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R60/2 Running rough and looking for some help

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Hawaii
Posts: 16
Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2009 4:14 am

R60/2 Running rough and looking for some help

Post by Hawaii »

When I first got my bike, it would not start, I checked the sparks and installed inline fuel filters. There was air bubble in the filters, but installing the filters make the bike started. Once started, I found the left cylinder was much cooler than the right side. I swap the carb cover following Bruce Frey's advice, and discovered the left carb cover has the fuel inlet valve stuck in the closed position. Now both cylinders are running, but I still got to solve the low compression problem.

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schrader7032
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R60/2 Running rough and looking for some help

Post by schrader7032 »

Has one of your floats cracked? The original ones are brass and will crack over time, taking on fuel and sinking. Carefully remove the top of each carb and extract the float. Give it a shake. If you hear something sloshing around inside, replace them. Vech offers plastic floats which are impervious to the gas and should last a long time.

A float slowly filling up with gas seems to be inline with the problems you had, first it running OK and now not running well at all. Fowled plugs means you're running rich.

Kurt in S.A.
Kurt in S.A.
'78 R100/7 '69 R69S '52 R25/2
Fast. Neat. Average. Friendly. Good. Good.

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Bruce Frey
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R60/2 Running rough and looking for some help

Post by Bruce Frey »

After checking to see if your carb floats are OK, I would start with fresh spark plugs. Set them on the heads and see if you have a fat, blue spark on both sides.

If so, take a ride and see if it behaves the same way....running good initially and running poorly as it heats up. When it is running poorly, pull the plugs and see if you still have a good spark.

Rough running and hard starting when hot are classic symptoms of a bad magneto coil. Other ingnition maladies that would affect both cylinders are the condensor (and making sure it is well connected and grounded.)

Differential timing can also affect performance, but I don't think it would differentiate between hot and cold running.

My guess is either you are running so rich that you quickly load up the plugs or your coil is on the way out. Do both cylinders heat up/cool off approximately the same?

If the bike is new to you, you should make sure the valves are in adjustment, do a compression test and check the timing. If it is delivering a good spark, the carbs are not hard to deal with and parts are readily available from Vech/Bing.

When you make changes or adjustments, I like to do one thing at a time and check the results.

Good luck,

Bruce

808Airhead
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R60/2 Running rough and looking for some help

Post by 808Airhead »

Inline filters are your friend......... :D
Thomas M.
R69S - R60/2 - R67/2 - R51/3 - R69

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RainyRider
Posts: 41
Joined: Fri Jun 12, 2009 12:25 am

R60/2 Running rough and looking for some help

Post by RainyRider »

As a new guy to these bikes, I offer only a couple POSSIBLE hints....the knowledge on this forum is much, much deeper than mine. That said, a couple questions:

- You said the plugs were fouled. Are the plugs oil or gas fouled? (Oily residue, or fluffy carbon?) Low compression could cause oily residue due to valves/guides/rings?? Fluffy carbon is too much fuel.....

- Does it backfire through the carb, or through the exhaust? (Carb backfire might be carb passage obstruction/float problems/idle or air jets plugged, etc. Backfire through the exhaust could be electrical/points/condensor/magneto timing/coil issues.)
That used to be a general automotive rule...well, sorta.

I had much the same issues on my R-50. I had 90 PSI compression hot on both cylinders, but the fouling was worse on the right cylinder. I did the following:

- Installed two in-line filters.
- New points and condensor.
- Disassembled and soaked the carbs in carb cleaner, and installed new idle jets and air mix jets, float needles.
- Installed a new air filter.
- "Reseated" the float needles using valve grind compund.
- Went to "one hotter" range plugs.
- Installed "non-resistor" spark plug caps.
-Static timed per Barrington manual - then dynamic timed, (a couple degrees different). Checked differential timing was within a couple degrees.

Guess what - still gas fouling on the right cylinder! I took the front cover off, and in the semi dark, noticed it was sometimes arcing across the "10mm" gap from the coil to ground.

- Increased the gap slightly between the coil and the ground discharge point.
- Dropped the needle one notch on the right carb slide.
- Set the air mix jet at 3-1/2 out on right carb.
- Went "two heat ranges" hotter on the right plug.
- Syncronized the carbs.

The last ride seemed to give decent looking plugs - no fouling.
I realize this is a temporary fix until I can get the engine gone through - but that is VERY expensive and I hope to get a FEW miles under my belt before sending it off to the REAL experts to rebuild it...

fred t.

'57 R-50

vonkas
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Re: R60/2 Running rough and looking for some help

Post by vonkas »

both plugs fowled..? Doubt, it's a carburettor issue. Sounds more like ignition to me. I'd check the points gap and the ignition timing. If you can do the timing with a strobe lamp that would give you a good indication about a consistent spark as well. I need more information to make a good assessment. When did the bike run well last? What kind of services or parts replacements were performed between that time and the problem day? Did you do or supervise the service or was the bike out of your sight?

Today I took a look at the plugs which where brand new prior to the ride and they where completely fowled

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VBMWMO
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R60/2 Running rough and looking for some help

Post by VBMWMO »

I am hoping someone here might be able to give me a good suggestion on what might be wrong as my mechanical knowledge is still on the low side. Well I took my R60/2 out for a long ride over the weekend and the longer I rode it the rougher the engine ran. It ran perfectly for the first 30 minutes or so and then started acting as if it was not getting enough gas, running real jerky and backfiring at times. It got progressively worse, barely happening in the beginning and now always happening. This happens primarily when accelerating. Today I took a look at the plugs which where brand new prior to the ride and they where completely fowled.

What am I missing?


Michael
Dedicated to the Preservation of Classic and Antique BMW Motorcycles.

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