What have I done with my R45? Nothing yet but it's been turned into an R65 sometime back in it's history and so perhaps qualifies me to join this thread.
Anyway, I bought the bike a few weeks ago, mainly on the advice of a very learned friend, Daniel (Mc) and having just been out on it for the first time today, I can thoroughly recommend one to anybody interested in 'fun' bikes.
It's handles like a dream, it revs like it really shouldn't and the brakes are amazing for such an old bike. Mine has got Konis on the back so the rear feels very firmly planted and this seems to compliment the front tremendously well.
It will slowly be turned into some sort of cafe racer-special, type thing, which having ridden one today for the first time feels like a very sensible thing to do.
If you are looking for something to have a bit of fun on, go out there and find yourself one, you really won't regret it.
The "what have you done to your R65?" thread.
Re: The "what have you done to your R65?" thread.
MikeB
1978 BMW R100RS Motorsport
1978 BMW R45/65
1978 BMW R100RS Motorsport
1978 BMW R45/65
Re: The "what have you done to your R65?" thread.
Like DanielMC, I've got an LS with improper pipes and have done nothing but ride it. Well, I gave the seat foam a redo and put some money into a new diode board and other electrical bits. Mostly, I've broken stuff, like the stupid plastic fairing trying to get it off to get at the instruments to fix a burnt out charging bulb that kept the battery from charging. I spent a lot oftime cursing the Muth-man at BMW who came up with that plastic contraption.
I need to fix that and my odo. Till then, she goes (and stops) and that's good enough.
I need to fix that and my odo. Till then, she goes (and stops) and that's good enough.
R65LS
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Deleted User 287
Re: The "what have you done to your R65?" thread.
godot, check out these pictures by teo. I'm not sure what it all means, you will have to ask him, but it may prove useful to you.godot wrote:Mostly, I've broken stuff, like the stupid plastic fairing trying to get it off to get at the instruments to fix a burnt out charging bulb that kept the battery from charging. I spent a lot oftime cursing the Muth-man at BMW who came up with that plastic contraption.
Re: The "what have you done to your R65?" thread.
Keep it coming guys. Great stuff and great bikes. MikeB your more that welcome in here. And chance of a pic of the machine. I dont think we saw many R45`s here in OZ.
Craig
Craig
I REALLY AM A NICE GUY. JUST ASK ANYONE THAT HASNT MET ME.
Re: The "what have you done to your R65?" thread.
Second attempt..
Its been some while since I dropped off the radar. But since I have been contacted about my old R65, I thought it would be good to re-register.
Hope you are all well.
For my next trick I will upload an old picture....perhaps.
My R65 is currently defueled and sorn'd. But it will be back at some point I am sure - It what you get when you have too many hobbies, sailing a classic dinghy, rebuilding a vw camper and having an R100 as well......But less of my woes.
Cheers
Rev Light (aka Steve hawkins)
PS Mile and Daniel - As I am only down the road - i.e. in Swindon, I would be only too pleased to chat about what I have done and why I have done it with regards to my R65. It might be useful and enable you to avoid any pitfals or waste any time/money.
Its been some while since I dropped off the radar. But since I have been contacted about my old R65, I thought it would be good to re-register.
Hope you are all well.
For my next trick I will upload an old picture....perhaps.
My R65 is currently defueled and sorn'd. But it will be back at some point I am sure - It what you get when you have too many hobbies, sailing a classic dinghy, rebuilding a vw camper and having an R100 as well......But less of my woes.
Cheers
Rev Light (aka Steve hawkins)
PS Mile and Daniel - As I am only down the road - i.e. in Swindon, I would be only too pleased to chat about what I have done and why I have done it with regards to my R65. It might be useful and enable you to avoid any pitfals or waste any time/money.
- Attachments
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- My R65
- verysmallRedR65.jpg (109.1 KiB) Viewed 2488 times
Re: The "what have you done to your R65?" thread.
Thanks, Rob. I like his fix. Looks cheap and easy.justoneoftheguys wrote:godot, check out these pictures by teo. I'm not sure what it all means, you will have to ask him, but it may prove useful to you.]
R65LS
Re: The "what have you done to your R65?" thread.
Hi Steve and welcome back. There seems no shortage of competent R65 cafe racer builders here in the SW of England. I'm thinking about having a frame reinforced by Tim Griffiths who works out of Bristol. I've asked him to join us here. Here's his work in progress:Rev Light wrote: PS Mile and Daniel - As I am only down the road - i.e. in Swindon, I would be only too pleased to chat about what I have done and why I have done it with regards to my R65. It might be useful and enable you to avoid any pitfals or waste any time/money.
And a most interesting blog: http://misterbridges.blogspot.com
"Never argue with a fool, onlookers might not be able to tell the difference." Samuel Clemens
Re: The "what have you done to your R65?" thread.
Hey Red Light. Im newish around here, but welcome back. I have a question for you. Ive asked it several time on other site and never got a definitive answer.Rev Light wrote:Second attempt..
Its been some while since I dropped off the radar. But since I have been contacted about my old R65, I thought it would be good to re-register.
