restoration advice for newbie

[oldnslo]

I would encourage you to consider doing it yourself. I did this with my '68 R50US in 1994,a "rolling basket case", long before the Barrington manual was available; including rebuilding the motor down to the slingers, having the frame powder coated(by a local Hell's Angel, a trip in itself!), and painting and pinstriping it myself. The crankshaft was reconditioned by Bley USA (in Illinois, I don't believe they do this work anymore but there are other options available). The thing that makes this doable by the home amateur is the magical, Ed Korn designed "Many-in-One" tool, I think now available from Cycle Works, which replaces numerous Matra tools and enables the amateur to pull the crank at home, clean the slingers, and have the necessary crank reconditioning done. My bike just turned 80,000 miles and has been a source of riding pleasure for decades since the rebuild.
I've been working on cars and bikes all my life but wouldn't pretend to have any special skills, and nowadays the availability of support from knowledgeable internet gurus, forums, etc. makes it a much easier proposition. I you undertake it I think you would find it an extremely rewarding experience.

Adam

[wa1nca]

Quote:
plan on sending wheels to Buchannon in CA, right?

Any good motorcycle shop can do your rims and spokes
Some parts supply vendors

https://vintagebeemerparts.com/16-tank- ... ry/?page=1
#36 Wheels

https://shop.maxbmw.com/fiche/PartsFiche.aspx

[DIS295]

Best of luck with your restoration. I can't speak from much direct /2 experience, but definitely do all seals and inspect the bearings(or have someone), but not necessary replace them all.



















best of luck with your new project

[mcsherry1328]

I totally agree with all of your assessments. I did most all of my own work including the slingers. I bought the Ed Korn “Many in one tool “ and have used it a lot.
At first I was intimidated by the thought of doing the slinger job myself.
I did send the wheels to Buchanans , which for me was a good thing.
Ed Korn is an amazing talent and was helpful when I had a question.
He lives close to me in Madison, WI. And stopped by to answer some questions.
Now, before I did this I had no intention of doing this myself.
So, I started calling around the country to large restoration shops asking about slinger service. I was surprised to discover that many of the large shops don’t actually do this work themselves and ship it out. Several guys mentioned in this forum that quotes on slinger service was very expensive. So that may be a factor in deciding what direction you go with that. I ended up doing it myself and as intimidated as I was it turned out great.
My first one was five years ago and I have put over 3500 miles on that engine and it works perfectly. I recently finished my fifth engine. Three are in running bikes and two are for spares. After doing the first one it was much easier. Still this is not an easy job but can be done with proper tools and skills.
Another point I will make when the engine is apart I would add a super magnet inside the oil pan. There has been discussion on those in the forum and I would highly recommend using them along with a drain plug with a super magnet. I have used these both on each engine. I believe the drain plugs were from Dimple. My thought is with these magnets and using Valvoline VR1 40 weight oil and changing oil every thousand miles I may not have to service the slingers again.

[Worleybird89]

I wouldn't restore it, do an M&E rebuild, just clean, polish and T.Cut the rest, you might be surprised, they are only original once, and there aren't many left now.

hmmm. ive been able to polish things up pretty well besides the handle bars. the restored bikes are so beautiful that maybe i have been seduced into making it look that way. thanks for this thought.

im not familiar with these terms:
M&E rebuild?
T.Cut?

M&E = Mechanical & Electrical
T-Cut is a product for restoring original paint.

Post pictures of your progress!

[chrishea]

Remember that BMW stands for “Bring More Wallet”.

Seriously, what are your intentions with the bike? 100 miles a year or a 2500 mile summer tour every year? To me those intentions determine the level of both mechanical and cosmetic work.

I personally would not powdercoat the frame. Too many stories of corrosion underneath.

As a warning about dollars. You can easily drop $15,000 on this restoration. And with that result you may be able to sell it for that much.

[VintageJim]

A few comments from my recent experience completing an R26:
Re-lacing the wheels is not that difficult. If you can rebuild your engine or transmission you should not have problems with the wheels using guidance from the Barrington book.
Powder Coating, like painting, is all about the metal prep, If you have an experienced motorcycle powder coater I would photograph your numbers and get it powder coated if you want a beautiful result that will not scratch.
You will spend $15k on the restoration not counting hundreds of hour in a labor of love if you want a top quality mechanical and cosmetic result. (But it will be spread out over many months) In return you will have a bike that will put a smile on your face every time you ride or look at it, and also know that it will last another 50 years.
If spending the time and money to do a full correct restoration is not in the cards, you can just repair the pieces that no longer function. But even if you have to pull the engine for only new seals, after you have spent the time removing the entire drivetrain and rear suspension, it is hard to just put it all back together without replacing many other seals and bearing and shocks and other exposed parts as you go down the slippery slope!! But whatever path you choose it will still be a great adventure with a great bike, and you will meet many wonderful people on this site who are eager to help!
Jim

[808Airhead]

"BE READY TO REBUILD THE WHOLE GODDAM THING". It is a common theme with these old machines. If you are inexperienced mechanically,these are NOT the machines to learn on. Valve adjustments,etc. oil change,but rebuilding is best left to experts with the right tools and knowledge . I am a foreign car mechanic by trade so for me this is a fun hobby. These machines take care and diligence to rebuild correctly and doing so is not cheap. I just bought a 1958 R69 for 10k,and already have 8k in parts alone. It is a blue chip bike so it was worth it to me, your R50 will/can cost the same.... good luck!

[staggerlee]

With that low of mileage I wouldn’t do anything with the gearbox. Possibly replace the seals if needed.
The engine slingers service is a must and like the others have said it needs to be done by someone capable.

If you have any interest, I have a Google drive of my R69S restoration that I can send you. PM me if interested.
All the best with your project and you will get lots of great advice and direction from this group. Michael

Michael, ill take you up on the google drive restoration.
couple questions.
- with the manuals and youtube instruction, i went ahead and disassembled the motor so i could service the slingers. it was CLEAN. so i am taking your advice to not open the transmission. however, it is so dirty and bolts so rusty and im going to have the rest of the bike media blasted. Also, i rode this when i was a kid in the 80's and apparently wasnt as good on with the clutch as i thought i was so clutch and flywheel look like my charcoal pit.

my concern is that to make everything look new, dont i need to take it all apart. or should i find someone to send it to do the work?

thank you

ray

[staggerlee]

update: apologies, letting myself get confused and i think i figured it out. i do have a local modern engine builder that is helping. he plans to media blast only parts that will be powder coated and vapor blast the rest.