1974 BMW R60/6 - Glamour pics added

Re: 1974 BMW R60/6

Thanks for that info Harry. I have sent the unit back to Acewell and received correspondance from the German office. They say that there is only 0.01mm clearance between the housing and one of the main controllers in the computer which can be damaged by vibration.

They are in talks with their manufacturer and have arranged a redesigned unit for the next run which I will be receiving. Hopefully that solves it! They did say that they had a direct replacement available but there is a chance that the same issue could arise so I have decided to wait it out...who needs a speedo anyway?? ;)
 
Re: 1974 BMW R60/6

Man that's a nice looking bike!

It sounds like Acewell is going to take care of you, but when I've run into issues were there is close clearance between electronics and housings, I've used Kapton tape as a pretty durable and effective insulator. I had some issues with the points cover and the points on my CB360, and Kapton tape did the trick despite the heat and oil present.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapton

You can normally get it from larger parts warehouses, and it is strong and both heat and cold resistant. They used it on the Mars rovers and I guess they are still working ok :)
 
Re: 1974 BMW R60/6

Many thanks, I'll see how Acewell go with replacing the unit but if not will definitely look into your solution.
 
Re: 1974 BMW R60/6

So a few developments; I've picked up a set of drag bars in black, and have a set of chrome clubmans coming my way soon so the front end will be changing pretty soon.

Besides that I've identified some splits in the rear rims and signs of fatigue in the front so it's looking like I'll need to replace those.
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I'm thinking Akront's or Morad's w/ stainless steel spokes so will get onto ordering those this week. I'm a bit concerned to ride the bike too hard with the rims as they currently are. I do have a tough decision to make though; stick with the polished aluminium look, or powdercoat the rims and keep the spokes in stainless....tough one! I think I need to decide what colour the tank and fender will be painted before I can make that decision; if the tank will be dark, then polished rims are the go. If the tank is light/bright coloured, then I think dark rims would look fantastic.

The new mufflers arrived this week so they were replaced and had the carbs expertly tuned by a local custom builder. They are loud, but not obnoxious, and I would describe the sound as a 'deep bark' which certainly lets people know I'm coming! Loud pipes save lives!
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I also treated myself to a new pair of Abel & Brown 'Dual' gloves in Natural Leather...simply beautiful! I can't wait to get on the road in these once the new rims are sorted.
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I also started to polish the fins on the cylinders, previously I had this horrible '3 tone' look with shiny metal, dull metal, and painted black. So I've started to even that out and also shaved the fins on the black valve covers to try and blend them in with the rest of the cylinders. The black paint on the valve covers is in shocking condition, so it's flaked off pretty badly hence the wobbly lines of silver but it looks better than before and from a distance at least is passable..
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If I were to sum this last few months up; 'Too much time in the shed, not enough time on the road.' :-\
 
Re: 1974 BMW R60/6

Bit of a mini update, she's not running as well as before and the left plug is wet with oil despite being stored on the centre stand while the right plug is near perfect. Also the dreaded oil leak in the crank casing has returned so it seems the devcon fix was not enough...

At the moment though, I'm tackling the issue of the split rims; got some new Akront rims on order which should be here in the next day or so and I've pulled the wheels apart and given the hubs to a local blaster for cleaning up and polishing, can't wait to see them late next week!

As they say in Game of Thrones; "Winter is coming", and so it's looking like I'll need to pull the engine and get the cases welded up properly to stem this oil leak. Not sure what the cause is of the wet plug, but that will also need investigating.
 
Re: 1974 BMW R60/6

Got the hubs back from the vapour blaster, I'm very impressed! $150 for 4 hours work and they came up great.

Before:
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After:
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The new rims arrived also so I have sent them all off to the wheel builder to get laced up with some nice stainless spokes, he's pretty expensive (the only guy in town that does them), but considering the rims were undrilled I think it will definitely be worth it!

I also received my replacement Acewell speedo which will hopefully work now! Just need to fab up a bit of a bracket for it. I've got a choice of 3 different bars: standard, drag and clubman so I will give those all a test. I also have a left switch-block from a R65 which will move the indicator controls over to the left side and free up my right wrist for important duties such as going fast and slowing down!

I am also very seriously contemplating shortening the rear subframe whilst the wheels are off and building my own seat as I really do not like the one I purcahsed due to the large size and the 2 inch gap between it and the tank...hmm...
 
