New Member, Frankenbike Zombiecycle

[barb]

All the cool kids had BMWs in San Francisco in the late 80s so I had to get one. 'Sign of the Twins' in Mountainview, guy built bikes and offered this copper '79 R65 at a reasonable price. Rode it, bought it.

Four years ago it threw a rod. Got another motor/frame from Larry Stonestreet. He trucked it down and we swapped out a bunch of bits from the old bike. Now it's a 1983/79 zombie that cannot die.

I don't care for the short wheel-base speed wobbles on twisties, but it's also in part due to me being very light on the bike and square cases that cause wind resistance.

Other than that, fitted out with Bridgestone Spitfires, it's a great all purpose bike. I didn't know we had our own forum until yesterday.

Me, Airhead #96. Time sure flies when you're having fun!

[nhmaf]

Welcome aboard !!!

I think Larry just picked up a very nice yellow R65LS recently.  Maybe he might even decide to join us here..

[montmil]

Hey there. Welcome to the asylum. Post up a photo of your R65 when you can. We love snaps of member's bikes.

Your R65 should not shake its head nor wobble in the turns. Several items that may need attention include swing arm bearings and their correct preload, decent shocks other than the OEM Boge boingers, front forks with correct and balanced oil, wheel bearings -especially the rear bearings and their correct preload... all these items should be in good order for the bike to respond well.

I have two R65s -1981 and 1983 plus a sporty 1978 R100S. All handle well, considering their classic designs.

[Justin B.]

Monte forgot about servicing and properly adjusting the steering head bearings...

[montmil]

Monte forgot about servicing and properly adjusting the steering head bearings...

[smiley=thumbsup.gif] Yep. Add that to the list. Had to do that with my '83 R65, the "Mexico Bike".

[barb]

The bike is fine.
I weigh 113 lbs. Usually it doesn't even know I'm there, like some horses I've ridden.

[Bob_Roller]

Welcome dagobarbz !!!!!

Frankenbike, cool !!!!

We need more unusual bikes on this forum .

Sandy Eggo, is a great place to ride bikes, as long as you're out of the city .

[Luca]

Welcome dagobarbz!  Airhead #96... you must be a long way into the 12 step program    Let's see that R65!

As for the wobbliness in the twisties, I'd say the bike is not fine.  Though the R65 is shorter than the big Beemers, it has a tighter frame and a genuine top triple clamp instead of the POS steel plate on the type 247 bikes..  If it was all an issue of wheelbase the bike would be squirrely on the highway in a straight line.  Panniers shouldn't start messing with the handling until highway speeds either.

In addition to Monte's list of things to check (and I'm sure he'd sell you on some Hagon rear shocks), I'll add (the obvious) tire pressure.  MY '82 LS eats up high speed sweepers... but if I don't keep up with the natural rubber tubes the handling will start to suffer.

If you can't sort it out, a steering damper will surely help.  One of our members, Shutterpilot, just put one on his R65 racer and wrote up a thread on it.

[barb]

It also has something to do with the resistance from my BMW saddlebags, which are for some reason aerodynamically square, like sticking VW vans to the sides.

Without the bags I can shred and she don't wobble.

All that is not a thing any more, as a guy turning left didn't see me and made this sudden break like he was missing his exit.

Now my front forks are all seized up and bent so I need more forks.

[Justin B.]

Ouch!  I hope you are OK, the bike can be fixed.  Well, I guess you still have an eye and at least one finger that still work but I hope you came out in a lot better shape than that!    I have a strange sense of humor...  

[barb]

Oh, I came out ok as I did everything as right as you possibly can, with good protective gear and speed limits and such.

Now we wait for this nonsense to get resolved so I can get back on the road. I believe I am having withdrawals as I am all crabby and feeling stabby.

[Justin B.]

Glad you came through OK!  Let the inmates know if you need any help.

[Semper Gumby]

I've got an entire front end sitting here...