I got the R50-6/5 and now what?

With all the good comments I have settled down to this:

Sort out drive shaft grind
Rebuild carbs
New throttle, clutch and brake cables

New repro seat
Low bars, S bar or clubman
Works springs in the front
YSS shocks on the rear
Side covers in black
Front engine cover back to alloy instead of powder coat
New shoes (BT-45's come to mind)
Vintage saddlebags leather i hope
Small windscreen
Add the pin striping on the tank as the fenders have it (tape job but nice)
The Sportster mufflers will stay until I get the main issues tended to; they are not bad and will due until the funds are available for "looks" stuff.

Depending on the condition of the points and all that associated gear I might even go for a electronic ignition; might as well keep it KISS.

To be honest, I was leaning towards the retro/updated version just needed to hear some other thoughts besides the ones rattling around my head.

It doesn't take much for a /5 to stand out around here. My /7 with low handlebars gets called a cafe racer all the time and I still get to take my wife on the pasenger seat (that she says is one of the most comfortable she has ever riden on).
I think you are on the right track. Get the mechanicals all sorted out, ride it, and it will tell you what needs to be different. My favorite changes on the bike are the ones that have allowed me to put more miles on it with the type of riding I do. In the end they seem to stand out to me more than any cosmetic changes I have made. I think I have around 10,000 miles I have put on the bike this year.

OK, so after finishing the K75S, riding it and selling it, I am back at the /5.

I am attempting to sort out the drive line grind: on the center stand, in neutral, when turning the wheel the is a faint grinding noise. Took the rear wheel off; hoping it was a brake shoe dragging - not. Then turning the rear end the grinding (faint) is still there. Took the rear end off, turned the the rear end by itself, no sound. Turned the drive shaft and the sound was there. Took the rubber boot loose to check for loose/rubbing bolts - nothing.

The way I read the drawings of the driveline there is nothing in the swing arm (bearing, bushings) that could cause the faint dragging sound.

Where should I look next? Until I get the scraping sound tended to I will not tend to other matters.

Help!
:eek1

I've always been partial to the /5's with big tanks, short seats, and completely stock otherwise. Especially that bluish-grey color they had. Mmmmm tasty.

Can you show a close-up of one of those mufflers? How are thy mounted to your bike? I'm really curious about alternative mufflers for my own rat.

I do not have a closeup on hand. If you click on the picture it gives you the URL from my flicker site; there are more pictures of the /5.

As to the mufflers, there is a adapter between the stock headers and the cans. The PO did a bang up job on them; the second mount is like the stock to the pillion peg mounts.

Time has come to get serious about the /5; has been spending it's time as a coat hanger for the last 11 months.

Ever since I got the /5 the handlebars where a eye soar to me. Since I like to work on bike from the front to the back there there was no reason to change and it would get rid of the eye soar. Wrench in hand it took all of 30 minutes to get the /5 to this state.


Front-less /5

After getting the forks off the bike it was time to drain the sludge. I was plesently supprised when I found clear oil draining out; also the last pleasant find out of the fronted.


Down the drain

OK, the oil was out now was the time to see what the internals look like. Whoooooo!!! No wonder the thing felt strange riding it home; thank goodness it was only across the DfW metro area on back roads. It seems that in a lost cause effort to stiffen the springs, the PO had placed spacers in the forks. Spacers in the forks is not a bad thing, as long as they are EQUAL in number and size.


What is wrong with this picture? :eek1

It seems that one spacer was missing or one to many added; also one of the wiper rings was just sitting on the top of the piston. After a thorough cleaning, with kerosene, all the old gaskets and rings where removed and then the parts where inspected. At that point I had a major relief moment - the loose wiper ring was just going for a ride. No damage to the internals of the tube.

Knowing what parts I need, a note was sent of to Huck; now I am in a waiting state to carry on.

Well, I'm glad that you decided to let the bike stay in character. Probably the last thing the world needs is another Airhead Cafe Racer.

Anyway, if you're going to install side covers, try to locate a pair of the original chromed ones. Those covers are one of the keynotes of he early /5s and they look damn good!

A great alternative color for those bikes is that deep shade of red that came from BMW. Don't see many of those!

I just love those little /5s... I should get one before they become too expensive to buy.

The plan as of now is to get the /5 into good mechanical order. Make it run as good as it should, then, after time as a local hack, go after the look good items.

