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Inspiration, 1955 R50
LESSONS LEARNED
Well, I've been riding the bike for a few weeks. I've found some issues over time that, well, only time will tell. Other issues that could have been avoided by following my own advice.
Let's discuss coating and sheet metal restoration.
As I mentioned earlier about the tank coating, I've attached photos to show what just cannot be expressed in words.
Last week, I noticed gas dripping under the bike. I found fuel leaking from the tunnel. I removed the tank and found fuel leaking under the new paint. My first thought was that they guy I just paid some significant money to for paint completely missed a rust hole. How would that be possible? See the photo below but, when digging though the paint I found that he had drilled a 1-1/2" hole to do repairs to the top of the tank. This brings the question, why didn't he use the hole provided by BMW at manufacture but, that question will never be answered. He closed the hole, get this, using an aluminum sheet and JB Weld. That's right, JB Weld. Everyone knows that aluminum and steel have a significant coefficient of expansion, right? If not, it does. There is no way that epoxy will keep a seal with that much relative movement. Anyway, see the pictures.
Everyone has read about how these bike will become hard to start hot if the coil is failing, right? If not, trust me, it does. The bike ran as well as I thought it could given a 6v ignition and carburation up until last Saturday. I rode ~22 miles to Honolulu and back. I parked for lunch. After 40 minutes or so, I tried starting the bike. It was harder than usual, 5 or 6 kicks instead of two. I just thought it was hot and carburetetor issues. I rod about a mile and was stopped at a traffic signal. It was idling very rough. Again, I wrote it off as just being hot. When the light changed, I gave it some gas to accelerate. It coughed and died. I hid my face and pushed it out of the intersection. After 30 minutes I got it running and ran home, up a 3 mile hill at 8% grade. I did not want to push. I remembered reading the articles on this site about the coil and had a new one that I just hadn't installed. No troubleshooting involved. I just replaced the coil. It started first kick and has continued that ever since. It idles as smooth as my R1200RT. I no longer feels fragile. I don't feel the need to blip the throttle to keep it running. Further testing of the ignition coil by heating with a blow dryer found that it shorted out at 160 degrees F.
If you are planning on ridding these around rain grooves, DO NOT use Metzler Block C. I changed to Avon AM26. Much better. I'm pretty sure that my death certificate would not indicate how original the tires looked.
The pictures tell the story. If you have any questions or want to see any specific pictures of a part, let me know.
Thanks again for all the support. This site and you folks provided the answers to all of my questions regarding this build.
John
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55 - R50, 06-R1200RT, 74 Ducati 750GT, 57 - R69, 78 - R100S
Looks Like
Dave
Period correct Heidenau's are
That sucks about the tank, real amateur stuff. Can it be salvaged or are you going to get another tank? Just wondering where the line between replacing and repairing goes?
1969 BMW r60/2, US Model, 1995 BMW K75, 2006 Yamaha TW200, 2007 Ural Patrol, 1991 Honda XR250L
- miller6997
- Posts: 1185
- Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 3:00 am
Name the painter?
'67 R69S
'13 F800GT
Altadena, California
HAWAII'S A SMALL PLACE
I'm pretty confident everyone who might suffer by this guy's work knows by now. I've spoken to a lot of influential folks. I've also spoken to the painter directly. We will work this out and hopefully, he will learn from this and not repeat it.
I'm a pretty big Caveat Emptor believer. Thomas warned me about this, although even he's surprised by how bad it was.
If you live here and plan on getting some work done, message me directly and I'll fill you in.
John
55 - R50, 06-R1200RT, 74 Ducati 750GT, 57 - R69, 78 - R100S
Burr!
I brazed it up temporarily. I will pull all of the sheet metal off next winter and re-do it properly. Right now, I just want to ride it. It's been almost two years.
I'm very close to what I think is perfection on this. As I posted, the front fender is still cocked to the right a little and rubbing on the right shock. Need to fix that. Right now, I've shimmed the shock out with a washer.
I think I'm going to change the front tire to a 100/90 vs the 110/90. Could be a little quicker steering without being twitchy.
Looks like your weather is not going to warm up for a couple of weeks looking at the news. My kids live in North Carolina and it's 15 degrees now. Stay warm.
The photo below is Yokohama's beach (north west short of O'ahu) this morning. Come visit us. Probably cheaper than heating oil for the winter.
John
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55 - R50, 06-R1200RT, 74 Ducati 750GT, 57 - R69, 78 - R100S
THE MACHINE NEVER WINS
I considered the Heidenau's but... One thing to be sure of, the steering geometry lends itself be a little sensitive no matter what tires so, do not expect your bike to be transformed into the 80's by changing tires but, it's still WAY more stable with the AM26's.
Nope. Not replacing the tank. It's not in that bad of shape. The steel is still in very good condition. The original red coat is still intact and there is almost no corrosion. The only damage was the dent in the top, there when I got the bike, and what the painter did. See the photo.
My experience for replace over repair now is, if I were to do the work myself, I would go pretty deep to salvage the original. Mostly for the challenge of it. I don't have a lot of time, tools, nor bodywork skill so, I hire folks for this. Now cost becomes the defining factor. The cost to hire someone to do a lot of weld, lead/brass-work dent correction + paint. Seems to me replace and repaint is a more economical path.
John
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55 - R50, 06-R1200RT, 74 Ducati 750GT, 57 - R69, 78 - R100S
FYI: There is an r50-r60
1969 BMW r60/2, US Model, 1995 BMW K75, 2006 Yamaha TW200, 2007 Ural Patrol, 1991 Honda XR250L
SEE, CHEAP
It's my experience that these are pretty easy builds with parts readily available. This is just one example.
Aloha all,
John
55 - R50, 06-R1200RT, 74 Ducati 750GT, 57 - R69, 78 - R100S