Finally got to ride my BMW

[boocephus]

in 10 years or so when i finally get off my arse and mess with my 74 again, ill try that adjustment method. good call.

arent original gaiters unobtanium now. like 13 rib vs 11 rib or something. when the ones fell apart on my 71 i put r90s boots on it and they look awesome. of course ill pay in fork seals over the long run. but thats no big job.

unfortunately whn my bike got towed home the front end got tweaked and my forks arent forking like they should. i am hoping that loosening things up and bouncing a few times and retightening will correct it. it would be a bummer if something got bent.

[wookie]

Re: collapsing gaiters. When installing a gaiter, a hole in the top rim of the gaiter should be aligned with a hollow roll pin projecting thru the bottom triple clamp. Voila, the gaiter breathes.

[jagarra]

Good idea Wookie,

Checked the alignment on the holes, they were indeed hooked up correctly. Insured the hole going into the gaiter was not clogged, the hole going into the lower triple clamps ends up in the cavity created by the headlight mounts. There is a rubber gasket on each end, so how does the air get into this cavity?

Added this after got them working much better. I guess the operative word was they were new gaiters, what I thought was just a locating hole was a breather. Seems when they were made the hole did not go into the gaiter cavity, once I put a drill bit into it and cleared into the cavity they look and behave more normal, no more crumpling up as bad and no more sucked together when unloaded.

thanks all!!!

[DucatiPete]

Good work jagga!

New beemer on the road... a little bit of tweaking to do... welcome to the wonderful world...

Don't worry, it'll all come together into a nice neat riding/touring package, eventually.

There's never enough time for boredom with an ole beemer in the shed.

[Primate]

There's never enough time for boredom with an ole beemer in the shed.

[jagarra]

Well the saga continues. Went for a ride today to run some errands, gaiters were nice and pristine, no wrinkling or sucking in when unloaded. Nice evenly spaced pleats, looked pretty good. New pads made a big difference, even locked the front rotor up when I came in the driveway. As I was riding around enjoying the quietness of the bike and gazing at the front forks, I realized they were not going up and down when I hit a bump. When I got on the bike they settled down and sort of stayed there, when I got off they unloaded and the front end rose up. When I stood up on the pegs and tried to bounce the front end, the rear moved, but the front didn't. I think something is wrong.
When I tore the front end off to replace the head bearings, I put new seals in there, replaced the bottom bumpers as they were shot, cleaned it up and put it back together.

Maybe I didn't put fork oil in there after all.

[Major Softie]

Maybe I didn't put fork oil in there after all.

I doubt that. No oil would mean no damping. That actually means the forks would move way more.

[Duane Ausherman]

Alignment.

[jagarra]

Right on Duane.

Took front wheel off and the fender, had to assist the axel out from the holes. Seems like my left fork was a bit higher than the right one. Adjusted the height until I could slip the axel in with my fingers and spin it. Tighten everything down starting with the triple clamp, wheel and finally the top cap. Now when I push it I hear a nice squishing sound. Even get rebound.
I was planning on redoing the front end this winter anyway, have a new machined top triple clamp and a few other items to install, glad I didn't have to do it yet.