Should I be an Airhead owner? - Page 3

soreass · 03-05-2011, 03:51 AM

Well, I'm feeling MUCH better about keeping my GSPD now, thanks to all of you. Those are very reassuring numbers, Lornce, and I'm not very hard on vehicles and seldom have any trouble with any of them. Of course I've been driving Toyota's for the last 30 years.

The 1150 brake caliber upgrade is a great idea and I'm going to persue that. The bike may already have some of the other fixes done, hard to tell without pulling it somewhat apart.

It's all about attitude, really, and I'm just going to stop worrying about stuff that may never happen and enjoy owning, riding and even fixing this great old bike.

The Raven · 03-05-2011, 04:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by soreass

Well, I'm feeling MUCH better about keeping my GSPD now, thanks to all of you. Those are very reassuring numbers, Lornce, and I'm not very hard on vehicles and seldom have any trouble with any of them. Of course I've been driving Toyota's for the last 30 years.

The 1150 brake caliber upgrade is a great idea and I'm going to persue that. The bike may already have some of the other fixes done, hard to tell without pulling it somewhat apart.

It's all about attitude, really, and I'm just going to stop worrying about stuff that may never happen and enjoy owning, riding and even fixing this great old bike.

Yes, and if the time should come that you need to fix something, advrider is here to help you out along the way. Tools are cheap. If I can rebuild my entire bike in a barely heated shed in the woods you can do anything where you are.....our winters are the same.

soreass · 03-05-2011, 04:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Raven

Yes, and if the time should come that you need to fix something, advrider is here to help you out along the way. Tools are cheap. If I can rebuild my entire bike in a barely heated shed in the woods you can do anything where you are.....our winters are the same.

Yes and what a winter we're "enjoying". And what a great bunch here on advrider

. I'll probably never meet any of you but I feel a definite kinship with many of you.

The Raven · 03-05-2011, 04:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by soreass

Yes and what a winter we're "enjoying". And what a great bunch here on advrider

. I'll probably never meet any of you but I feel a definite kinship with many of you.

Never say never....we are all over like flies. Besides Moncton is one of my favorite NB cities.

soreass · 03-05-2011, 05:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Raven

Never say never....we are all over like flies. Besides Moncton is one of my favorite NB cities.

Well, look me up when you're up this way. We can bond.

The Raven · 03-05-2011, 06:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by soreass

Well, look me up when you're up this way. We can bond.

Will do. Bond? Odd choice of words

Well, we can have a beer at the Triangle, while I get some of thier mashed potatoes and gravy

bgoodsoil · 03-05-2011, 07:36 PM

Don't be afraid to dive in to this bike if it does break. You'd be amazed at how simple these things are. I've seen toasters that are more complicated than these bikes. Cavemen must've designed them shortly after inventing the wheel. I timed myself swapping those heads today: I got the left piston off in 5 minutes.

The inside of the gearbox is basically off-limits to a guy in his own garage. Also, you're not going to be able to work on your heads. That's it. Anything else on the bike you can take care of yourself with basic hand tools and ADVRider. Actually, you can fix gearboxes and heads too. Simply swap them out for another one that you get on ibmwr.org or ebay.

I went by a buddy's house tonight to pull those heads off his r80. We put some r65 heads back on it. When we went to bolt up the heads we found that the pushrods were 1/2" too long

We rooted around in some boxes and found some shorter pushrods and they fit perfectly. Swapped the heads and exhaust in maybe 45 minutes and had time for 2 beers

The bike can take credit for that though, not us. We're both poor mechanics and we never work sober.

soreass · 03-06-2011, 07:22 AM

[QUOTE=bgoodsoil;15346595]Don't be afraid to dive in to this bike if it does break. You'd be amazed at how simple these things are. I've seen toasters that are more complicated than these bikes. Cavemen must've designed them shortly after inventing the wheel. I timed myself swapping those heads today: I got the left piston off in 5 minute....

Well, I've always considered myself to be at the advanced caveman level in terms of mechanical expertise [and also some other unrelated skills] so this could actually work out great.

