R80/7 + a newb = a long road to cafe

Yep, Ted Porter is a class act.

What AW said. I'm puzzled about the "graphite splash" around the alternator brushes and concerned about the "graphite dribble" down to the points and centrifugal advance mechanism ("ATU" some call it). Have one of your Mentors look at the points parts, and especially the rubber points hose and the sealing rubber strip 'round the points.

hmm. would I have noticed if i had shorted the board taking the cover off? (sparks or anything?)

thanks!
Spencer

will do. I have new points coming and was going to ask for their help. Why does the "dribble" concern you? is it indicative of something horribly wrong?

Thanks!
Spencer

Yep, you'd probably notice it. You'll definitely notice that your charge light won't go out regardless of revs if the board is fried. Also that grey paint on the front of it would probably show some burn marks where it heated up. I'd say if there weren't obvious sparks and smoke, then you're probably fine. Just something to be aware of in the future. As for that graphite splashing, that could just be the result of a wet ride. The front cover does not seal out the weather perfectly.

- (also) Spencer

The "graphite" splash almost looks like someone tried to moly the rotor!

But I agree, probably a wet ride on a packed gravel road with puddles...

Remember the monster cold-boot scene in "Young Fronkensteen" where Eyegor has to boink gizmos to turn them on/off? Similar. :eek1

It shouldn't be as pronounced as it is. I can see a little from a road splash, but not that much. It may not be a big prob, but have it looked at. My Spidey-sense is kicking in...

Ben,

Bill brings up a good point about the rubber gasket strip for the points cavity. Probably wouldn't hurt to replace this while we're doing the complete tune-up. I believe the part number is 11141265394 for the gasket strip. I have extra ATU springs if you need them.

I also forgot to tell you to ALWAYS disconect the negative battery cable when removing the front cover (as previously mentioned). All it takes is for you to accidentally drag that cover over the diode board to ruin your day...and the diode board. Last time I replaced a diode board was in the middle of August 60 miles north of Liberal Kansas on my buddies RS. Not a fun experience with on-board tools.

Don't know what the grey matter near the brushes is, we'll have a closer look when we get together next.

Well I went and did it. I "ordered" a new front end for the /7. I'd been toying with the idea of upgrading to dual front disc brakes, and I contacted a local guy that deals in used Airhead parts, and lo and behold, he had everything I needed. SO! after some hemming and hawing I said yes, and I had the pleasure of meeting Larry Stonestreet today when I got the parts from him:) (Stoner's Beemer Stash) What a nice guy!






I also have a bunch more parts coming in from Ted Porter's Beemer Shop:) They had a mishap with my address so I didn't get stuff this week - next week I think:)

So right now, the bike has a bunch of parts off it, but I don't want to re-assemble until the new parts come. I spent some time cleaning today, and putting the new springs on my center stand and side stand. man, getting the new side stand spring on was a pain! I had read about using pennies and special tools, but I ended up just using some cave line and muscle:)


old side spring and new spring - it snaps up nice and solid now

Also had some mishaps today. See the bolt hole in the floor of the airbox in the pic below:


well, apparently it goes through to the transmission - true story! so here I am cleaning away thinking about how awesome I am when I realized this, and realized that I had probably just contaminated the hell out of my transmission fluid with simple green. SO! I decided to drain the tranny and promptly drained my engine oil on accident. D'OH! quickly realized my mistake and drained the tranny. so the tranny is is still open to drain everything possible out, and I'll put fluid back in tomorrow. at least the grime is gone

Hope everyone has a great weekend:)

When I looked at that bolt in a previous pic I thought, 'maybe I should mention not to remove that bolt.'

Did you ask Stoner how much for a good-used transmission?

(...just don't screw with the phillips-head screw...)

My first thought was "Argghh! Doesn't that hold something internal, like something on the shift mechanism?" But maybe I'm thinking four-speed or /2 trannys.

Change those inline fule filters, they look like they've been there a while, and also, drain and pull the tank and check the "filter socks" at the petcocks. They'll probably need cleaning. And plug up the petcock fittings and slosh some gas around in the tank-- there is probably sediment and dirt collected. Drain, dispose of humanely.

Lots of things still to check out on this old girl...

