New member

[Murph]

Hi everybody and thanks Justin for helping with registration for the forum.

I have been riding a 1984 R65LS since October last year.  Bought it off ebay (always risky I know) for probably a bit more than it was worth, but after a bit of fettling it is proving to be pretty reliable.  I will post a pic of it later.

It is my first BMW and after years of Jap bikes I am loving riding it.  It is not fast but it has a charm which is definitely unique    I have plans to replace the extremely tired shocks and also refresh the front forks and replace the front tyre.  The engine seems pretty solid and so far it has had a new battery, HT leads, regulator, alternator brushes, carb diaphragms plus a full service.  It had obviously been sitting unused for a while and it is running a lot better now than when I first got it.  

The only on going problem is that it can be a bit difficult to start if it has been unused for a few days, or if it gets very wet whilst parked up in the rain.  It will run on one cylinder until the other clears after a few seconds and then it is fine.  I thought the carb diaphragms would fix it but it still does this every now and then.  Any suggestions more than welcome.  Cheers guys and speak to you soon  

[Murph]

Here it is

[AlfromNH]

Nice bike, welcome to the forum!

[arvo92]

When my bike ran on one sylinder it was a carb issue. Have you taken them apart and cleaned ALL the holes and ports? There are quite a few topics in Technical question and answer page about that.

Cleaning the carbs never does any bad welcome to the forum

[montmil]

When first purchased, my '81 R65 would only run one one cylinder until some heat got into the engine.

The fix was simple. Suggest dropping the float bowls and checking the small 'jet' at the bottom of the enrichener circuit's reservoir. I had a plugged jet due to the bike sitting for a lengthy period and fuel residue clogging this simple but important opening.



As to your wet weather start issues, pull the tank and see if you have the OEM Bosch, twin-lead, black & gray ignition coil. If so, clean it thoroughly and inspect it closely for almost invisible cracks. Spot those circular cracks? Notorious buggers they are. If you see anything like what I found on my coil, replace it with a Dyna "brown" coil and ride happy.



Welcome to our friendly Airhead Asylum.

[Bob_Roller]

Welcome Murph !!!

Good looking bike !!!

It sounds like the carbs need to be gone through and cleaned .

One thing that gave me problems for a few years, was a plugged idle jet .

Even when the orifice at the end is clear and open, it's very diffifcult to tell it's open .

As Monte has said already, if you have the original OEM coil, replace it, it will leave you stranded in wet conditions, it's a well known problem part ready  to let you down at the worst time .

These bikes need a bit of attention if left idle for extended periods of time, but with a bit of work, they come back quite well and give decades of service with minimal issues, considering their age .

[Murph]

Thanks for the suggestions gents, I knew there would be knowledgeable people on here  

I have done some work on the carbs, replacing the diaphragms (one was badly split), but will delve more deeply.  Thanks for the tip about the coil too.

Will keep you updated.  Thanks again

[Murph]

Well, managed to do a few more jobs at the weekend in time for MOT tomorrow.  Fitted the new shocks (bought off ebay for a bargain 34 quid brand new).  Replaced gearbox oil, bevel oil and front fork oil.  Inspected and bled front brakes.  What a difference to the bike.  The new shocks and fresh fork oil have transformed the handling and the gearbox now shifts much more smoothly.  

Hopefully should go through MOT with no issues, the only potential problem is a worn front tyre.  Not illegal yet but very close.

[davidpdx]

Murph, Welcome. Tires are expensive but nothing unproved the handling of my bike as much as a new set of metzeler tires. Well worth the money especially if you ride in the rain.  

[Murph]

Cheers David.

As I thought, the front tyre got a mention on the MOT as the sidewalls are starting to perish a little, so a new front tyre will be on as soon as possible.

The only other issue was a slight throttle cable routing problem which meant the cable tightened a little at full lock and the engine revs climbed a little.  It didn't happen every time, so again just an advisory and so now she has a new MOT certificate  

[Barry]

The only other issue was a slight throttle cable routing problem which meant the cable tightened a little at full lock and the engine revs climbed a little.It didn't happen every time, so again just an advisory...  

You have a keen MOT tester. I watch mine been done and if they do that check I've never noticed.

[nhmaf]

Welcome Murph - always glad to have another red LS rider on board (red is the faster color, after all)..

Noticing the patterns forming on your front rotors - these drilled rotors do have a tendency to cause wear to occur in grooves/bands like that, but one thing that can greatly exacerbate the issue is if one is using sintered metallic pads.    One can still get the organic pads that brake nearly as well, but are softer and don't cause as much wear on the rotors.    Just mentioning it in case you want to have a look at them.

We are really getting quite an R65 "army" collecting over in your little country!

[Murph]

Yes Barry, he did check it throroughly    I took it to North Leicester Motorcycles in Ellistown, and they are always thorough but fair.  He said that strictly speaking it was a fail but he passed it because he knows I will sort it and it wasn't all that bad to be honest.  It wasn't like the revs went through the roof at full lock, which would clearly be extremely dangerous.

To answer nhmaf, yes, the rotors have got some distinct grooves in them, the right one especially, and the MOT guy mentioned these as well, but the brakes work ok so it wasn't an issue.  The price of rotors is terrifying so I will have to keep an eye out for a pair of good used ones and I will put new pads in at the same time.  A front tyre first though    

Oh and you are correct, the red bikes are definitely faster, although I don't think anyone could accuse the R65 of being a fast bike  

[Murph]

Well, lots of time has passed since my past post and the bike has been worked on a little bit.  

It ended up spending a whole winter outside, but under a cover when I had an extension added to the house, including a new slightly bigger garage.  So after a whole winter it was looking a bit sorry for itself, so that was the motivation I needed to do some work on it over this last winter.

I was never a big fan of the little fairing so decided that was going for starters.  Same for the silencers.  I added a nice little carbon front mudguard and the original front one is now fitted as a back mudguard, which worked quite well I think.

It now has Barleycorn rearsets but I have kept the original bars as I love the bend, and the position is now really good.  What do you think?

[Ed Miller]

Where did you find that red rubber thing for the front of the drive shaft housing?  Looks like you lost some weight on there, too.  Looks like fun.