Vintage BMW Motorcycle Owners

Hi,

I'm restoring a 1956 R50 and I have one cam follower with slight burring on the engine side. Would it be ok to buff off the burrs and use? These are quite pricey It came out of the engine smoothly and the sleeve in the engine seems smooth..

Thanks,
D Frenia



Here she is so far

1956 BMW R50

Can you show the burrs and where they are? One of the more critical locations is the surface of the follower which has been factory hardened. The follower needs to move smoothly in the bore.

1956 BMW R50

Here is a picture of pitting on the end.. The cylinder is smooth otherwise.

Wow, that's pretty bad. That's the side that runs along the camshaft lobes, right? If that's the case, you need new followers. You can't buff that out...as I said, there's a very thin hardened section on the end. Those are pitted bad...it would be interesting to understand why. Likely the wrong type of oil was used.

Here are pictures of the cam followers on my R100/7. I replaced all followers when I saw this.

Ya gotta bite the bullet on this one. Replace that one and any others that show any pitting. It'll only get worse.

Dave

Some years ago when I was doing my '63 R60, Cycle Works was selling re-ground lifters at a very reasonable price on exchange for your old ones. I don't see them listed now, but it might be worth a call to Dan to inquire.

Bill Husted
Barre, MA