So, have I messed up my transmission by removing that bolt?

I have new fuel line and in-line filters coming, as well as pet cock filters and parts. - Disposing of gas humanely, can i store it with my used oil and hypoid and deposit with napa at a later date, or must gas be treated differently?

Thanks guys!
Spencer

pretty sure that bolt just holds down the flat bar that holds the air box down? I've had mine off a number of times, but i didn't squirt anything down in the hole either, haha. the bolt isn't that long, i can't imagine it holding something else in place. but i have obviously been wrong (a number of times) before. haha.

i'm jealous of your new dual fork setup. wish i had the coin to go for that.

Pretty much my thoughts exactly, but I wanted to refresh my memory before saying the sky is falling.

IIRC now, it's a socket head cap screw (SHCS aka allan bolt) that holds an internal component, (...shift fork adjustment bar?)... now I need to go look
(and I hope to know what I'm doing with transmissions one of these days :headslap )

all this goes to show that I don't clean under that bar

regarding extra gas: depending on how clean it is I have a friend that either 1) puts it back in the tank. 2) keeps it in a glass jar for occasional parts cleaning or 3) puts it in a car gas tank.
So far he's managed to dodge the EPA successfully.

I believe NAPA or other FLAPS won't take it.

Spencer,

If memory serves me...

The threaded hole in the top of the transmission is for the bolt that captures the metal clip that the clam shell halves slide under. But does not secure anything internally inside the transmission. Have a look at the photo you posted on page #6, post #78. That threaded hole is open to the transmission interior so if you plan on doing some cleaning be sure to plug it with a bolt to protect any foreign material from entering the transmission. I normally use a small smear of thread sealer on the bolt threads during final reassembly to secure a good seal. Your choice. As someone mentioned earlier - don't mess with the phillips head screw, long $tory if you remove that.

+1 with Bill.

Thanks guys!

It's that little phillips head screw next to what you are asking about that you do not want to remove. It holds the oil baffle plate that gets oil to the front output bearing and shaft.

As far as old gas goes, got a mower? I always throw it in my mower or in my 2 stroke mix for the chainsaw and such.

Yep, I jumped the gun on that. It's the two allen-head bolts on the 4-speed /5 and earlier trannys that have to not be touched-- they are on eccentrics and control the shift fork engagement.

However, it got me to thinking-- for a while I've had a wee bit of oil weepage on the back of my tranny. Not much, just enough to keep it oily. I replaced the rubber seal on the clutch release piston but it still seeps. I wonder if it could be that bolt that holds the springy-retainer down? May need snugging or a bit of thread sealant...

Hi all:)

Well i got 3 tasty boxes of parts today - 2 from Ted Porter and 1 from Bing. Then I got to re-assembling the bike tonight. I put the new fuel line together with the new in-line filters, put the airbox retaining plate back on, and started putting the airbox back together only to find that if I wanted to put the top cover back on, I'd have to take the right clamshell back off.



I tell you what though - you guys warned me about the front cover shorting out the diode board, and I was going to disconnect the battery before i did that, but you didn't warn me that there is something on the top that will also throw a spark if you touch it wrong! While I was wiggling the top cover in, I must have touched something bad. I saw a spark, and immediately disconnected the battery. I hope everything is ok :/ anyway, i got it back on but the snorkel is a freaking pain in the ass to get back on the top cover. the 2 piece mesh screen? the 2 little clips on the inside? really? with my giant hands it was a challenge.

The airbox itself wasn't to bad - Mike had warned me that getting the screw all the way through the filter to the recieving thread was a pain, but that was easy if you look up through the air tube holes. tightening the bolt that holds the right clamshell on was a pain though. I guess i need some smaller wrenches.

hey, you know that mystery nut and washer I found in the airbox? well mystery solved. that holds the choke assembly onto the left clamshell. hooray for parts accounted for. boo for the choke not working as smoothly as it did before. Not sure what I did wrong...

I also put a new brake cable on. Is there a trick to this? I had to squeeze the arm on the master cylinder with some pliers to be able to get the little nubbin into the cradle.



annndd, that's it for tonight. I hope to get the rest back together by this weekend for some riding and tuning...

'Night!
Spencer