Vintage BMW Motorcycle Owners

The exhaust rocker arm on the right side head was really rattling as I was riding the bike the other day. Pulled the valve cover off and I could move the rocker arm vertically up and down the shaft and replicate the rattle. I loosened up the two head bolts on that side and using a clamp squeezed the parts back together until the rattle was gone. However, a few days later the rattle is back and the rocker arm is once again loose so that I can move it up and down vertically on the shaft. The movement is about a 1/16 of an inch, but that is enough to really cause a rattle. How do I go about making a permanent fix? I am torquing the head bolts down to 24 pounds as indicated in the shop manual. Thanks for any and all suggestions!

There is a set on ebay.
On my /5 I gave up trying to adjust one of the rockers and bought a used set. The sound caused no problem, just irritating.

Don

They shouldn't be loosening up. What year is the R60/2?

1965

Could this be a result of a 'butterhead' problem. Rocker stands are settling into the head, causing drifting of the rocker arms.

Dave

Dave -

That's why I asked the question. Here's Duane's discussion of butterheads:

https://w6rec.com/heads-and-butterheads/

Could be a worn out support stand as well, Salis has them really cheap. I would be looking at that as well. The bearing bolt (pivot) should be quite tight in the support stand.

This morning I pulled the valve cover off, which I should’ve done before posting last night. The rocker arm on the exhaust valve on the right hand side was still nice and snug, but with free movement of the rock arm. Turns out the intake rocker arm was a bit loose on the shaft, so I snugged it up per the instructions on Duane’s website. Then I reset the gap on both the intake and exhaust valves. Hopefully that takes care of the problem. Will take it for a ride later on this afternoon.

I am definitely concerned that I may have a butterhead problem. However, back in 2007 the previous owner sent the heads off to Memphis motor works and you can see by the invoice in the picture substantial work was done. Of course, that won’t keep the problem from reoccurring.

Will have to wait for your report. The issue with the butterheads was the chemical process in making the aluminum heads that resulted in the softness. I don't think the repairs that were done to refurb your head addressed the base issue...if indeed you have butterheads. The fix is to find a set of LK heads which were much more stable plus had the long reach plugs.

No change in the rocker arm clatter. It only does it when I’m accelerating hard. Once I’m at cruising speed everything settles down.

There’s no doubt that I have butterheads. I base this on all the work the previous owner had done on the heads 14 years ago and what is going on now. The issue is, what do I do about it? From what I’ve read nothing catastrophic is going to happen. The heads will just continue to deteriorate. My plan is to do a full rebuild on the engine over the winter. I’m somewhat reluctant to buy used LK heads off of eBay. Really no idea of what I’ll end up with. On the other hand, Bob‘s BMW is selling reproduction heads. Anybody on here have any experience with them? They still take short reach spark plugs. Here’s the link:

https://www.bobsbmw.com/store/product/r ... dels-right