I have one black side cover, the other is lost to history per PO. When the /5 is proven as a reliable bike I will search for the other side cover or bite the bullet and get a set from Huck - the bloody things run $180 a set #@%#^#$!

Get the chrome ones.

I hate being board; waiting on stuff. The solution, find other nargles that need tending to; hate to stare at dead parts.


Dead seals

While contemplating what other things I could tend to on the /5, I realized that the rear shocks are quite dead and need replacement. Now being a KLR owner at heart (never had one but I am still a cheap bastard), I was sitting there attempting to figure out a way to re-shock without going into funds. Solution came while I was placing parts into the trailer (serves as storage for underway projects); a set of Triumph Scrambler shocks. They have less than 500 miles on them, are chrome and look era right. OK, dug the Scrambler shocks out and took a measurement from center eye to center eye. Well look at this, they where 3/4" longer; not a issue since I am re-springing the front and will have 1/2 spacers in there anyway (bike will keep the same ride height front to back).

Having had that epiphany I ran headlong into reality. The eye bushings on the Scrambler shocks where about 2.5mm to big to take the bolts from the /5.

Options - drill the /5 frame for bigger bolts on top; dead on contemplation.
re-bush the Scrambler shocks; would work
make/find a spacer to go between the /5 bolts and Scrambler shock bushing; would work

So in a fit of creativity I dashed off to my favorite parts store - ACE Hardware. As I was digging in the bushing and spacer drawers a couple of employees go interested in what I was up to (not everyone comes in with a shock and calibers in hand). Explained what I was after and for some reason they ACE employees go into it the search. We must have covered every drawer from plumbing to door hardware. Finally, after a good hour and a half the eureka find.

It turned out that garage door rollers, at least the ones ACE had, used hard nylon bushings between the rollers and the metal axle. The OD of the bushings was molecules thicker than the ID of the Scrambler shock bushing (which are metal) - nothing a quick emery cloth scrub could not tend to. The ID of the ACE bushings was also molecules of from a perfect fit - threaded the /5 bolt through and it fit bang on. So, for the cost of 6 (two as screw up spares - have to know me) hard nylon bushings, $2.80 with tax, I had a re-shocked /5. It even looks good.


Triumph Scrambler shocks on /5

FYI, the reason the wheel is pushed so far down is that the tire is flat and I have a jack under the motor since the front end is off the bike - thought I might circumvent a lot of comments - yeah, right.

Now that little fit of creativity kept me occupied for all of 4 hours; what next? Ah! One of the emblems on the starter cover was peeling and needed tending to. So off came the starter cover and with the cautious use of a paint scraper the already loose emblem popped right off. At this point the surfaces where treated to a wire brush treatment followed by a MEK wipe down. Once the MEK had evaporated, a fine bead of 3M emblem adhisive and the parts where rejoined with a judicious use of clamps.


Drying emblems

Not bad result for a afternoon of nargle tending.


Remounted emblem

And before anyone points out, no, I will not paint them. I kind of like the semi-polished motor and plain emblems.

I would not run those shocks. 3/4 of an inch( I know your raising the front with 1/2 spacers which will net you maybe an 1/8 of an inch)is a lot. By raising the back of the bike your decreasing trail which will make your already twitchy short wheel base bike even more unstable. Buy some cheaper proper replacements. I'm not a fan of Hagons but they are cheap and would work better. At the same time do not put Progressive brand fork springs in the front. They are the wrong length and wrong wire diameter for any 70-84 Airhead. Use the stock 77-80 R100RS heavy duty springs from BMW.

The Scrambler shocks are temporary suspenders. As I noted, I am a cheap guy and I will tend to them when I get the front and the rest done. Until then, the suspenders will work. I went with the Progressive springs on Huck's recommendation, will see how they work out. If they are not workable I will go with Works front springs and YSS rear shock as I did on the K75S.

As to the front, I will rebuild the forks and then see how they work out. If I need to add a bit more than the 1/2" I will just add PVC spacers until the front calms down. All in all, it is a wrenching exercise, fun and a play toy. Chances are when I am done I will sell her after I had a road trip in on her - I have a more interesting (to me) project in the works; a scrambled Sportster.

Dickin around in Rudolf35's garage.

The parts arrived and it is time to dig in. The first item to go after are the front forks.


