New Melb member - She arrive this week.

[black pearl]

hi Folks

I get my first bike this week. Broke all the sensible rules - I know I know... and bough a bike unseen from WA. A Black 85 dual shock.  

Will post pics when she gets here.

Thanks to Michael who gave me the heads up on this forum.

Do any other members from Melbourne meet up for rides? Chinwags etc?

Cheers Rob

[Bob_Roller]

Hi BP welcome to the asylum !!!
Not many twin shock '85 model year bikes were made, that was a switchover year to the mono shock bikes  .

[nhmaf]

Welcome aboard!

Australia is a pretty big place, but we're definitely getting a growing number of members from there - though I think a bunch of them are in the Eastern provinces.

[montmil]

Welcome, Rob, to our corner of the Airhead fraternity.

[MichaelSydney]

Hi Rob, glad you could make it!
As mentioned we Australians are pretty widely scattered but a few Melbourne members will pop up soon I am sure.

Congratulations on the bike. You will find masses of info here about care of the old Beemer including some airhead specific things that need special attention.

Michael

[Kookaburra]

Welcome Rob,

I live in Sydney and ride a 1985 dual shock R65 and love it. It used to be a lovely silver grey but now has a black tank as the silver one developed serious weeping along the seams. I have been on the - bring the bike back from the almost dead for a couple of years. So for any technical questions i have found there are some awesome guru tragics in this asylum.  

I recently put Heidenau K60 trail tyres on so I can again take part in the Scrapheap Challenge to raise money for Down Syndrome NSW. This year the target is to get 100 bikes and the destination is Urana in Southern NSW.

[dav]

Welcome Rob,

Congrats on buying a R65, looking forward on seeing some pics.

[Burt]

Welcome Rob,  

Even though an '85 model your bike will be a 1984 when looking for parts.  The single shock is generally known as the 1985 model and 1984 is the last year of the twin shocks.  

Mine is plated 1/85 but is an '84.  All to do with BMW manufacturing year.

Cheers, Burt.

[Einar]

Greetings from France and welcome onboard. Big respect for buying unseen.
Do post some pictures of the beaut once you receive her.

[black pearl]

Ok - Back after a few weeks off line. I've attached a pic below. Hope it works.

So the bike presents really. Got these aftermarket mufflers which I was ambivalent when I first saw them.

She rides ok - although I really don't have any reference given she is my first bike. Took her through St andrews, and Kangaroo ground and loved it.

I brought her to a specialist BM bike centre in Melb ( BMCycles in Ringwood) to get an assessment and road worthy certificate required to get registered in Victoria.

Their assessment ws it would cost me big $$$$ to get sorted and tested with me whether it was worth it. Kudos to them as I am sure less reputable places would have stung me happily.

On the list of repairs was

• Mufflers - too loud to be legal

Speedo - Grommet perished so new cluster required
Other misc items relating to dead lights, dodgey indicator switches etc.
[/list]

So I've decided to bring her home, do it myself and learn from the experience. They did do a service and other than that they said the mechanicals and drive train are in reasonable condition for a bike that aged.

So looks like a start of a resto/mod journey. Will look to get her legal and get registered first and then gradually make changes after that.

First up will be to get replacement mufflers ( Either second hand or new aftermarket) and either repair and clean the speedo or replace with an aftermarket ( Acewell?). Any advice or suggestions with either of these would be greatly appreciated.  

Will start another thread to track the progress.

Also I'd love to touch base with any other owners doing the same in Aus or better still Melbourne.

Cheers Rob

[montmil]

Rob, there's not much you cannot do yourself on an Airhead BMW. Newbie or not, the old saying is, "If a Bavarian farm boy can fix these bikes, so can you."

Find a shop manual, either a Haynes or Clymer, and acquaint yourself with work you want to accomplish. Post up any questions prior to picking up a big arse hammer.

[Burt]

Onya BP,  

Looks just like mine.  It has the Oz only style square mirrors.  

A new zorst will cost a few dollars but unfortunately necessary.  I bought an Italian brand quite a few years ago and that was $500 then!  Perhaps you could borrow a legal one for the test then refit once registered (did I just say that?) unless you want to attract some unnecessary attention.  By the way, that is not the original style of exhaust.  One thing that kills an exhaust is short trips around town.  They need good long runs to get rid of all the moisture inside them.  

With the speedo I guess the little rubber cover over the trip reset is missing causing moisture to get in.  Don't know the availability of them.  You may wish to unbolt both the speedo and the tacho (two nuts each underneath) and leave them overnight in a sealable container (tin) with silica gel crystals to remove ALL the moisture which may be inside.  

Enjoy the bike.

Cheers, Burt.

[Kookaburra]

Looks almost identical to mine which is plated as 3/1985. it seems a batch of the last to be built dual shock 65's was shipped to Australian dealers. I have Staintune exhausts which I think are great. Slightly louder than standard but legal and look good.

Enjoy; you will!

[Tony Smith]

pretty similar to how my 84 ended up looking....Although when i bought mine it was silver..


I love Staintunes and was very glad that mine came with a set and that I kept them all those years (they were no use to the R100 or the R65/80 we also harbour.

[Luca]

The speedo reset rubber and plastic insert can be had from Bob's BMW.

I think bmw2valve.com also sells the rubber, which they get from Siebenrock.

My speedo rubber was gone when I got my bike, and rainwater eventually rusted up the works.  I was able to take it apart, remove rust, repair, and reassemble for less than $30 US.