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New bike - some help please

NMBeemer
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Re: New bike - some help please

Post by NMBeemer »

I should have posted on this thread the results of my efforts to R&R the wheel bearings (I have started defaulting to the RT-to-RS conversion thread). I used FXG 30203 from Scamazon, which are $15 for a set including shipping (alternate is Timken 30203), far cheaper than what the usual suspects are selling, same carbon steel races and very nice quality bearings.

I did notice that Snowbum mentions you can use various grease seals interchangeably without issues--but I ended up using the metal-bodied seal on the drive side of the rear wheel, simply because I had some in the box-O'-parts the PO gave me with the bike. They're slightly slimmer but otherwise identical to the rubber-bodied seals.

I found that a 30mm socket is a far superior driver to the aluminum block that comes with the otherwise excellent Cycle Works race puller. A little anti-seize and a few gentle taps with a brass hammer, and in they went. Same socket works great with the grease seals--though you can press the rubber-bodied ones home with your fingertips, or very nearly, if lubed with some grease.

The preload as set by BMW (the bearings looked like the OEM set from '84) using the existing 'wedding band' spacer seems fine to me with ~25 ft lb on the axle nut: smooth and easy rotation, zero wobble.

Note: Snowbum mentioned that you want the taller of the 'top hat' spacers on the non-drive side or else the rotor rivets will contact the caliper mount. Indeed, they are very close.

Finally: I thought (but could be wrong) that I read elsewhere in his literature that people sometimes use differing heights to shift the wheel ever so slightly to the L/H side for tire clearance. I think you'd have to sand or machine the top hats to achieve this kind of fine lateral adjustment--but at any rate with my Bridgestone Battlax 4.00-18 it just barely clears the R/H swing arm/driveshaft housing as it is. (You have to deflate the tire to ~25 psi to get the sidewall past the splines.) It would probably require a trip to your local machinist to shave down a pair of the taller 'top hats' they sell to achieve this kind of accommodation.


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1984 R100RS (converted from RT), 1971 Triumph Bonneville custom cafe, 1951 Harley Pan-Shovel

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srankin
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Re: New bike - some help please

Post by srankin »

If you are using a tire specifically sized for your bike, you don't need to shift the wheel for clearance. At least I never have to with my 84 RT and 78RS. Now when removing a 400 x100 rear tire, I do have to let the air out of the tire to get it out and add air after getting in. St.
Owner of a 84, R80RT and 79 R100RT being stripped naked for summer, turned Into a frame up restoration,

NMBeemer
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Re: New bike - some help please

Post by NMBeemer »

srankin wrote:
Sun Dec 01, 2024 4:43 pm
If you are using a tire specifically sized for your bike, you don't need to shift the wheel for clearance. At least I never have to with my 84 RT and 78RS. Now when removing a 400 x100 rear tire, I do have to let the air out of the tire to get it out and add air after getting in. St.
Got it, thanks. As I said, it's a tight squeeze with the BATTLAX BT46R in 4.00x18, but these tires are fantastic paired with this motorcycle.
1984 R100RS (converted from RT), 1971 Triumph Bonneville custom cafe, 1951 Harley Pan-Shovel

NMBeemer
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Re: New bike - some help please

Post by NMBeemer »

Argh... found a puddle of brake fluid beneath the rear master when pulling into the garage this afternoon in the automobile. So, ordered a rebuild kit (no wonder it took so bloody long to bleed the rear brake). I've ordered a new rear brake switch, too, as this one's shorted out.

Ah, well... it'll be nice to have a firm rear pedal to go with the two-finger front binders.

Finally: I think before I go on any over-the-road jaunts, I'm going to R&R the front wheel bearings, after all. There is no mention of it having been done in the maintenance log I got from the PO (who was also the original purchaser). So, I'm guessing the rollers will be pitted, and the races worn, just like the rear. I mean, it's $15 for the set and I've still got extra seals in the box-O'-parts...

Yes - I told the Wisconsin dealer to repack the front bearings when they fitted the tires for my 1,300-mile return ride. But I doubt they actually inspected them--and they wouldn't have had new bearings in stock, anyway. As it was, I had to provide them with grease seals out of the PO's box-O'-parts.
1984 R100RS (converted from RT), 1971 Triumph Bonneville custom cafe, 1951 Harley Pan-Shovel

NMBeemer
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Re: New bike - some help please

Post by NMBeemer »

schrader7032 wrote:
Tue Nov 12, 2024 6:28 pm
Exhaust leak: About the only things I can think of are that the rings are not seating flush on the edge of the exhaust port. You would need to remove everything and dress that edge to ensure there isn't any flashing that is preventing a good seal. Are the rings properly oriented? It's been a while but here is a shot of the rings when I was doing a top end rebuild on my /7.

And the exhaust pipe has to come into the port perfectly otherwise the rings can't possibly seal.
Hi there... don't know why I didn't see this before.

Thanks for the photo; that's really helpful. I went ahead and bought some new rings for whenever I find the time to R&R the stainless headers to sand and polish them like the mufflers (which came out amazing). So it's great to see how they're supposed to go together. Thanks again!
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1984 R100RS (converted from RT), 1971 Triumph Bonneville custom cafe, 1951 Harley Pan-Shovel

NMBeemer
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Re: New bike - some help please

Post by NMBeemer »

I have lauded the Bridgestone Battlax BT46s in stock sizes for this bike in earlier posts, based on my experience with the 1,300-mile jaunt back from the purchase in Wisconsin through all kinds of weather and road surfaces.

However, one note: my place is accessed via a dirt (base course) spur off the two-lane blacktop that comes up from the Rio Grande to the base of the Sandias, and I've discovered that the BT46's tread on the front tire isn't great on dirt. The front end is a little squirrely on dirt--though, as I've written, confidence-inspiring on pavement.
1984 R100RS (converted from RT), 1971 Triumph Bonneville custom cafe, 1951 Harley Pan-Shovel

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srankin
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Re: New bike - some help please

Post by srankin »

My RS was touchy on dirt roads, not the bike's forte. That is why I always had a working steering damper, for the few times I did end up on dirt or gravel. St.
Owner of a 84, R80RT and 79 R100RT being stripped naked for summer, turned Into a frame up restoration,

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