r90/6 is it a good deal

[vsnqust]

My neighbor has an 1974 r90/6 which has been sitting outside for a couple of years. It is currently partially apart but with all the parts.
He says the engine is good.. to get it road worthy I would have to fix the brakes which are not on the bike. The chrome on the exhaust has rust as does the frame though it seems like surface rust. So he wants $700 for the bike. I figure I would have to do the following to make it presentable.. have the frame rust removed and powder coated.. paint the tank.. re chrome the exhaust .. replace the rubber on the forks.. oh yeah the rims are also rusted.. redo the seat.. so at $700 is it worth restoring or is this just a bike to cruise around on in its current condition. Thanks for all the help!!

[schrader7032]

For that amount of up front cash, seems like it would be a good deal. As you said, you'll have a lot of sweat equity in the bike when it's done. Painting can be pricey depending on how you go. But if you want into the Airheads, this might be a way to go. The R90/6 is a good bike, though it is first year of the /6 model. It had some "issues", but generally is OK.

[vsnqust]

thanks for the response.. from what I have found these bikes when in good condition are 2500 and up. so I guess I should really look at what it is going to take to bring it up to good condition versus just buying one already in good condition.

[f11at125]

Too often, when looking at a sweat equity opportunity, I have forgotten to figure in the fair market value of my own time. You look at the cost of parts for what you can do yourself and the cost of having someone else do what you can't and think, "well, this would certainly pay for itself." If you are looking at it as an easy financing plan, that can make sense. Little upfront plus a lot of sweat and a lot of parts/painting can be a great way to finance a bike. But it isn't free. You are looking at undertaking some risk (how do you know the engine even runs, let alone is "fine?" You may get it all together only to find out the bearings/rings/whatever else are shot. Probably not, especially if you trust the guy, but there is still some element of risk there.

What are your weekends worth? You have kids? Wife? Gf? Only if you live like Shrek is your time really your own; otherwise, you need to figure in the cost that someone else will be paying. And you'll be needing plenty of free weekends once it's ready.

Fork gators, for instance - $40 each from Maxbmw.com, $40 a pair on eBay in used, serviceable condition. Is that what you are figuring as cost? Have you ever dropped the forks on a bike that has been sitting for years? Plan on spending a BACKBREAKING few hours wincing in hernia-indcuing pain getting them off, pulling the muscles in your shoulders twisting them free with one hand while trying to spread the un-bolted clamp with a flathead screwdriver in the other without chewing up the soft metal. Dropping forks on a well-maintained bike is a tough afternoon. Dropping the forks on a lawn ornament is an ordeal. I'm not saying you can't do it - what I'm saying is that if you are looking at even that simple task - new gators - and thinking $40-$80, you aren't paying yourself anywhere near fair wage. And then you get to shove them back up in, and come to this gem in the Clymer's manual: "It's easy to cross-thread the fork head bolts withe the springs under pressure. Don't." Think about how hard the forks push up. You gotta push down that hard, and turn a threaded cap into your tube while doing it. I bled about 2 ounces of blood into my forks, cursing the Clymer's staff and crying tears of anything but joy. Getting it done pleased me, and I do add that to the black side of the ledger but it sure didn't get done for "free." And that was on a bike that has always been garaged.

There is HUGE value in knowing - really knowing, in a Zen & The Art kind of way - as much about your bike as you can afford to learn. But like any worthwhile educational experience, it's anything but cheap.

I paid $2500 for this, because it had matching serial numbers and ran demonstrably strong. So far I have:

-Re-built both carbs from the ground up ($300 in new OEM parts)
-Replaced fork seals and gators ($125 in new OEM & used parts respectively)
-Removed the Vetter fairing it came with (requiring a new (used) headlamp lens/ring & turn signals - $300)
-Replaced the voltage regulator ($36 - new non-OEM part)
-Replaced the front rim ($79 used plus $85 for one new spoke & 5 spoke nuts)
-Removed the poorly-designed seat hinges and installed a bolt with some gas line around it to fit the hole opposite the seat lock- 78 cents)
-Replaced one petcock and added fuel filters ($44 for new parts)
-Replaced clutch cable ($36 for new oem)
-Replaced footpeg rubbers ($10 used)
-Replaced kickstand starter spring ($8 oem)
-Replaced centerstand rubber ($10 oem)
-Replaced oil pressure sensor ($17 oem)
-Replaced bulbs and gaskets in instrument panel ($39 oem)

Nothing "major" on that list but it adds up to $1079 - just in parts! On a bike that was roadworthy to begin with! I'm not trying to discourage you, but also don't overlook the compound cost of all the bulbs and cables and screws you're going to need; the little stuff adds up fast...

[Darryl.Richman]

A friend gave me his complete 1981 R65. It didn't run, but it had run a year ago, and it was pretty clear that the Hall sensor was the culprit. The bike has 170,000 miles on it, but it was my friend's only transportation for most of the time he owned it, and he bought it new. Repairing the Hall sensor cost me $20 in parts and an afternoon at the workbench. So for the cost of registration + $20, I had a running bike.

