"On your mark...get set....Start?

Not much new around here. Haven't fired up a bike for a few days due to work & rain. BMW has been having starting difficulties for a while. Starter will only spin the motor about one revolution....even with a fully charged battery. Removed the starter last winter and cleaned / lubed and checked everything...thought it was OK, but the problem persists.

Purchased a used starter via EBay today, so I'll swap it out eventually and hopefully cure the problem.

"Lamontsanford" BMW starter.

The bike will always start ("knock on wood") but sometimes under duress. It does have a manual kick starter but the high compression of the engine makes it a challenge....plus the 1974 BMW kick starters are pretty weak.
Probably won't get the starter installed in time for the weekend but I'm confident the bike will start.

Planning a ride for the Memorial Day Weekend. We'll be riding across some desolate, but beautiful Crow Indian Reservation lands along the base of the Pryor Mountains, then over to the Big Horn Canyon and Yellowtail Dam. The area is an old "stomping ground" of mine as two of my best friends lived at Ft. Smith and another at St. Xavier MT. Used to spend a lot of time getting into trouble around those parts.
Should be some fantastic photo ops this time of year since Montana is quickly turning green from the recent rains. Not sure if we're going to camp, we'll see what the weather forecast brings.

Eastern MT. Day Ride

Today the gloomy drizzly weather finally left us with blue skies. Although I had a "date" with my 97+ year old Dad for a Cribbage game I thought I'd get a little ride in. Headed down MT. 212 towards Hardin Mt. At one time this was the major road to Billings before the birth on the Interstate. I remember dozens of trips along this road as a kid. Winter travel was always treacherous, then add all the semi / truck traffic and it was an interesting road. One year, I think 1971, there was over 20 fatalities along a mere 25 miles into Big Horn County.

 

(click on photos to enlarge)

 

Still pretty "drab" but the ground is trying to "green up". Not much moisture this Spring. Going to be a bad fire season if the rain doesn't come. I only had a couple hours for a ride but two hours gives me a 100+ mile plus range on the Gold Wing.

 

Drove quickly through Hardin. Stopped for a "photo op" at the home of my youth. ..0 yrs. - 4 yrs.

Pretty sad looking home these days. It seemed quite large as a child.

 

On the porch.

 

 

 

We had trees and a nice white picket fence. (yours truly on the right, circa 1958)

There was a group of old Army Barracks in the field in the back of this photo. Years later Dad bought the buildings / property. I pulled hundreds of nails as we saved all the lumber when the buildings were taken apart. He used the lumber to build garages and other projects.

 

 

 The bare field in the foreground used to be the Cities Swimming Pool. My older Brother knew the Life Guard and he would let us come in and swim after closing. I fell into the pool at about 4 years of age. Damn near drowned, but my oldest Brother pulled me out in the nick of time. I can remember having no fear as I sunk to the 9' deep bottom. The fear came after coming out of the water. I can still hear my own screams.
On top of the pool building there was a small tower. I remember looking at old folders full of outlines of WW2 era airplanes. I think it was a "Civil Defense" Observers Station during the war.

 

On the "Rims" above Billings. No leaves on the trees yet.

 

Downtown Billings

 

Made it to Dad's place a few minutes late. He managed to beat me at Cribbage the best out of three games. My turn to win next bout,(?)

North we go

A few pics from our yearly migration from AZ. to MT. Had an uneventful drive. Fuel prices ranged from $4.00 / gal. to $3.86 / gal. Had to fuel 3 times averaging about $250.00 per fill up. Running at around 8.2 mpg average.

Great Basin in southern. NV.

 

(Click on pics to enlarge)

 

Old "Canned Ham" in Ash Springs NV.

 

Didn't have any photos of our rig / trailer...now I do.

 

BIG tree in Ash Springs

 

Mtns. near Ely

Snake River Canyon Bridge

 

Here we are.

 

Mtns. South of Dillon

 

S. of Dillon

 

Parked in truck lots on the way north. Last night in an abandoned truck stop south of Dillon.

 

Livingston, Mt.

 

Crazy Mtns.

 

Back to work tomorrw

Adios "Old Blue"

...Adios "Old Blue"....