Hope you are all well.
For my next trick I will upload an old picture....perhaps.
My R65 is currently defueled and sorn'd. But it will be back at some point I am sure - It what you get when you have too many hobbies, sailing a classic dinghy, rebuilding a vw camper and having an R100 as well......But less of my woes.
Cheers
Rev Light (aka Steve hawkins)
PS Mile and Daniel - As I am only down the road - i.e. in Swindon, I would be only too pleased to chat about what I have done and why I have done it with regards to my R65. It might be useful and enable you to avoid any pitfals or waste any time/money.
With the air pods on the Bings, are any form of support brackets used to stop the carb and pod from flexing up and down? I mean when you have the normal airbox setup the carbs are held firmly in place by the inlet manifold rubber and then the rear airbox hose(not correct term). What stops them from flopping about?
Cheers
Craig
ps nice bike. Gotta love red
I REALLY AM A NICE GUY. JUST ASK ANYONE THAT HASNT MET ME.
Re: The "what have you done to your R65?" thread.
Hi Steve,
It would be great to benefit from your experiences and as Daniel says, there seem to be a few of us airhead/cafe racer fans down here in the West Country so pooling ideas has got to be a good idea. We'll have to arrange to meet when you have a moment free between all of your hobbies.
I can also recommend Mr Bridges blog that Daniel's post has a link to; very interesting articles, written by a very clever gentleman.
Cheers
Mike
It would be great to benefit from your experiences and as Daniel says, there seem to be a few of us airhead/cafe racer fans down here in the West Country so pooling ideas has got to be a good idea. We'll have to arrange to meet when you have a moment free between all of your hobbies.
I can also recommend Mr Bridges blog that Daniel's post has a link to; very interesting articles, written by a very clever gentleman.
Cheers
Mike
MikeB
1978 BMW R100RS Motorsport
1978 BMW R45/65
1978 BMW R100RS Motorsport
1978 BMW R45/65
Re: The "what have you done to your R65?" thread.
Mike,
Yes we should get together for a chat.
As an aside, I never set out to build an out and out race bike, so frame modifications were really only going to be minor - if at all - limited to removing brackets, etc. I always liked the look of the frame as it was and was (so similar to the Norton featherbead) I was never going to be trying to bring the frame into the twenty first century. I also do not have the space for welding equipement, etc. I will leave that sort of thing to those that know how. I wanted to build a bike that look backwards not forwards....
The same can be said for engine tuning, if you spend £1000 getting another 10bhp from your engine, the next 10bhp is going to cost £2000, and the next £4000 - if at all. I never had the £1000 to get the first 10bhp! Also my engine already had almost 100,000 miles on it and was also a pre 81, so was not really the best start point. I did however, refresh the top end and acquire the heads from a post 81 to get the extra 5bhp - I needed new heads anyway.
As far as the air pod filters and carbs are concerned, no I do not have extra brackets on them. However I did replace the rubbers holding them to the cylinders after they popped off a couple of times. The old ones were getting hard and infexible. The new ones are cleanly installed and I have never had a problem since. However I would say that they offer no performance upgrade, if fact I have probably lost a bit on the very top end, but might have gained a little lower down. But who cares I am never up there anyway. I messed around with needle positions and jets for ages before returning to standard jetting for a post 81 which works well with the exhausts I have fitted - certainly got rid of the annoying flat spot I had every time I moved away from standard jetting or messed with the exhaust. Nice pale bbrown spark plugs etc. No I have never had it on a rolling road.
Cheers
Yes we should get together for a chat.
As an aside, I never set out to build an out and out race bike, so frame modifications were really only going to be minor - if at all - limited to removing brackets, etc. I always liked the look of the frame as it was and was (so similar to the Norton featherbead) I was never going to be trying to bring the frame into the twenty first century. I also do not have the space for welding equipement, etc. I will leave that sort of thing to those that know how. I wanted to build a bike that look backwards not forwards....
The same can be said for engine tuning, if you spend £1000 getting another 10bhp from your engine, the next 10bhp is going to cost £2000, and the next £4000 - if at all. I never had the £1000 to get the first 10bhp! Also my engine already had almost 100,000 miles on it and was also a pre 81, so was not really the best start point. I did however, refresh the top end and acquire the heads from a post 81 to get the extra 5bhp - I needed new heads anyway.
As far as the air pod filters and carbs are concerned, no I do not have extra brackets on them. However I did replace the rubbers holding them to the cylinders after they popped off a couple of times. The old ones were getting hard and infexible. The new ones are cleanly installed and I have never had a problem since. However I would say that they offer no performance upgrade, if fact I have probably lost a bit on the very top end, but might have gained a little lower down. But who cares I am never up there anyway. I messed around with needle positions and jets for ages before returning to standard jetting for a post 81 which works well with the exhausts I have fitted - certainly got rid of the annoying flat spot I had every time I moved away from standard jetting or messed with the exhaust. Nice pale bbrown spark plugs etc. No I have never had it on a rolling road.
Cheers