Newbie once again

[penth2o]

Hello Folks.
Sorry for the very, very long post.
Last year I posted about a 69 R60/2 that a friend of mine had and thought about selling to me. Well he said he bought it new and does not think he will ever sell it. I have to wait until he dies. He’s only 72 I can’t wait that long. (might be able to speed up the process though)
http://www.vintagebmw.org/v7/node/5759
http://www.vintagebmw.org/v7/node/5764

Last week I purchased this very reasonable. 1975 R75/6.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/penth2o/se ... 099190837/

The PO went crazy with the sandpaper and black rattle can.

A couple of positives are:
He had the Bings rebuilt from the BMW shop & new cables.
Shop tuned it up. Touch the starter quickly & it purrs.
New tires F/R.
New caliper & line.
Tach/Speedo repaired.
New seat cover, battery, fuel lines & a few other assorted items.
Box of spare parts and a fairing.

While dicking around with it in my Brothers parking lot of his biz, an older gentleman traveling through stopped and shot the B.S. He has had them for years. All kinds. I told him to run it down the road & tell me what he thinks as I know zip about it.
Came back & told me he was impressed. Front brake a little mushy but killer torque & plenty of power to spare. No clatter & feels solid & smooth vibration wise & thought I got a very good deal.
He lifted the tank and the MC is slowly leaking under the boot. Guess he did know his $hit.

That was five days ago. I drained & replaced every fluid except the forks which I have oil coming. I love this thing and have put 1,100 miles on in those five days.
I’m hooked. I can’t get off this thing. I’d be divorced in a heartbeat if I had a wife.

I have been buying NOS parts and will take care of this thing down the road resto wise but for now I just want to ride/maintain this thing. I have all manuals & parts manuals coming UPS that I could find online.

Now a million question if you will please.
I know it’s a rat rod right now but won’t be for long.

1: What years would be interchangeable part wise & be correct.

2: Any pure R75/6 sites out there for the very anal that wants it the way it left the factory? I found many, many excellent /5 sites IE: Snowbum, Duane Ausherman etc.etc.

3: How much of the /5 pertains to the /6 technical wise or repair wise in the manuals or how to on the sites mentioned above.

4: A few cosmetic things I don’t under stand:
The tank.:
Was this an optional tank. I see on an original brochure the tank is different.
How do the roundels attach. I don’t want to tear it up replacing them.

The seat:
This is not the factory seat is it. Are those two screws sticking out for a grab handle. Should it have a R75/6 nomenclature plate on the rear of the seat.

Wheels:
Should it have dust covers on the hubs. It looks like it should.

Headlite:
What are those two holes for to the left side that are covered with electrical tape. PO said the chrome ring falls off on these things so he taped the chrome ring as to not lose it.

Mufflers, Mirrors:
Original or no.

I know of a few things right off the bat that I need and that would be:
Side covers, Top aluminum covers on shock. (one is cracked), Fork covers. I have a fork rebuild kit coming.

If you guys could tear this apart and tell me what you see that is not original or is missing, I would appreciate it.
I'm driving it downstate this Sunday to a vintage motorcycle show at Gilmores in Hickory Corners Michigan.
Feel free to approch me and give your thoughts & expert advice.
My name is Joel. I'm up by Ludington, MI where the car ferry crosses to WI. A small town called Pentwater.

Thank you for your time reading this very long post. I apologize for firing so many questions at one post but I’m a little stoked right now and am researching everything I can on this bike.

Thanks again for your time Folks.

[schrader7032]

Well, you're not a newbie anymore!!

Sounds like you've got yourself a good one there. Here's a site that has a lot of good information. This link is to the photo section for the R75/6. I can't speak for the authenticity of these photos, but it will give you some idea.

http://www.bmbikes.co.uk/photopages/photosr75-6.htm

1. As for parts availability and crossing, look here http://www.realoem.com/bmw/select.do. Enter your VIN and it will tell you the month and year of build. Once you find a part number, you can use a feature on this site to see what other bikes it is used on.

2. I haven't seen my pure /6 sites. Other places, forums to consider are the Airheads Beemer Club (http://www.airheads.org) which has a loosely connected list run off the Micapeak website. Another is BMW Motorcycle Owners of America (BMWMOA) at http://www.bmwmoa.org.

