Newbie with a pig.

[DerekM]

Stupidly picked up this pig of a bike from a friend in January. Needed a carb clean he said. It'll be an easy project he said. Nope. No battery and a bad neutral switch prevented cranking at first, than errors in grounding, chased it down with the help of a new starter and got cranking action.

Cranking returns a 60 and 80 psi compression reading cold, ignition system works, and a nice leak from the carbs.

Carbs and compression next interspersed with minor cosmetic stuff like a rattle can fender and cheap uses seat from eBay. Trying to keep it low budget.

[Lucky_Lou]

Its a Jem... try and find a clam shell air filter for it the plastic ones just don't look right to me, Oh welcome to the herd there are no dumb questions so don't be worried about asking anything.
Lou

[AlfromNH]

Calling that a pig might be considered fightin' words 'round here

Welcome aboard, have fun with it!

[montmil]

Airheads can quickly become an addiction. Note you already seem to suffer from a scooter affliction.

The high bars and single front disc would suggest it's an American market bike while the Bing dome top carbs were fitted around 1981 as replacements for the flat top Bings.. So, what year is your R65?

Simple machines, they are. Quoting an old BMW sage, "If a Bavarian farm boy can fix 'em, so can you."

Keep us informed, Derek, with more photos. We love photos. [smiley=thumbup.gif]

[davidpdx]

Welcome and good luck with your new bike. Did you take the carbs off to do the compression test? That can make a big difference and you might be pleasantly surprised.  

[DerekM]

It's an '83. I did not take off the carby's for the compression test as I assumed the valves would limit the compression.

And I am cursed with a scooter addiction and run a series 2 lambretta with a 190 kit. The bmw is a much more intuitive machine to me after working on a couple vw's.
Started digging into it a bit more last night. Next up is carb clean and valve adjustment. Need to rebuild front brake line and possibly the calipers. The reservoir was muddy.

[MrRiden]

I wish I had one in that condition to justify building something Cafe. I think it's a gem! I see you removed the luggage racks. They are R65 specific and cleaned up nice they can finance some of your other needed parts. You still have them right?

[DerekM]

Yeah, it was complete but in rough shape. Good start for a cafe/scrambler or custom project. Racks and rear subframe show rust and will eventually end up powdercoated or painted. Haven't thought too much on cosmetics honestly.

[nhmaf]

Welcome aboard!

We'll try not to hold your scooter fetish against you.
Do go ahead and do the valve adjustments, then take off the carbs and redo your compression test - otherwise you've not got an accurate reading.  It may turn out to be better than you think.

[montmil]

BMW's service protocol for a compression test is to perform the test on a completely warmed up engine. Cold tests can be quite inaccurate. Be sure to ground the spark plugs to the cylinders. Cranking the engine with ungrounded plugs can play havoc with the electronic ignition system components.

[Justin B.]

Jeeze, yours looks almost new compared to how the Dawg looked when we drug it home...

[DerekM]

Yikes! You aren't kidding. The more I get into this bike the better it looks to me.
Pulled the carbs off and tried to set the valves and rocker arm endplay. Def have a really loose exhaust valve but I didn't have the proper sized feeler gauges to get them set. Hope to get the carbs cleaned up and valves set and try to start it up next weekend. Still waiting on the manual from the buddy I bought it off of.

[Luca]

Yikes! You aren't kidding. The more I get into this bike the better it looks to me.  

With a couple cans of paint and an afternoon of cleaning you could have yourself a "show pig."

When cleaning the carbs, be careful with your solvent.  There is an o-ring on the butterfly valve shaft that you don't want to ruin.  Only way to replace it is to remove the plate and pull the shaft out.

Oh, and you definitely want to read about the "$2,000 o-ring" before you change your oil filter.  If you start to get a headache, the friendly and helpful folks here can probably explain it in less than 3000 words  

[Lucky_Lou]

Jeeze, yours looks almost new compared to how the Dawg looked when we drug it home...

Mine too.....

Lou

[clonmore1]

And now look at her Lou!