Scottsbluff to Denver and back on the R100S Hack

We had a 3 1/2 day weekend so decided to get one final sidecar trip under our belts while we had the time. I have a Brother in Denver that I haven't seen for quite some time so Denver was our goal. Only 200 or so miles so this was an easy run. We left Friday afternoon with the intent to get at least a hundred miles or so.

We took all the back roads heading down and had very little traffic on the rural highways.



We saw a lot of old abandoned farm houses along the way. That reminded me of the Texas Panhandle country, with old abandoned buildings at every turn.

While still in Nebraska there are lots of sandstone formations along the way. Upon entering Colorado the country turns to open country with hills here and there amongst the farm land. Sunflowers appear to be a popular crop these days. We saw miles and miles of sunflower fields.

Getting close to Denver we finally got a view of the mountain ranges to the West. My Brother has a beautiful unobstructed view of the mountains from his patio. Don't got no mountains in Nebraska.

The ride was uneventful except for a "clutch slip" about 50 miles from Scottsbluff. Pulling a long uphill grade the engine gained revs, so I down shifted and again the engine revved up.

I pulled over, thinking I likely have oil getting into the clutch area and slicking up the clutch plate. I saw no major oil leaks, (other than the small one from the right cylinder base) so decided to proceed. The thought crossed my mind to head the 50 miles back home but what the hell....mechanical mishaps are part of the adventure so onward we go......

Never had any more clutch slippage so who knows....?

My rear tire was down to the end of its' life so I threw on my spare K-Block tire thats been sitting. Just bungied it to the rear rack, not very pretty but it didn't mind hanging off the hack.

We got home just fine on the bald rear tire. Tireswear quickly on my tug and I usually only get 3000 miles or so. I'll mount the square profile K-Block tire next to see how long it will last.

We rode back to Scottsbluff via Cheyenne Wyo. and took a "new to us" route home. Sunday was a great day for a ride with a little cross wind for part of the day and we arrived home by 4:00 PM.

Today I spent working on the R65. I ran it from Scottsbluff to Billings a couple of weeks ago and had a problem upon arriving in Billings.....like something was dragging in the rear.

I drained the final drive and transmission oil looking for metal debris. The oil drained clear and clean so no major failures there.

I removed the final drive to find the nut that holds the input gear loose. It had walked nearly off the pinion stud. I don't know how this could have made the friction I was feeling when I coasted but it was the only thing I could find wrong.

Then I found I had no spare gaskets for the final drive so went ahead and used some silicone gasket material when I reassembled the unit.

I gave the rear wheel bearings a shot of grease and put everything back together with fresh gear oil. I took the old girl for a few mile ride and things appear to be fine.

I also had a drip leak underneath, upon checking the oil pan bolts I found they were barely finger tight. Hopefully tightening them will solve the leak underneath.

I also had a small leak appear at the rear wheel at the final drive seal, which also can lube up the rear brake shoes...not a good deal...... I cleaned up everything and did find a small piece of debris in the seal area. I added some additive to the gear oil that is supposed to swell the seal a bit to help with minor seepage so we'll see if that will work. I took some sandpaper to the brake linings to remove the oil which had seeped onto them.

I have never taken the time to look this bike over, other than checking the fluid levels and tire pressures so this little R65 maintenance day was overdue.

I layed some clean cardboard under the bike so we'll see if any oil leaks reappear.