have fun with the fork rebuild. i got through the teardown of my forks this weekend and realized whoever "rebuilt" them previously must have been very drunk or smoking something, haha. no wonder i had mysterious noises and clunks. lots of little things missing and lots of things replaced in the incorrect order. a mixture of new looking rubber "bumpers" along with some completely disintegrated rubber parts and plenty of sludge. the rebuild kit didn't come with some of the missing odds and ends, so the forks are still in pieces on the floor while i figure out what extra bits i need to get. fun times.
Nice, yes, I'm learning all about the joys of previous owners - where'd you get your fork rebuild kits? So after my delightful time with Mike and Renner I was all motivated to change my transmission fluid last night (a first for me - well all this stuff are firsts for me ) and I was successful changing the fluid and had a great time, but I learned a new word - "emulsify" - a word that should be reserved for things like salad dressing and homogenized milk! fluid immediately poured out of the FILL hole once the plug was removed. the glob on the magnetic bolt - no "chunks" of metal but was definitely gritty the nastiness draining out. (PO had not used a crush washer here, but it hadn't been leaking - I used one on reassembly) I'm going to try to do the shaft and final drive this week too and see what I find:) Spencer
i got the kit from huckys. comes with all the bumbers, gaskets, etc. that need to be replaced. i also got new springs from him as well, although as you may have read in my thread (and some others) that the progressive fork springs may not be the "proper" ones. i'm going to go ahead and use them as i can't really afford to order another set of the "bmw heavy duty springs" that some people recommend. http://www.bmwhucky.com/
It will look gritty on the magnet, but did it feel gritty twixt the fingers? Water in the tranny oil, looks like a latte' . Come from a cracked boot on the speedo cable (right side near the driveshaft boot). Replace it and always keep an eye on it. Fresh tranny oil, run it for a week or so, change it again. Annoying, but a common occurence. More on that later...
I still have the fluid so i'm going to finger test it tonight... Actually, Mike V. noticed that my speedo boot looked ok, but i'm missing the vented screw (the hole is completely stripped) and that is probably where the water came in. bummer. not sure if I can fix the threads - might have to wait a while... But yes, after conferring with some experts I'm going to do exactly what you describe - flushing with fresh fluid at an increased interval for a while till the fluid starts looking normal. Thanks Bill!
It's a slow process of polishing and burnishing and fixing the loose ends, but you'll get there eventually. With Renner and Mike V you have good mentors, Grasshopper. The "tranny vent bolt" thread repair is do-able, but a little tricky if you haven't done repairs like that before. Good fodder for a Tech Day-- not complicated anda common problem.
If you want to wait on the thread repair you could move the ground to one of the transmission bolts, and then wrap a crap load of teflon tape around the vent bolt to keep the speedo drive in. I did that for years, no worries but I got rid of the speedo and went magnetic.
Good idea about the tape for a temporary patch. The ground strap has already been moved to the transmission cover bolt which tells us the PO was very aware of the stripped speedo cable vent bolt threads. I was able pull the cable right out of the housing since the bolt was AOL. That was one of the first things I noticed while checking the speedo cable boot. I mentioned to Spencer we need to fabricate some type of plug for the missing bolt and still be able to vent the case, but the tape and proper bolt may protect the tranny case for the time being. Nice bike. I think with some TLC and getting caught up on some maintenance/safety issues the bike will start to communicate with him. Then we can prioritize some things in the short term and long term. -Mike V.
Hello Moto(friends), Sadly, immediately after the previous update I managed to hurt my back pretty severely (it was so bad i missed some work), but I'd say I'm almost better and I couldn't stay idle any longer!:) Last week I rode the bike to work:) I got to show a few interested co-workers my bike, but when i got home, I did a random check to be sure my lights were all working and I noticed that my rear brake light wasn't working! it was ON, but wasn't lighting when the pedal was depressed. Crap. I figured out the problem was that the pedal was not returning to its non-depressed position, so I disassembled it, lubed it up and and reassembled it:) Boom! good to go. I then changed the fluid in the shaft and final drive. It all went rather smoothly except that I'm not sure if i got the fluid level in the shaft right - I'm pretty sure, but I'll check it again soon (maybe with an expert present ) In addition, Mike expressed concern for the condition of the fluids, so they will be on the same accelerated change schedule as the tranny to try to flush them out. Lastly! the previous owner had attached the license plate with a single cheesy reflective bolt thingy (i never got a picture of it), so it was off center and lopsided and looked like hell. One of the first things Mike said to me upon seeing the bike was "Spencer, that isn't going to fly" - referring to the license plate So I made a quick bracket out of aluminum so the plate looks alright now:) Unfortunately, when I took the bike out for a 30 mile ride to celebrate, the yellow oil light came on (luckily at the end close to home). I guess I'll be trying to sort that out... (the speedo was all over the place too - there was no way i was going 90mph, but the odometer seems to be working correctly and accurately) Hope everyone had a good weekend! Spencer the final drive fluid as seen through the fill hole before draining - I assume the froth is from the warm up ride? or emulsification? shaft fluid draining. shaft plug - not to much crap on there. final drive plug - some buildup, but it did not feel that gritty. my newly straightened plate.
