I bought my second R65 yesterday!!

[Lucky_Lou]

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

Mine is Twin Disc most UK bikes i have seen are... nice bike Tim Welcome to the herd.
Lou

[Barry]

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!!!

The early seat in stock form is reckoned to be more comfortable than the later one. Probably the best seat I've ever had on a bike. Pillion passengers are very complimentary too.

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?

The early final drive is very robust and has no weakness that I know of. Internals are I think much the same. The later one has a touch more oil and better cooling perhaps considered necessary for the R100's. Also the case is stronger perhaps needed for the introduction of the GS with it's single shock. So no issues that should trouble an R65. They seem to last for ever.

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

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 .

What about the springs?
Their attachment orientation on the centerstand is rotated 90 degrees, and I've often wondered about spring length, since there are about 3 different lengths available.

[Bob_Roller]

Not real sure, the replacement center stand I got came with springs .

[Jowettdriver]

Thanks to everyone who has commented, you have all made me feel very welcome!!

As for the stand, i'll take the one off my 81 and compare it and decide which will be best, bearing in mind the info that the 81 stand is better, though whichever I choose will have to be repaired.

When the stands are correct, which wheel should rest on the ground? Most R65's that I have seen, rest on their rear wheel, and this always looks somehow wrong to me.

Cheers

Tim.

[Barry]

When the stands are correct, which wheel should rest on the ground? Most R65's that I have seen, rest on their rear wheel, and this always looks somehow wrong to me.  

Tim

That's a good question. I don't know for sure which is correct but mine rested on the rear wheel before the repair and the front wheel after I built up the tips of the stand with weld. The bike tended to be unstable with too much weight on the front so it was a slow process of trial and error grinding off a little more weld until it seemed correct which was lightly balanced on the front.

I suspect with typical BMW caution bikes may have gone a little too far over centre even when new and the more they go over centre the more stress is put on the stand and the faster they wear.

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

When the stands are correct, which wheel should rest on the ground? Most R65's that I have seen, rest on their rear wheel, and this always looks somehow wrong to me.  

When my '79 was new, it rested on the rear wheel.  It still does.
The larger airheads of the era would rest on either wheel - it was kind of a feature at the time.

[Dave 2]

What a great story, I'm glad that you have found such a clean bike, enjoy [smiley=bmw_smiley.gif] Dave 2

[suecanada]

My R65LS, LRB, rests lightly on the rear wheel with luggage racks on but no luggage cases. But the addition of a minimal weight on the front fender, it can rest on the front wheel. I can rock the bike back and forth with a fingers worth of weight either end! I thought it was a feature as Rob says but of all the airheads. Makes removing/cleaning wheels easy and turning tires during winter storage times a no brainer.
have I said lately just how much I love my bike....so many features that make life so easy and so few that make it hard. Hard= bolt for sidestand hidden behind headers and having to do tranny input spline lubes...
Get a Brown sidestand and be even happier!!!

[suecanada]

To clarify...I think that without the luggage racks LRB would be able to rest on either wheel!

[dav]

Stunning bike mate [smiley=thumbsup.gif], & welcome aboard.

[azcycle]

Great story and great bike. Have fun with it!