3. I think a lot transfers over. The bikes are very similar. Consider getting a couple of manuals to go back and forth. Haynes and Clymers have manuals. There are mistakes here and there, that's why it's good to have two.

Tank - you have the larger of the tanks. See the photo section above to see the other tank. The '76 model /6 started to get the larger tanks which showed up on the first /7s.

Seat - there should be a grab rail...probably those are the holes...or they could be for a badge?? I don't think the /6 had the metal badge along the back...I think it was only the /5. Check those photos.

Wheels - can't say about the dust covers. The parts site could help.

Headlight - those holes don't look stock. The earlier light buckets may have had holes for alternator/hi-beams, etc. There should be some holes at the 6:00 o'clock position with an internal clip to hold the chrome ring on. If not, you might be able to find a later version that would work.

Mufflers/Mirrors - I prefer stock. Stock mufflers then mean you don't have to consider rejetting the carbs.

Shocks look like they're stock...probably shot by now. Consider getting something like Ikons...lots of choices for rear shocks.

Good luck and have fun!

[Darryl.Richman]

Nice buy, good looking bike! Kurt has given you good advice. The wheels don't have dust covers, this is how they look. The mufflers look stock, though they may not be original (they tend to rust out if you don't get them hot most every time you fire up the bike, but as you've put 1100 miles on it in a week, that doesn't seem to be a problem for you. ) The mirrors may not be the exact originals, but they're close. In this time frame some of the mirrors had slightly curved stems, but I can never remember what's right for what bike.

I'd bet that the bike had a Windjammer or some other fairing on it previously, and the holes in the headlight shell were for bringing forward the electrics needed there. The chrome ring doesn't tend to fall of of "these things" unless there's a good reason for it, like the PO messed with it. If you remove the ring, which requires no tools (pry it with a screwdriver at the bottom and be ready to catch it), you should find that the top edge of the bucket is flared to hold the ring, and the ring has a spring clip that fits over the lip on the bottom.

The seat has been recovered, looks like a nice aftermarket job. If you want it original, you'll have to do some research, in this era BMW seemed to change the seat cover patterns fairly often.

The tank is the older style tall tank, which holds about 6 gallons. There was a smaller 4.5 gallon tank, and the R90S models came with a more shapely 6 gallon tank that became the only option with the /7 bikes. They all interchange.

If you need a new master cylinder under the tank, a good source is Motobins in the UK. Despite the distance, their prices are good and shipping quick.

[schrader7032]

Joel -

I have a stock seat on my /7. I like it and have never ridden on anything else, so I have no opinions.

As far as parts companies, it kind of depends on what you're after. I've ordered from several places.

- BMW dealer -- probably where I get most of my stuff
- Ted Porter (The Beemershop) -- he's very knowledgeable to the point where you don't have to have part numbers in hand to order something; just tell him your bike and VIN and he'll figure it out.
- Rick Jones (Motorrad Elektrik) -- all things electric
- Bing in Kansas for carb bits

I've never used the following, but they seem to have a good reputation:

- Hucky's BMW in Florida
- Bob's BMW in Maryland
- Max BMW in New Hampshire
- Stan Smith at Rocky Point Cycle
- Craig Vechorick at Benchmark Works -- deals mostly in pre '70 stuff, but he has a decent inventory of everything else. He's a great guy to deal with in any case.

Great mechanics are Ted Porter on West Coast, Tom Cutter on East Coast. Oak Okleshen in the Chicago area has been designated as a Friend of the Marque (so has Tom Cutter) and is one of the "original" gurus for BMWs. He doesn't have any website but he can be reached at askoak at aol dot com. He has a Tech List that he can sell you for past tech articles and also has a Top End manual for $25 which is probably a must if you plan on tearing into the top end of the bike.

Also, go to the club website Resource Links. Scroll down to Airheads and filter the links to bring up entries that support these bikes. A whole list of resources there as well.

Probably others, but that's what comes to mind for me.

[penth2o]

Thanks Kurt & all.

Thats a list I will keep and use.
I'll quit bugging you guys with all the questions now.
I'll start doing more researching and reading & putzing with my bike when all my manuals come in the next couple days.

Thank you guys for all the help.
Hope to meet some of you and join in on your rides and fests/swap meets.

