Tuesday, July 6, 2010

BMW R100S/6 Maiden Voyage ?

We had planned a sidecar / camping trip for the 4th of July weekend. Saturday came in with rain and winds so decided to pull out on Sunday, ride over the Little Belt Mountains and end up over near Helena MT. to camp for the night. Changed out the rear tire Saturday night and changed all the gear lubes. Sunday morning we packed our gear and I re-torqued the heads and adjusted all valves. Finally good to go around 9:00 AM.

PACKED AND READY FOR THE ROAD

The morning was beautiful and the ride was nice. Very green with all the rain we've been having lately.
Neihart Montana was a mining area for many years. Lots of old derelict mine sites.
We stopped in Neihart to visit the local tavern for a burger. We worked here 7 or 8 years ago so went to visit the local tavern / motel / grill owner.
Dropping down the mountain towards White Sulpher Springs.
About 30 miles from Neihart the bike was running great and all of a sudden the left cylinder stopped firing...thought I ran out a fuel but that wasn't possible...maybe an ignition problem?
Pulled the left spark plug and saw the exhaust valve looking a little too far open through the spark plug hole...pulled the valve cover and ....shit! Exhaust valve in two pieces.
Immediately a car stopped to check on us and they gave Darian a ride back to Neihart and the nearest land line phone...no cell service up here. She called on AAA for rescue and waited at the bar...I made myself at home for the long wait.
I always carry a few old Airmails so at least had something to read. Good thing about a sidecar was that I had a comfortable seat to recline in. So here I sat for three hours and change...
Pretty place to be stranded. Must have been at least 50 motorcycle drive by...and at least four times that many vehicles....not one person stopped.....

My neighbor.....maybe he was the last guy to break down here....
Started getting bored and took a lot of photos of nothing....
Finally after 3 1/2 hours my wife returns with our rescue vehicle...so much for the camping trip...Over 30 years of riding and this was the first time I was stuck and unable to repair a bike on the road shoulder....
Looks like the hack tug will be down for a while...I'm planning a solo trip next weekend so I'll get the old /5 out and ready to go....

3 comments:

cladd said...

Guess you were lucky that first car stopped, if all the others did not. Looked like a pretty nice day for waiting. You've made me glad I've recently signed up for AAA service. Good luck with the next trip.

Anonymous said...

I have a 1974 R75/6 with a sidecar. Nice blog. btw, what windshield is that on the bike? Do you like it? Thanks!

Larry

BMW HACKER said...

Some old windscreen that came on an old Honda I bought years ago...good for fair weather...not so good in foul weather...

Gila Mtns.

Gila Mtns.