My Very First motorcycle

[pcarrick]

Hello from CA. Finally have my own bike. Always thought I would ride a BMW and now I have one: 1983 R65. Just purchased from original owner who bought it new in Jan. 1985.

Very cool(to me)! Good-to- excellent condition and I've put 25 miles on it since I got it last week. Will put up pictures, but really looks just like what I see here: black with snowflake wheels. Also a nice set of original 22lb. capacity cases.

Having anxiety already over whether I am up to the reality of carburation and maintaining it all by myself(!)

Have not figured out the proper method of starting the engine:Choking--1/2 choke--no choke,etc. Seems to be luck to get it to start and run without a lot of tria  :-?land error. PO said always full choke even in mild to warm (California)days.

[Adrian]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Here you'll find some very friendly people, lots of good advice and an amazing amount of technical help. I have found this site to be very helpful for me even though I thought I knew my bike well as I've had my R65 since 1992 and rebuilt it once already in 1996 and I'm in the process of doing it all again. The site has been indispensable for me.
About the starting on the choke. On my bike I find that I have to leave the throttle closed when initially firing it up. Once the motor has caught I usually give the throttle a quick short "blip" just to make sure it's firing okay. Every other bike I've ever owned has always needed a little throttle to go with the choke to get it going but not my Beemer. I hope that helps.
Enjoy the bike my friend ................

[Barry]

Welcome

On my flatop Bings the choke seems a crude device and the engine doesn't  like running on choke at all but it is needed for starting in cold weather so I have adopted 3 different starting methods.

Summer temperatures above 20 Deg C - No choke needed it starts instantly and runs well enough to pull away in a few seconds.

Winter temperatures below 10 Deg C - Full choke needed to start and immediately to half choke for no more than 60 secs or so usually much less.  Then choke off to ride away.

In between summer and winter temperatures are more of a problem as attempting to start with half choke doesn't work for me and although it will fire on full choke the mixture is so rich the engine will die within a few strokes. I have another method - Full choke and dab the starter button briefly. The intention is not to start the engine just to draw some extra fuel through into the carb venturi. Then choke fully off and press the start button again as normal. It never fails.  

As has already been said throttle must be closed while cranking the engine otherwise the choke doesn't function. The as soon as the engine fires catch it with some throttle as normally there is no fast idle effect.  Choke function seems to vary on different  models and years of airheads for example many people can ride away with the choke on but I can't at least not at any sane temperature. Be prepared to experiment and figure out what works best for you. When you get it right the engine should fire up almost instantly. If cranking for several seconds is needed something is not right.

[Bob_Roller]

One thing that will complicate the starting procedure, is to open the throttle before the engine has fired .

Resist the temptation to do so .

Usual starting for me, is for full 'CHOKE', then hit the starter, when it fires, add a little throttle to get it running, then reduce the 'CHOKE' to the half detent.

[pcarrick]

Grateful for all the immediate help. Thanks for encouragement and the welcome. I'll try all suggestions and when I figure it out I'll post my discovery/method.

[Bob_Roller]

If you do run into any problems that are beyond your capabilities, there are a few airhead friendly repair businesses in the San Francisco Bay area .

[montmil]

Welcome to the herd, Lowlander.

The choke lever on your Airhead is a bit of a misnomer as it's not really a traditional choke.

The lever operates an enrichener circuit built into the carburetor. It's actually a small carburetor within the primary carb, hence the starting problems created by twisting the throttle while the enrichener is engaged.

The enrichener circuit even has its own fuel reservoir within the float bowl. If you drop the bowls, you'll note a long brass tube that extends into  the enrichener circuit's fuel reservoir. At the bottom of this small "bowl" is a tiny brass "jet" that permits the enrichener reservoir to maintain the same fuel level as in the primary bowl. If this small jet is clogged with sediment or varnish from evaporated fuel, starting will continue to be a problem.

It's an easy check to confirm fuel is available for the senrichener "choke" circuit.



Monte

[Dave 2]

Welcome Lowlander, once you get the "touch" for your bike you will generally not have a problem. Remember to check the position of your fuel petcock. I used to get confused about which way was off or on so I would be cranking away with the fuel shut off It only took a few times before I got that on figured out 8-) Have fun and send pictures. D2

[pcarrick]

Okay, so far it starts if I do this: full. Choke,quick stab of starter, then no choke. When it fires , a small bit of throttle to keep it running then set at half choke and ride away, choke off after a minute or so(outside air was 73 degrees Fahrenheit ). You all gave me the encouragement to try and find a reference point. Happy riding then ensued!

[Ed Miller]

The choke lever on your Airhead is a bit of a misnomer as it's not really a traditional choke.

Monte

All that is true, but mine says "CHOKE" right on it.  

[Barry]

Okay, so far it starts if I do this: full. Choke,quick stab of starter, then no choke. When it fires , a small bit of throttle to keep it running

Glad that worked for you. I put it down to full choke providing too much enrichment. There's nothing like starting a bike with an audience If I do the full choke and dab the starter bit when some one is watching I feel I have to explain " it's not going to start I'm just priming the carbs "  which adds a bit of mystery.

Once you have the knack it's kinda nice that you can start it instantly where someone strange to the bike might not. Call it character. I once had a big single that had a starting sequence involving finding TDC and operating a valve decompressor. It looked complicated and impressive but was 2nd nature and effortless to the owner.  Not so to the mechanic who did the annual MOT test even though he did the test 12 years on the trot.

BTW we all know it's really an enricher but we continue to call it a choke for convenience.

[pcarrick]

Barry, my Dad had a Matchless 500 single (Scrambler)and that compression release and TDC stuff sure brings back memories for me as I stood there in awe as Dad got the bike going for an occasional outing. As for my new bike, your method really got me going in the right direction..I will continue to experiment and record my learnings for the other newbies who may stumble as I have. Cheers!

[montmil]

The choke lever on your Airhead is a bit of a misnomer as it's not really a traditional choke.
Monte

All that is true, but mine says "CHOKE" right on it.  

Yes, but only because there's not enough space on the control to spell out "ENRICHENER CIRCUIT".

Monte

[Lucky_Lou]

The choke lever on your Airhead is a bit of a misnomer as it's not really a traditional choke.
Monte

All that is true, but mine says "CHOKE" right on it.  

Yes, but only because there's not enough space on the control to spell out "ENRICHENER CIRCUIT".

Monte

Correction Monte
Anreichererstromkreis
Lou  [smiley=lolk.gif]

[pcarrick]

Let's see if this looks any different then the rest of the r65's