Ewww, that final drive and driveshaft oil are horrid. Water in the oil, just like the tranny. It may even be from the watery oil migrating from the tranny rearward (unusual, but I can't think of any other way to get water in those two locations). Change it, runit a few miles, change it again. Put a volume of 150mL of oil in the driveshaft, measuring the oil level in the driveshaft is a PITA. Engine Oil light coming on? Check out Anton's website: http://largiader.com/ he has a section on oil filters and checking a pesky o-ring.
Yes there is water in that FD oil. But I've seen worse. Don't let it get you down. Change the oil a couple of times. Drive it in between changes to make sure the new oil is mixing. Keep an eye on it. If it doesn't clear up after 3 or 4 changes then we have to figure where it's coming from or more appropriately how in got in . The most likely culprit is always the boot on the speedo drive at the transmission. I recently had water getting in the breather at the top of the FD. That was a year ago.
hey team, I had hoped to have more to report before I posted again, but I'm not sure what to do about this oil light. I am supposed to head over to Mike's tomorrow, but don't want to ride the bike with the light on. to recap - the light has not come on for me before. All I've done to the bike is change Hypoid fluid - the only interaction I've had with the engine oil is checking it. The light came on in the second half of a 30 mile ride that I did after changing my final drive and shaft drive fluids. I got it home, checked the oil - the oil level was smack in the middle of the min/max, but I added some anyway. started it back up, and the light remained on. conferred with Mike, so I cleaned the dickens out of the oil sending unit connection, started it up again, and the light went out after fiddling with the connection (hooray!), but when i turn the bike off, and on again, the light was back (boo!). so what do the gurus on adventure rider think? safe to ride to Mike's for further inspection? or do not ride the bike? thanks! Spencer
If you have enough oil according to the dipstick, you may have a problem at the oil filter cover - ala the (in)famous $2000 o-ring. Learn the following link, and apply to your bike: http://largiader.com/tech/filters/canister.html Do not ride it again until you have this sorted, unless you want to learn about replacing crankshafts, etc.
i know all about the $2000 oring:) That was the reason I was (AM!) going over to Mike's, to make sure i get the compression right on the o-ring... HOWEVER! after talking with Mike again, I pulled the cover off a head and started it back up - oil squirted all over the place indicating that i DO have oil pressure and that my oil sending unit, or some connection might be bad. Incidentally, the oil light went off during the experiment, and after when I ran the bike to verify all was back together properly. So I'm going over to Mike's in the morning confident that the risk is acceptable. (Thanks Mike!) Spencer
Good to hear that no long la$ting damage has been done. The oil pressure sensors are known to go bad, hopefully that is the case here.
I love good news. Hard for me to imagine the bike loosing oil pressure for no apparent reason but wanted to be absolutely sure before having him get on it. We'll closely inspect sending unit wiring, and connections with a new sending unit a strong possibility for addition to the parts list. We'll do an oil and filter change tomorrow along with filter canister measurements and o-ring compression calculation. Also a good filter fabric inspection will be on our to-do list. With a little time and careful attention we'll get things sorted out. This bike has a lot of potential and just in need of some care and attention. It's finally found the right owner in Spencer. To be continued... -Mike V. / San Diego
NAPA Oil Pressure Switch OP6065 is a direct swap. Super easy swap with very little oil loss. Mine always gets a bit funny when I submerge it!
a good time was had by all today in Mike's Bavarian Murder Shop! We changed the engine oil and filter, carefully measured the canister depth and all that jazz, changed the shaft fluid (measured the fluid this time!), sync'd the carbs using Renner's magical harmonizer. Mike bogarted most of the wrenching (teasing!), but I learned a lot:) Mike carefully dissecting and inspecting the used oil filter and finding it in pretty good condition. Mike installing the new oil filter, with supervision from Renner the shop! Mike's beautiful 2 bikes on the right. Mike's gorgeous '78 R100/7. Renner's bumble-bee! Renner - forgot to ask what exactly this is (besides awesome )? Thanks again gentlemen! Spencer
the forks and instrument binnacle give it away, also the three-lug rear wheel. time well spent yesterday Spencer, good to see your /7 is coming along nicely.