Joel.

[penth2o]

Thanks for the links and quick run down for me guys.
I have linked a million sites as of now and have to go through & read all of them to build my database for reference & quick access.

Still can’t get off this thing. I’m loving it.
Frikken pouring today but still rode for three hours to see how this thing handles in the rain.

Yes, it had a fairing on it so you right about those holes in the headlight housing.
It is a Luftmiester & he gave it to me with the bike. I’ll pull the tape on the headlite ring & see if he was just paranoid about it falling off.

He also gave me a Berg????? King & Queen seat with a padded backrest but that thing is just plain ugly. I don’t know, maybe I should at least sit on it as it may be comfortable but jeez is that ugly.

Does anyone have any experience with a Corbin seat. I read online the fit is lame & they are uncomfortable but I think it is the new Corbin’s and the ones for the GS bikes.
I am offered this one and was wondering if I should pick it up. I kinda like the looks of it when mounted. I had seen a pic online.
I don’t know what they are worth but he offered it for $300. Is that reasonable or should I just try to find the stock one for my 75.



Thanks again guys. I hope to meet some of you if you go to that Gilmores show this Sunday in Hickory Corners Michigan.

I will research as much as I can and will use the search on this forum as to lessen the stupid questions on here but I’ll probably be bugging you guys a lot when I restore this thing.

Sorry for so many questions in my first post but one more.

Could you list the top five parts companies you order from as to lessen the burn factor that I’m sure I’m about to endure.

Thank you.
Joel.

[Darryl.Richman]

EZ-Berg was an aftermarket seat manufacturer back in the day that had a good rep, so far as I know. You should definitely try it out, and if you don't like it, sell it to someone on the IBMWR Marketplace (www.ibmwr.org/market) who wants it for period originality.

Corbins get very binary responses -- people either really like them or really hate them. The knocks I've heard are that their seat pans don't fit well, the seats are very heavy, the seating is very stiff; but I've got a friend who puts one on every bike he buys, and makes a trip from where he lives (used to be Montana, now Virginia) to the Corbin plant nearby me in Hollister, CA, to get it done.

I've never had either of these, I started buying Rick Mayer seats a while back and find them near perfect for me. They're not as extreme in the tractor shape as some of the other manufacturers, but not as sleek as some like Corbin and Sargent. They are custom made to match your bottom and bike's seating position, vis á vis your inseam and reach, and the bike's controls.

But I haven't found that I need one on every bike -- in particular, I find the stock seat on my R90S to be perfectly comfortable for even long days. I recall the same was true for my '85 R80. So, if I were you, I wouldn't rush off to buy an unknown seat, especially if your current seat isn't offending your backside.

[cooltouch]

Nice looking bike, Joel! I don't see many white ones.

I have a '76 R90/6 with the same tank as yours. I like it for its six gallon capacity. Your seat appears to be original but recovered. The seat originally had a chrome strip along the bottom, covering up the little fasteners yours shows. My R90's seat's chrome strip covered up little screws with tack heads. I've found, from riding various bikes, that my R90's stock seat is one of the most comfortable I've ridden, especially if I'm in the saddle for hours. So unless you specifically don't like that seat, my recommendation is that you keep it.

My R90 also had a lufty fairing on it before I bought it, and it too had the holes drilled in the headlight bucket to pass the wiring through. As for the headlight ring, I'd recommend you do NOT pry on it first. My ring has a phillips screw located at the bottom. You just have to loosen it, you don't need to remove it, and the ring w/headlight assy can then be gently pried off.

I also recommend you pick up one or more of the aftermarket shop manuals. I have a Clymer's right now, but plan to buy a Hayne's as well.

The /6 series, from '74 to '76, are mostly the same and most parts interchange. Many /5 and /7 parts will also fit your bike.

Some airhead gurus were mentioned earlier. It bears mentioning that there is also an airhead mailing list that you might want to think about joining. All of those guys are members of the list and post regularly. Info on subscribing to the Airheads list can be found at the list server website, micapeak.com. This is a nice forum, but my attitude is it never hurts to have additional sources of information. The airheads list also has an extensive archive that can be searched. A wealth of info there, and one is encouraged, especially if new to the list, to search it first before posting a question on the chance that it's been hashed and rehashed repeatedly over the years.