Re: 1974 BMW R60/6

Many thanks, given the abundance of aftermarket parts I felt like the black sheep of the "restorations" section! :D
 
Re: 1974 BMW R60/6

Have you checked the wheel bearings? Before you lace up those (awesome) hubs, you might consider swapping the bearings out. Woody's Wheel Works in Colorado has a service where they replace the complex stack of tapered bearings/spacers with new sealed bearings. I had mine done and never have to think about them again.
 
Re: 1974 BMW R60/6

Yep, already have the new ones so they will be going in when I get the wheels back so that should keep everything spinning nicely. I'll also go over the axles with the vapour blaster too as they are currently a flakey black. Would love to get the stainless ones that I've seen around but I can't justify over $200 on them right now.

I was told that for the rear the bearings needed to be put on the shaft before whacking them into the hub, whereas with the fronts they can be slipped directly into the hub first. This is something I need to read up on but hopefully the wheels can be laced properly without the bearings?

Once the wheels are back I will be taking her off to get a leakdown test to see what's going on with this left spark plug. I swear I find 3 more jobs to do every time I complete the first job! ???
 
Re: 1974 BMW R60/6

Incredibly frustrated right now; a string of public holidays around the easter period means that parts I ordered weeks ago still haven't arrived and my wheels are still not ready from the lacer.

I've ordered a San Jose top clamp and some flatracer headlight brackets to allow me to drop the forks through the trees a little (probably an inch if that) and also move the headlight lower to improve the lines. The SJ clamp will also make fitting the Acewell speedo much easier as it has plenty of pre-drilled holes which I can use for mounting.

I have however got my front brakes and rear diff back from the blaster and I am ridiculously impressed with them yet again. Pics to follow soon!
 
Re: 1974 BMW R60/6

Unfortunately the blasted valve covers unearthed some hairline cracks which needed to be repaired. Not a major drama though so devcon'd them up, and then got them fitted along with the final drive. Looks heaps better!!

Before:


After:









The new wheels are still a week away at least so I guess it's just a case of waiting and tinkering until then!
 
Re: 1974 BMW R60/6

Some bling arrived this week so got the new triple clamp installed along with the cheapie headlight brackets to lower the headlight down the forks. Also mocked up my XS750 spare tank on it...Looks quite good I think!







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Re: 1974 BMW R60/6

Oh and wheels back from the lacer! Just need some rubber now and I have a rideable bike again!



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Re: 1974 BMW R60/6

Some more progress:

I was messing around in the shed and was curious as to what my XS750 tank would look like on the airhead...I actually really like it!

I liked it so much so that I've come up with a bit of a design using the XS tank and I've started work on it already.

First step was to strip the paint. We don't have aircraft stripper in Australia so I used some generic stuff but it did the job really well. I started by slashing the paintwork with a box knife to allow the stripper to penetrate and then applied it liberally over the entire tank. This stuff works quickly but needed a few goes to get everything off. Even so it was all off in 2 hours.


Next up I sanded with a coarse paper to rough up the surface and also to remove any patches of flash rust that appeared.

I knew that I needed to clean the inside of the tank so I decided to give it one coat of primer to stop any further rusting, and then went straight onto de-rusting the inside of the tank. First I gaffer taped up the petcock holes, making sure to use lots of layers. Next up I filled her with 12 litres of white vinegar and another litre of concentrated rust remover along with ~750 gyprock screws.




And now I just give it a shake every few hours and I'll come back to it tomorrow and see how it looks!
 
Re: 1974 BMW R60/6

Before:
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After:
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Unfortunately I realised I was out of 2stroke oil to protect the tank and in the time it took me to dash to the shops it flash rusted mildly, but not bad and still significantly better than it was before!
 
Re: 1974 BMW R60/6

Another mini update, finally got the wheels back together and on the bike. Had some issues as I lost the 17-14mm reducer for the front axel but eventually found that and all is now good. Next tasks are to sort out the acewell wiring and tidy the handlebars up
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Re: 1974 BMW R60/6

Looks great so far. That final drive came up looking brand new after the blasting. I'm not 100% on the XS tank. To me the /6 tank was made to be a cafe racer. Plus the added utility of the police box.

Acewell shouldn't be too difficult, have you seen the thread on advrider?
 
Re: 1974 BMW R60/6

Looking good there except drywall/gyproc screws are weird color down under.

Tank cleaning is the shitties job around. I cleaned my first tank with chemicals and disposing that stuff was difficult. Screws etc. hardware in the tank a cycle in the dryer might be one of the best solutions as long as you have a dryer available.
 
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