Vintage BMW Motorcycle Owners

Hello everyone,

I'm currently in process of camshaft replacement on my '96 GSPD and wondering if it's possible to refit the Crankshaft Timing Sprocket and Nose Bearing without having to use the Cycleworks Front of Engine Kit. It is a bit of a sticking point to drop close to $200 USD for a tool i will hopefully only have to ever use once.
If anyone has made a tool from a length of 6mm threaded bar with the appropriate washers i'd love to hear if you can get enough force to press the sprocket and bearing back on with success.

Thankyou Graeme.

Welcome to the forum, Graeme! Where are you located? Maybe there are owners nearby. The Airheads Beemer Club has TechDays scheduled in various places around the country...maybe one will pop up near you and they might be able to help. That said, the Cycleworks tools are quite good. I wouldn't want to mess this process up if I could help it.

Agreed.

I'm in Australia and my airhead network is quite small unfortunately.
I'll most likely bite the bullet and order the tool required to do the refit correctly.

Cheers Graeme

A member here is from Australia and is very handy with tools...makes his own! His username is malmac...check out his R69S thread in the Vintage forum. Might be worth contacting to see what your options are.

Thank you Kurt, I'll look him up
Regards Graeme

Graeme, You don’t need the Cycleworks puller, you can use a two or three jar puller for both the bearing and sprocket. Plan on replacing both, depending on the jaws on the puller, it may nick the sprocket; in addition it most likely pulls the bearing from the outer race, which is generally a no-no if you were going to reuse the bearing. The sprocket is aluminum, use a propane torch to heat it up, that will help it come off. Don’t mung up the nose of the crankshaft, protect with a short bolt (M8x1.25 I think).

Good Luck

Chris