Except that the bike had had a huge Rabid Transit fairing on it, and the original headlight, bracket and turn signals were mangled from an encounter with a deer. (I got a screaming deal on a complete headlight and instrument cluster, however - $50.)

The inside of the rear drum was coated with cakey, oily crud, which explained why the rear brake was useless, and the rear brake switch was flakey. (Changing the rear brake switch is a surprisingly finicky thing to do, and BMW recently significantly boosted the price on this item; fortunately, I got a used one for $10.)

The front brake was weird, too. The lever would come almost all the way to the bar before there was any resistance, though after flushing and bleeding the system, it worked "normally" at that point. (Because I usually two finger brake, I found this unacceptable because it would trap my other fingers before any braking occured.) Turns out that a dealer had apparently renewed the master cylinder with the wrong model year item (the '81 has a one year only MC with a different bore).

The forks needed new seals, caps and felts, and once inside, I discovered that they needed new rubber donuts that cushion the forks when they top out. The head bearings were notchy and tight. While servicing that, I found that at some point, someone had pressed out the steering stem and put it back in the wrong way, so the fork lock wouldn't have worked.

The only normal maintenance I've done is change the oil and filter and adjust the valves. (The center stud on one side came out with the chrome nut; I had to separate them and then Loctite the stud back into the head.)

The bike is now a lot more road worthy, and I am about $300 poorer for parts. But I've also put at least 40 hours into it. It still needs the aftermarket seat recovered, the dent in the tank removed, a paint job, new pushrod tube seals and a really thorough washing to remove all of the years of caked on dirt and oil.

Not many people would do that for an R65, which is not a particularly desirable model. But my first new bike was a 1981 R65, so there's a certain amount of nostalgia in play.

[vsnqust]

funny you mention fork gators.. that is one of the items on the list to repair!
I really appreciate the feedback!! I work on my dirt bikes all the time, but I have a feeling that
working on the r90 is going to be quite a different experience. As I continue to add up the
cost of parts.. along with things such as painting.. the cost to restore this bike without my
time .. is going to be way more then buying one already restored. Though that does not mean
I am ready to abandon the idea yet.. As I continue to do my research on what needs to be done
to the bike I know I will have more questions.

Oh .. so the speedometer is all apart in pieces.. Can I get this repaired or do I need to buy a new one?
And if I need to buy a new one.. where is the best place to acquire it.

[f11at125]

Max BMW has parts 'fiches for all models and years with lots of handy exploded views and replacement parts priced individually; check them out at http://www.maxbmwmotorcycles.com/fiche/fiche.aspx and you may be able to put a bucket of parts back together without buying as much. Unless it's the actual speedometer itself (and not the instrument cluster) that's been disassembled, in which case, eBay will be your friend.

[schrader7032]

This might help a little bit on reassembling the speedo:

http://www.airheads.org/content/view/160/98/

This page is about how to disassemble the speedo unit and fix the odometer numbers that can slide on their shaft. If your speedo is in many more pieces than this, I wouldn't give much hope to putting it back together and having it actually work.

You could try to get a speedometer from used places or salvage yards:

http://www.airheadsalvage.com
http://www.re-psycle.com
http://www.bobsbmw.com

I understand Chicago BMW offers 20% discount on parts, but you'll likely have to wait on them, or keep bugging them to ship.

Note that the speedometer has a ratio associated with it that is matched to the final drive ratio. Snowbum discusses this here:

http://bmwmotorcycletech.info/ringgears.htm

[cooltouch]

My neighbor has an 1974 r90/6 which has been sitting outside for a couple of years. It is currently partially apart but with all the parts.
He says the engine is good..

.. so at $700 is it worth restoring or is this just a bike to cruise around on in its current condition. Thanks for all the help!!

If it were me, I'd be inclined to buy the bike. At a minimum, though, I'd pull the plugs, hook it up to a battery, and check the compression. If the compression is somewhere between, say 135-145 psi, the motor is most likely sound.

About the only caveat I can think of regarding the '74 is that this is the only year with the 5-speed tranny and a kick start. '75 and later were electric foot only. The '74's tranny has a reputation of being somewhat delicate. But if it's still in good shape and you don't get all houliganish with the bike, I don't see why it woudn't last.

You will have some work ahead of you, but it all sounds do-able. If you buy the bike, get the Clymer's manual for airheads and start studying it.

Several years ago, I bought a '76 R90/6 from a mechanic friend of mine who had had it stored in his shop for a couple years. It needed parts -- mostly a headlight assembly and turn signals (it used to have a Luftmeister fairing and whoever removed it didn't bother putting the headlight and turn signals back on the bike), and a kit for the master cylinder. My friend was asking $1200 for it. It was in decent cosmetic condition, and after checking the compression, I felt it was worth the risk, so I bought it. All told, I probably spent another $500 on parts and tires before I got it running. But it ran great and has been my daily rider ever since. I was happy to have a decent looking and great running airhead for a $1700 investment, knowing it was probably worth twice that. So it is because of my own experience that I'm inclined to recommend that you buy the bike, keeping in mind my advice and caveat, of course.