My R80 monolever (1985)

Hello, I posted a picture of my airheads in another thread. Since I don't want pollute that thread I didn't mention the modifications on my R80 Monolever. Some of you want to see more of this bike so here we go:

I bought a R80, produced in 01-1985, it had a 62.000 km. The bike in standard trim is nice and a good ride. I love the driving (sitting) position, the sound and the overall feel. At 100 km/h the R80 gives me the same thrill my R1200GSA does at much higher speeds. The brakes, suspension and some other things could be optimized.

This is how I bought it. Stock with one brakedisc.



The bike was taken apart to do some improvements. The frame is in a good condition so no painting or coating was needed.



The 41mm fork of a R100R with two brakecallipers is an improvement:



Progressive springs, all parts new, also the slidertubes en better seals. And very good service from Hyperpro Service Center.



I shopped at Rizoma and Siebenrock:







The heads were rebuild, new valves, flowed and the squish band was moderated to better fit the 1000cc Powerkit. On the right the head that's already done, on the left the one that has to be taken care off:



Drilled extra holes for twinspark and mounted denso iridium sparkplugs:



Electronic ignition from Silent Hektik straight on the crankshaft. I like to ride with Gerbing's gear so needed a 450W alternator:







The BMW dealer supplied me with new heated grips. The button was places here, works nicely:



To make everything a litte more stiffer:



On the highway the revs were too high (I think). Since the engine is strong enough after the adjustments, I bought another final drive, a 33/11. I'm very happy with it. 160 km/h at 6.000 rpm.





Hyperpro rear shock, a height adjuster will also be added:



Two discs on the front with 1100GS callipers. I also installed a new and larger brakepump (now 15, was 14).







The Bing's were dirty. I cleaned and rebuilt them, al the parts are new now:







Looking good:



New coating on the wheels, headlight, brackets. Here you'll see the Rizoma stuff. Looks good and the steeringbar feels okay when I'm riding the bike.





The ignition switch was mounted in the headlight. 1200GS logo's don't bleach and look better than the flat stock ones. Fork protector from a Triumph have the right length.



The Odyssey battery and a later type fusebox. The one that holds the longer, white fuses was replaced.



All the rubber stuff, bolts, nuts, washers, cables, seals, etc. were replaced by new ones. Also the tires.
This is it:









The R80 is very strong now and handles nice. The power comes from very low revs and goes up without any hesitation.





I installed a LED rearlight and a 100W bulb in the front to improve visibility.



I had great help on this bike by a guy here in Holland. He has got a lot of experience with airheads, is a good mechanic and gives the right advice.

Very nice, I especially like the bend of the handle bar. So, the 800 is actually a 1000, which is a very good way to go for power, torque and fuel economy.




.

Wow, so much like my R100R! Flat bar, Omega, Silent Hektik, dual plugs, high compression. All you need now is a Paralever! :)

Very nice workmanship on the fuse box upgrade; I have a few of those to install on projects. What part number did you use for the terminals?

That looks really good with all the black and the Rizoma parts. I have the clear aluminum version of those bars, definitely feels sportier than the stock bars. What's that brace you added at the airbox?

The bracket is intended to make the frame more rigid (or less flexible).
It can be obtained at Motoren Israel.

http://www.motoren-israel.com/produ...Drehmomentstuetze-fuer-Plattenluftfilter.html

I have the oem numbers of the fusebox but don't know those that belong to the terminals. Maybe I can find it out.

RJB,

Beautiful bike with some serious upgrades! I also have a 1985 R80 mono and I'm curious about your fork changes.

It looks like you slid the fork tubes up in the clamps several inches. Can you describe the change in handling resulting from this modification? Have you experienced any downside such as higher probability of head shake?

I have a set of controls from a wrecked R1100RT, which has the larger bore integral master cylinder. I also have the calipers from the same bike, which I think I can machine down slightly to center on my R80's disks with the original lowers/sliders. Did you notice a big improvement in braking when you went to the larger bore master cylinder and later calipers?

Thanks for sharing the pictures and info about your build,

Bob

I'm not clear on exactly what the OP did since he mentions R1100GS calipers but FYI there are two versions of the 32/34 calipers. The R100R originally had the same one as the R1100RS and early 4V K bikes. All other ABS2-era models (R1100GS/R/RT, early R1100S/R1200C/K1200/R1150GS) had the same caliper but there is a peg blocking the bottom of the pad opening so that you can only use the organic pads, not the sintered ones. The organic pads have a cutout in the bottom so that they clear the peg. The non-peg calipers can accept either pad type.

Looking at the pic, I do not see the peg on the disassembled calipers so I assume they are the stock R100R calipers. Maybe the OP will clarify his reference to R1100GS calipers.

I thought my OCD was bad not until I saw your shop.

It's clear that you have ability to get a brand new R1200R to call it off the day or even a K1600 to be fancy .. but you did not, and went throught all those troubles to get a R80 runs much better than it used to.
This is exactly what BMW motorrad is trying to fix.

That's a great looking bike I'm a huge fan of the mono-lever R bikes . Thanks for sharing.

I've got a baby version.

That added front engine mount looks like it would make changing an air filter a bit of a chore.

I loves steering bars!!!!

The R100R calipers are much harder to find second hand so most of those calipers sold over here come from other bikes.

....here's one I owned some years ago until it got stolen and burnt. It would have been mostly GS spec by now had I had the chance to keep it.

I didn't know there is a difference between calipers (but I'm not an expert). The calipers that were on the R100R fork were not in a good shape due to salty roads. I found another set which came from a R1100GS, that's why these were mounted.
I just looked at the two sets (R100R vs R1100GS) but there's no difference between the sets I have?? The sinter brakepads have been used and they fit nicely.

The bigger brakepump was a good decision. It takes less movement from the lever to brake. I still have a little bit of air in the brakeline so that has to come out. Even with the air, the braking has improved.

Compared to the stock fork, the R100R fork is better. I can't tell if it's just the fork because the tubes, seals and oil were also done. This one is longer so it has to be slided up. The bike feels better on the front now, there are not as much little up-and-down movements when you're riding on a flat road. Hard to describe but the ride is more relaxed. I think everything can be improved even further by adding damping to the fork, I miss that when I start to push hard on the roads I know well. I'm very happy that I know somebody who has the skills to help me with this. I can wrench but don't know anything about suspension and unfortunately I never learned to weld and machine steel.

I like the R65 above. I've seen it before in other threads.
Nice bike!

Sweet bike RJB, you've certainly given it the works!

Watch that 100 watt headlight bulb, it will likely melt the standard plug on the back of the headlight.
Don't want any fires.

are you Siebenrock pistons from the powerkit (80 to 100) or replacement kit (100 to 100) ?

how does it vibe compared to before?

BTW- I agree with changing the final drive with the new pistons for a road bike like this

Better off to fit a + bulb and run it through a relay.

Or, if the gearbox is coming out anyway, fit a 5% higher top gear.

I would do both

61131370691 should be the part number for those fuse box terminals.

Thanks. I have some of the 692s and 693s so I just put a few 691s on order. I think they are sized for different wire thicknesses.