Project n'gagi - '75 BMW r90/6 to cafe racer

Hey guys,

How's it all going?

I am new to the forums in a registered member sense, but I have been lurking often in forms of research for my bike before buying it.

Quick run down:
26 years old
live in Sydney
currently ride a '06 VTR1000f which I love, man I love Honda's
just purchased my 1975 BMW r90/6 which I am going to do a full strip/rebuild in to a cafe racer

So this is my bike on its way home:



The bike itself is in mechanically really good condition, engine is strong as, and the only leak is the one fuel tap...hopefully it stays that way :) cosmetically it needs love, but thats why I got it, it would be boring otherwise!

Bike set for tear down


Bike stripped down:


Looking over the frame this is the worst of the rust which was located under the master cylinder

What I plan to do:
- repaint the frame/sub-frame/drive shafr with 2pac paint
- aqua blast engine and gearbox to shine it up
- build own bubble cowl for the rear and have a crack at building a seat as well
- repaint tins and newly constructed cowl with 2pac paint

Questions I have
- the front and rear fenders are fibreglass, do you guys paint strip/prep/paint or sand/prep/paint?
- that damn master cylinder - which master cylinder from which bike will suit a handle bar relocation? which one have you guys used?
- is it worth updating all of the ignition gear? coils etc?
- I am looking at rebuilding the front forks and carbies where can i get rebuild kits? anywhere in Australia?
- I want to put some rear sets on, I have some bolt on kits on the net, they look the goods or is there any better ideas?

I will do my best in keeping this thread updated with the bike build, but I am really going to take my time and do this nicely to one sweet ass build

Thanks guys!

Cheers,

Warren

Looks like an excellent platform to build on! Are you planning just a cosmetic build or are you going to dabble in some engine performance as well?

Just cosmetic for the interim, i will play with the brakes a bit because they are crap on this bike. the engine is running sweet do no need for work on it yet, but i do plan in working on it, not just yet but :)

That should be a cool looking cafe racer. So what do you mean by "aqua blasting"?

Thanks mate, I'm going to put max effort in to this bike and take my time, hopefully it comes up with the goods

I saw some YouTube clips of people aqua blasting their blocks, which was basically a super high pressure jet of water

Any other ideas of how to clean it..should I treat it after cleaning with some form of sealant?

Ah yea, engine will be out tomorrow so more photos then :)

I'd sand/prep/paint, paint stripper could mess with the fibreglass resin.

Not in Australia but if I need BMW parts I order from motorworks.co.uk their prices including shipping are better than the dealers.

Good luck with the build, it looks like a great platform to start with.

Cheers,
Michael

Thanks heaps Michael,

I just put a $1000 order in :eek1 from motorworks.co.uk

How quick is their shipping to AUS?

Engine and frame are apart finally. My fingers were fine but dads got jammed twice, swore the house down...far from ideal

I'll post some piccies in the morning

No worries, they usually only take a week or so. For that big of an order they'll probably even throw in a free key ring.

Mate, sometimes the key ring seals the deal for me but I won't hold my breathe

How much do you reckon a frame will cost to get sand blasted?

Baking soda blasting will clean the engine real well without harming them. There is a master cylinder you can use from a /7 BMW but you will need to replace the lever perches and switch gear as well. On my /6 I bought a better disc, stainless line and better pads- made a huge difference. Been so long I've forgotten what they are but check San Jose BMW ( CC products) and Bob's BMW for upgrading parts.
Progressive springs in the forks and better shocks in the back will help a lot too.
Good luck!

Hey guys,

dont shoot me - i know i need to update more...but anyways.

So i have been doing a bunch of cleaning and shaping.

First - the engine! ... that damn engine!

So i have used soda blasting...first i built a soda blasting "cabinet" that has been proudly sponsored by Riverbed ;-)


the engine was filthy...


and i tried it out on the filter cover just real quick - see if this all worked (never done ANYTHING like this before)


in comparison it works pretty awesome, and that was just a quick blast, so after a real good working over it looks great, ill have to grab a photo tomorrow with no soda residue on it, but here is a sneak peak


pretty bad ass result eh - but ill get a better pic tomorrow.

Then i moved on to the wheels - man they are a mess...anyways,

rear hub before:


and after a working over:


and the side of the hub:


and after:


so it appears i am getting the hang of it! I need to replace all of the bolts to stainless so it looks better and i have new sets of spokes to respoke the wheel (also something i havent done before!)

next post...seat cowl

and the seat cowl!

So i have just completed the plug for the seat cowl - i was heaps nervouse initially but after i got it taped up i was stoked how well it went.

So first i got the frame built and some plant foam in place (sizing it up)


Then i started shaping it up:


...and pretty much shaped:


then i put some builders bog over it (one of THREE layers..)


after about 5 hours of bog/sand/bog/sand etc...


so after wraping the plug in painters tape and a layer of wax (bunch more layers of wax tomorrow and then 1:1 of PVA glue/water before fibreglassing)


so i will be fibreglassing this week - get my seat cranking!!

Hairspray over the wax works well also.

Looking great!

seat cowl is complete (to an extent)

So I glassed the cowl with 4 layers of FG...







Then when that finally set, i removed the mould from the plug:





not with out spilling some claret - this is it cleaned up, it bled a lot OK



and a bit of trimming to make it look better:






Next step is to high fill the mould ready for primer and paint

so the seat has been high filled to make it as smooth as I can, 4 layers of primer has been layed on it and its ready to be sanded/painted...stoked. I will make the seat for it later and wrap the seat cover around the bottom of the seat and rivet it along the side to finish it off.





Next step is to prep the tank and my fairings (im using the stock front fairing but i need to find a replacement rear fearing, i dont want the stock one (goes up under the seat) does anyone know of a fairing that will fit the bike that i could replace it with? i was thinking of just taking the width of the fairing and radius and find one that will fit at the wreckers.

the tank stripped and looking like it needs some love





the old tank badges retired from its duty



do you guys think that i should put my nose fairing on? i think i should - it would look pretty bad ass all painted up and mounted

Looking good so far, what are you doing with the front, new bars guages or not? I like the no fairing front ends, bare and clean.

Hey! I just saw this thread, I guess I'm a little late but I want to throw in a nanny word--

Phenolic plastic floral foam is carcinogenic, and florists are urged to only handle it wet to keep from breathing the dust. Sanding it dry like that would have gotten a look of horror from my florist mom, for what it's worth.

If you're gonna make more foam stuff, far better to use xps styro from somewhere like aircraft spruce, if you are using epoxy resin. If you are using polyesther resin, urethane foam.

Ok, captain safety signing off. Looks good btw--

...On both the seat and the soda blasting of the engine and wheel hubs. I'll be following along, looks like a fun project. Nic to be able to start with one that runs well and isn't all rusty.

roy

Thanks heaps Roy, I am having a lot of fun with this...I love learning new skills and building things. I'm peeping front guard and tank tomorrow :)