This old GL1100 belongs to an aquaintance of mine. One of his $250.00 finds. I told him I would bleed his brakes. Well, that led to complete over hauls of both master cylinders and all three calipers, which were completly "stuck" and full of dirt...Then he asked me to get it running for him.

Tried to start it and found the fuel filter clogged with rust...pulled the tank float assembly and saw nothing but rust in the tank.
Pulled the carbs off and lo and behold: No way this thing will run ....

Since this was a low budget project, no carb rebuild kits. I pulled each carb apart and cleaned up every thing as best I could. One slide was "gummed" up tight but actually the carbs weren't too bad considering.

I reassembled with no new parts and rigged up a remote fuel supply. The bike fired right up but still has idle issues. Probably more "crap" in an idle circut somewhere.

Pulled the fuel tank, which is not a real "friendly' job on a Gold Wing. Flushed the tank with a LOT of water. Dumped a handful of big angular rocks in the tank and shook til I was blue in the face....more flushing...more shaking. Then filled it to the brim with vinegar. vinegar works pretty good eating away at the rust. Flushed and refilled a few times. Ended up with a fairly clean looking tank, although the "reserve" line is still plugged with debris.

Reassembled to the state you see in the first photo. Rode the old girl up and down the street a few times.
Moral of the story:
Beware of volunteering to adjust someones brakes.

"POP" goes the Gold Wing!

Last summer the Gold Wing developed an exhaust backfire while traveling through Yellowstone Park. The "pop" typically occurs under de-celleration, but occasionally it will "pop" while idling and under a light throttle application. I've been struggling to pin point the problem all winter.  

 

 

 

I posted the issue on a Gold Wing forum to the "experts" and have had a multitude of suggestions and remarks. Still haven't been able to figure out the problem. I've been riding the bike regardless of the issue as the bike starts, idles and runs fine.

 

Early on I ran some "Sea Foam" through the fuel and also some "Marvel" oil. This was grasping at straws and didn't seem to make any difference.

A defective "Air Cut Off Valve" was pointed out as a culprit so I removed / checked it. Couldn't physically see anything wrong there. I went ahead and ordered a new rebuild kit last night even though I don't think it needs it.

 

I also replaced the right side copper exhaust seals. The "pop" comes from the right exhaust so at recommendations I replaced them. The old ones seemed OK, although one of them seats a little crooked due to the after market header configuration. But it does seal thoroughly, it appears.

 

I also went in and checked / adjusted the exhaust valve clearances on the right side. They were dead on for adjustment.

I removed the spark plugs and they looked good...went ahead and replaced them with a new set anyway, but no difference noted.

Played with the idle mixture screws for best idle. Didn't change a thing there.

Bought a decent compression testing set and performed a compression test on each cylinder, the PSI readings were in the 140 - 145 psi range.

So I am still at a loss to what is causing this problem. Something is definately out of whack but I'll be damned if I can figure it out.

I'll replace the Air Cut Off Assembly when I receive it, but I'm doubtful that it will fix the issue.

I've received about a couple dozen different opinions from different Gold Wing owners but none of them have helped diagnose the problem.

Onward through the fog.....

 

Death Valley Airheads Rally - 2013

I wasn't planning on the Death Valley Airheads Rally this year but my darling Wife insisted that I attend. Some friends offered to meet up and ride there together so I took them up on the offer. We met at the north end of the Salton Sea at Mecca Ca. and proceeded from there. We planned to camp at Joshua Tree Natl. Park and found a great campsite there, pulling in around 4:00 PM.

 

Some great rock formations and a nice sunset at the end of the day. The night time temperatures got down well into the 30's so the night was pretty chilly.

We had an "end" campsite and the sites were limited, only 16 sites at this camp area. Good thing we parked when we did as the place filled up quickly at the end of the day.

We got rolling fiarly early and headed through 29 Palms where we missed a turn and ended up at a dead end.....had to back track 3 - 4 miles but finally got on the right track. Got behind about two dozen Marines out for a day ride to Kelso. We stopped there for lunch. Looking over the Marines bike line up this old "Rat" bike stood out. Old 750 Honda Chopper.

"I Brake for No One"...gotta love it!

 

Took the "Bad Water" entrance into Death Valley which was a great ride into the valley.

 

Arrived at Furnace Creek at a decent hour and got set up with another 100 or more other riders.

