stand to go too far over centre which makes heaving it off the stand harder than it should be. Curiously it makes it seem harder to put on the stand too because of the excessive drop once the stand goes over centre. Your 81 stand might be better as they did improve the design as time went on. Alternatively a bit of welding on the stand end stops works wonders and makes it feel like a new bike.

Yes that is two things that I had noticed. Certainly the stand is very much over centre. I had quite some trouble getting the rear wheel off the ground so I could have a feel and a listen to the transmission. Took my dad and the owner to squash the front suspension enough!! I'll take the stand off and have a look, If welding is required then that's not a problem, my 81 has exactly the same problem unfortunately.

Not sure what to do about the seat, I'll try it for a bit, but yes a seat rebuild may be on the cards, if its as uncomfortable as my 81's seat then something will definitely need doing!!!

Also on the list of things to do is a complete transmission fluid change, check on the splines and re grease, and have a look at the front brakes, new fluid etc.

Another thing I noticed was the final drive is very different from my 81, was there any particular reason BMW changed the design, i.e. an inherent weakness in the older design?

Cheers

Tim.

[Bob_Roller]

A note about the center stand, I'm assuming you have a 'tang' welded to the tube part way up the left tube .

Get a later year stand with the foot pad at the end of the left tube, you won't regret it .

Only modification you need to make, is a bracket for a rubber bump stop it needs to be welded to the frame, the earlier center stands use the rubber bumper at the end of the tubes to act a a stop .