I'm convinced, it ain't going nowhere.

mfp4073 · 03-06-2011, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bgoodsoil

Cavemen must've designed them shortly after inventing the wheel.

Might add that to my sig!

squish · 03-06-2011, 11:57 AM

There was once a time when someone would ask as question like this i'd tell them, no you want to run away from a bike like an airhead.

But really motorcycling for some people is about more then just the ride.
And BMW's are fun bikes to have around. I've got three of them. I've got a love hate relationship with them.

But they are great fun to own.

However early on i learned that I didn't want to count on a vintage bike regardless of make as my only motorcycle, I enjoy the riding part
and too many rides have been cut short or didn't happen because of funky problems with my old bikes.

03-05-2011, 07:36 PM	#37
bgoodsoil Dare to be Stupid Joined: Jul 2008 Location: Atlanta, GA, USA Oddometer: 3,788	Don't be afraid to dive in to this bike if it does break. You'd be amazed at how simple these things are. I've seen toasters that are more complicated than these bikes. Cavemen must've designed them shortly after inventing the wheel. I timed myself swapping those heads today: I got the left piston off in 5 minutes. The inside of the gearbox is basically off-limits to a guy in his own garage. Also, you're not going to be able to work on your heads. That's it. Anything else on the bike you can take care of yourself with basic hand tools and ADVRider. Actually, you can fix gearboxes and heads too. Simply swap them out for another one that you get on ibmwr.org or ebay. I went by a buddy's house tonight to pull those heads off his r80. We put some r65 heads back on it. When we went to bolt up the heads we found that the pushrods were 1/2" too long We rooted around in some boxes and found some shorter pushrods and they fit perfectly. Swapped the heads and exhaust in maybe 45 minutes and had time for 2 beers The bike can take credit for that though, not us. We're both poor mechanics and we never work sober. __________________ '85 BMW r80G/S--Another G/S on the road--Central America on a Shoestring--Nova Scotia on a Shoestring Proud SmugMug User Support ADV: Don't give those cheap bums your discount code bgoodsoil screwed with this post 03-05-2011 at 07:50 PM

03-06-2011, 11:57 AM	#40
squish Out of the office. Joined: Dec 2003 Location: Where the Ghetto meets the sea. Oddometer: 4,948	There was once a time when someone would ask as question like this i'd tell them, no you want to run away from a bike like an airhead. But really motorcycling for some people is about more then just the ride. And BMW's are fun bikes to have around. I've got three of them. I've got a love hate relationship with them. But they are great fun to own. However early on i learned that I didn't want to count on a vintage bike regardless of make as my only motorcycle, I enjoy the riding part and too many rides have been cut short or didn't happen because of funky problems with my old bikes. __________________ *On vacation for a spell*

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03-05-2011, 03:51 AM	#31
soreass ^OP soreass Joined: Jan 2006 Location: "the maritimes" Oddometer: 123	Well, I'm feeling MUCH better about keeping my GSPD now, thanks to all of you. Those are very reassuring numbers, Lornce, and I'm not very hard on vehicles and seldom have any trouble with any of them. Of course I've been driving Toyota's for the last 30 years. The 1150 brake caliber upgrade is a great idea and I'm going to persue that. The bike may already have some of the other fixes done, hard to tell without pulling it somewhat apart. It's all about attitude, really, and I'm just going to stop worrying about stuff that may never happen and enjoy owning, riding and even fixing this great old bike.

03-06-2011, 07:22 AM	#38
soreass ^OP soreass Joined: Jan 2006 Location: "the maritimes" Oddometer: 123	[QUOTE=bgoodsoil;15346595]Don't be afraid to dive in to this bike if it does break. You'd be amazed at how simple these things are. I've seen toasters that are more complicated than these bikes. Cavemen must've designed them shortly after inventing the wheel. I timed myself swapping those heads today: I got the left piston off in 5 minute.... Well, I've always considered myself to be at the advanced caveman level in terms of mechanical expertise [and also some other unrelated skills] so this could actually work out great. I'm convinced, it ain't going nowhere.