This guy had his BMW torn down looking for an electrical issue which he fixed.

 

Only 2 sidecars in attendance...this is an old Russian Dpner. He rode it off only to come back later to get a trailer to haul it back....good old reliabe Russian engineering!

 

Some 4 legged attendees too.

 

Weather hit the 80's during the day and the nights were pleasant....no wind and a great day on Saturday.

 

Many folks went for rides but I elected to lay low and visit with old aquantances and made a few new ones too.

 

A number of friends were stating until Monday then riding over to the Panamint Valley to camp another night. I decided to head back to Yuma on Sunday so had a nice 450 mile run home. Stopped along the Salton Sea for a break.

 

I came back the same route and had an enjoyable ride. Missed numerous great photo op's but was on a mission to get home before dark...didn't quite make it but arrived safe and sound.

BMW Heyco Tools / Vintage Tools

"Full Time" RV living does have some disadvantages....or maybe they could be looked upon as advantages. That is that a person cannot collect any quantity of superflous junk. I've made headway in getting rid of excess "stuff" over the past couple of years. By chance not everything is "junk' so to speak and has value to others.

I've been selling off most all my spare BMW  motorcycle parts as that situation was getting out of hand. I decided that rather than keep a multitude of "stuff", "just in case", I'll just buy things as needed. Now I have hung onto a couple of bigger ticket items, such as a couple spare transmissions and one final drive for the sidecar rig. I've run into a couple of circumstances where I needed something that I had sold but those instances are minor.

 

During a visit to a local "Flea Market" I spied these old "Williams" wrenches, tagged for $6.00. I knew they were something special just looking at them as they were in near new condition and of older manufacture. I wittled the seller down to $5.50 before taking them off his shelf. Upon arrival at home I did a little research and came to find out that these were likely a set of WW2 U.S. Govt. Issue Tools for a Willys Jeep. The vintage was correct and the tool specifications were "spot on".

I listed them on EBay and they sold for $80.00. They should actually have brought a higher price due to their rarity but I was happy.

 

 

 

(Below) I found this old set of "New Britain Tool Co. Handle Lock Sockets" 15 years ago or so at an antique store. They were in perfect condition and I think I gave $8.00 for them. Unfortunately I stored them on my little MC trailer in an old ammo box and eventually water (and therefore rust) got to them. They have a Patent Date of Dec. 12, 1922 stamped on them. I "de-reusted" them and spent a little time cleaning them up. Too bad the rust got to them. I listed them on EBay recently.

 

 

The paint / decals were in pristene condition before I got my "paws" on them.

 

Now every time I check out a Flea Market or garage sale I'm on the lookout for old vintage tools that may have some resale value.

The wrench below is also of WW2 vintage, purchased for $.50 cents at a garage sale. Bid is now at $10.00 on EBay.

 I had a spare complete set of  early 80's vintage BMW Motorcycle tools which I really didn't need. The set was missing one small "pin spanner" (which I liberated as my set was missing one) and had a couple other extra tools included. It went for over $170.00 via EBay.

 

"BMW" Heyco wrenches will usually bring a minimum of $8.00 - $10.00 each on EBay. The "DIN" tools were available from many different West German Tool makers. "Heyco" and "Hazet"  were two of the more popular brands used by BMW and other vehicle manufacturers.

I'm always on the lookout for "DIN" tools when at garage sales.

I bought a box full of "DIN" wrenches in a pawn shop last summer.  Paid about $10.00 for 15 of them. Sold for around $8.00 - $10.00 each on resale.

 

Below is a "DIN 895" wrench with no other marking. The "DIN" configuration is identical to "Heyco" tools which are used in BMW tool sets. This wrench will always bring $6.00 - $8.00 each on EBay.

 

I had a quantity of stainless steel clamps on hand. These are an odd size needed for mounting the old school "Luftmeister" header guards. I looked for a long time to find them and bought a lot of spares. They sell for around $4.00 each.

 

I've been listing all kinds of "small' items on EBay this Winter. Nothing of any large monetary value but over time all the small sales add up.

 

The tool purchases / resale are kind of a fun "hobby" for me. finding them is a challenge, then selling them and usually bringing a 300% - 400% + profit return is fun too!