Friday, April 23, 2010

R100S/6 Dual Disc Hydraulic Brakes / side car hydraulic steering damper

Worked on the R100s engine problem the other night...checked out coils, connections and had no luck. Decided to swap out the ignition condenser and sure enough that was the problem. engine fired right up and ran as it should.
Decided to dig into the front hydraulic brake system next. Tore down the master cylinder and disassembled it. did not look too bad...no significant internal rust. A new unit is available but at $400.00 I decided to rebuild mine...ordered a rebuild kit.
Had not been able to identify the manufacturer of the front disc brake calipers. Knew they were from an Asian bike cause they are "Tokico" units. Finally after looking at dozens of different calipers on EBay I found they are from a 1981 Suzuki GS750LX. Took mine apart and found that the pistons are rusted solid in the bores...not good. Attempted to find NOS calipers but none to be found...price lists showed them at nearly $200.00 each if they were available.



Went back to EBay and found a couple pairs for sale....ended up buying the set below for $55.00. Talked to the seller via phone and was assured they were rust free and usable as is...went ahead and ordered seal kits ($45.00) for them from another NOS parts supplier. I'll rebuild them upon receipt.



Been snooping around looking for a hydraulic steering damper. Found that many "sidecarists" use Mercedes Benz Bilstien units...and some use Volkswagen units. Looked over some photos of a Volkswagen unit on a sidecar and decided to go that route. Plus it was only $35.00 + shipping. Will need to fabricate a bracket of some sort but that won't be too difficult. So things are looking up and maybe we'll have a drivable sidecar soon.

Sold a pile of spare parts on EBay over the past 10 days....paid for all these new parts and have a couple hundred to spare.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

BMW R100S/6 maintenance.......

Finally quit raining. The lake here has receded. Rolled out the bike today......replaced the late model valve covers with a straight, earlier design, pair I salvaged from the R75/6. Had them bead blasted at a shop in Amarillo on Friday.



Replaced one left side rocker arm assembly with a replacement I found last fall....one of the original rocker assemblies had suffered from some rust corrosion. Also replaced one rocker arm nut on the right side.



Re torqued the head bolts and reset the valves. Fired the bike up but wasn't running right. Messed with the points and reset the time via the static timing route. Battery was run down so pulled it out and set it on the charger.



Spent some time and reset the upper side car mountings. Rotated the front one over.....moved the rear one forward to decrease the angle from the bike to the hack.

Wanted to run the bike a couple of miles but battery level was too low to start the engine. I will need to sort out the "poorly running" problem at a later date.....When I initially fired the bike up in MT. it didn't run quite right until it warmed up. When I shut it down from my last ride it was running badly....I figured it was the valve adjustments....but am not sure now....I'll get it sorted out....

Friday, April 16, 2010

Swim anyone?

All settled in Texas again. My lovely wife arrived here last night from MT. She had been on a trip over to Seattle WA. with our daughters to attend a "Black Eyed Peas" concert. That also gave her a chance to see a brother , nieces and friends there. I had my own vacation last weekend and rode my old /5 over to Pampa the Panhandle TX. what a wonderful vacation it was! LOL.....nice day for a short 100 mile or so ride...forgot my camera so no photos......

I always dreamed of a Lake Front Home......my dream has come true here in Texas....





On the bike project front I haven't got much done recently.....had to run to Amarillo today for business so dropped off a pair of old style BMW Valve covers to be sand blasted. They were very weathered from sitting out in the Oregon weather for 15 years or so. They came out looking presentable. They will go on the R100S/6 when I retorque the heads...maybe this weekend?

Have bought / rigged up a new cargo trailer which is 6 feet longer and 1.5 feet wider than my old one. Now actually have room for all my motorcycle crap and whatever else we need. The sidehack rig can now be loaded without removing the chair.
I now need to purchase some front brake parts and rig up a hydraulic front steering damper....these tasks must be done before the old hack goes anywhere....hope to get it together soon! Good riding weather is getting near.....as long as we don't drown between now and then.

Running a few parts on E-Bay this week. RE: pair of Bing Carbs, Full set of BMW Alloy turn signals, pair of valve covers, /6 gauge set, BMW handlebar grips, /6 steering damper assembly and a couple other parts......

Gila Mtns.

Gila Mtns.