Parts laid out ready to go after it

When I last worked on the /5 I had taken the forks down to their respective components and ended up with a pile of old gaskets and seals; all way past their prime and also found out that there where several missing parts.


Front fork leftovers

The first items that where installed, where the seals. Not a big deal. A little light oil and they popped right in. I made sure they where seated with a 36mm socket and some light tapping with a rubber mallet.


New fork seal installed

After the seals where in, it was time to go after the forks internals. I had the parts laid out in order and with the help of the Clymer and a drawing from Huck's site got the order right. FYI, for the older /5 forks the exploded view on Huck's site is the way to go. Not only is the view right, it cross references the drawing with the images of the parts on his site - a real workload ease.


Internals refreshed and ready to mount

After installing the rings, spring and gaskets it was time to put the dampening rods into the stanchions. Per the Clymer book two thin feeler gauges are needed. That not only was cumbersome, it also would have destroyed the feeler gauges. While I was on the phone with Huck (ordering the parts) he mentioned a trick he uses. He stated that a soda bottle materiel, plastic needless to say, would provide the perfect materiel to use to insert the dampening rod without harming the wiper rings. OK, I cut up a handy soda bottle and got two reasonably straight pieces of plastic.

At first I tried on on either side of the piston but that proved to thick. I then used only one piece of plastic, right where the ring gaps where and voila, the piston slipped right in without damage to the wiper rings (I first coated the inside with a light film of oil).


Plastic guide in use

After the dampening rod was in the stanchion, it was time to start buttoning up the bottom of the stanchion. Now this is where I had a moment of head scratching. In the fork rebuild kit there where two translucent rubbery/plastic rings - WTF are they for? So, back to the Huck exploded view (which I had printed out) and the i-Pad to look at the picture of the parts. Bingo! These two rubber/plastic rings (one each side) goes between the small cap and stanchion. The order was - dampening rod in stanchion, rubber/plastic ring, screw cap then spring ring. Fell together like it was meant to be. It seems that these rubber/plastic rings where omitted by PO. Huck did mention that they tend to fall apart with age; I did not find a trace of rubber pieces when I tore the legs apart.


Rubber/plastic ring on dampening rod in stanchion

That being solved, the rest was a simple button up job. Replaced all the gaskets and washers in the lower outer cap and was rewarded with two rebuild front fork legs.


Fork legs ready to mount

So, the next step will be to install the legs, install the new progressive springs, oil up each leg (280cc per) and then go after mounting the new handlebars and cables - another days challenge.

Time and work are moving right along. Over the last few days I got the front done and managed to clean and mount the carbs.


Rebuilt front forks, mounted


Carbs in Pinesol treatment

To cover a previous request, the following images show the mounting of the Sportster mufflers.


Right side Sportster muffler

The following image shows the PO's adapter between the Sportster muffler and the stock /5 header pipes.


Adapter between Sportster muffler and BMW header

I also replaced the old spark plug wires and caps.


New plug wires and caps

The wiring of the coils also left a lot to be desired. Not taking a chance I replaced and rebuilt the connectors on the coils.


Rebuilt coil wires

Since my biggest nargle where the bars I also mounted some new Euro low bars. This sure makes the bike more stock and a lot better looking.


Euro low bars

Now that all this is done I have run into a interesting right carb problem; started a new thread on that. It seems that the right air/mix screw has no effect on the idle of the right side. I can turn it all the way in or out and there is no change - another nargle to go after.

Are the proper stock specs available somewhere? I do know that some listings for progressive springs are the wrong ones. But they do spec a spring for a /5. The est way to know fur sure would be to compare specs.

Well, the offending carb has been tended to. It was a partially blocked idle jet that took some work to clear. The bike is idling fine now so on to the next nargle.


Offending right carb

While I was working on the carb I took a reading, at 3000rpm, just to see what the voltage is. OK fine 11.84v is not a good reading at that RPM. The battery is a new AGM so that is not a issue. In the next few days I will run through the test of the voltage regulator, diode board and check the brushes and connections on the alternator.

it looks as if you intend to fit spacers on top of the fork springs to raise the ride height of the front of the bike to 'match' the longer rear shocks.?

All this will do is preload the springs and you will get into the zone where the forks become very stiff and have little travel, this is not good and you risk washing out the front end on the first bumpy corner you come across.

DAMWIKT