This site started out as a way to track a BMW / Jupiter Sidecar motorcycle project. It has gone in many different directions since its' conception. From motorcycle projects, to personal stories, opinions and family histories. I log most of our boring motorcycle riding adventures and experiences. I have completed my "R100S/6" build and changes are on-going.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Arizona Side Car Tour Day 2
Arizona Sidecar Tour Day 1
We were ready for a break so hit a little watering hole about 25 miles out of Prescott. Took a 1/2 hour break and then headed up the switch backs to Prescott. The road is a 35 mph ride with lots of turns. Great hack road. We climbed up another 1500 feet or so into the town.
Friday, February 27, 2009
R100S/6 Side Hack Tug Progress
I had to swap out the handle bars to the /6 bars as the R100 bars (slightly larger diameter) wouldn't accept the /6 controls. The /6 bars are in poor shape with a lot of pitting in the chrome. They'll have to do for now.
I hope to set the engine in the frame tomorrow but have quite a bit of cleaning to do on the engine before installing. The engine upper end will need the cylinders / heads reconditioned but it is easier for me to work on the engine in the frame. I received a nice pair of R100 Bing Carbs yesterday via EBay. They look like new. I am going to list all my extra (6) carbs on EBay tonight since I can't see that I'll need them at this point.
Monday, February 23, 2009
BMW R100S/6 Side Car Tug
The swing arm was hung in the shed out of harms way after the paint dried. This old blue tank will likely end up on EBay I imagine. It needs a repair on the reverse side.
I'm not sure what this bike would be called. A cross from a R100S and an R90/6. So with the 1000 cc engine we could call it a R100S/6 ?
Saturday, February 21, 2009
R100S BMW Side Car ---R90/6 BMW Side Car preparation
Next I will begin tearing down the R90/6 to prepare it for the frame reinforcing, engine swap, front end swap and transmission. I think I'll use one of the 1974 kick start 5 speeds as I have two of them now.
This new sidecar tug project will not be completed any time soon. It will take a lot more time and effort to get it into any sort of running condition. My present goal is to get everything mounted into the new frame and then go from there. I would like to detail / paint and really clean things up as I go. This Cop Tank will be the tank for use on this bike. The Heinrich Tank I have will not work with the under fuel tank master cylinder that the /6 uses.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Parts Pawning / BMW R100S Crash Victim Obtained
I've spent the past few days working on the old Blue R90/6. Attempting to get it running. Was able to build two functioning carbs. out of four I had on hand. The Old Blue bike got real close to firing today but didn't quite fire up. Got a few grunts out of it though. I finally ran out of time.
I've been running a couple of EBay auctions recently and have a customer in Tennessee buying quite a few BMW parts. I sent out a shipment nearly every day last week. I had about 17 EBay auctions week before last and moved a lot of pars from the Green Toasted bike.
I had a pick up load of odds and ends of parts which I didn't have room for. Two frames, two extra engines in various stages of disrepair, old seats, mufflers, boxes of misc. parts. Most were not really good EBay items due to size and condition. I ran a "Craigslist" ad three days ago and had a buyer come up from Tucson this morning. He took the whole load home with him. That really helped me clear up some space as my little shed is getting quite crowded.
We head back to Las Vegas tomorrow for work. I will pick up the 1979 R100S around noon and have a place to store it for the week at a contractors yard. ( outfit that worked with us at LakeMead). Today's truckload sale nearly paid for the R100S so I am happy about that. I am not sure what I will do with the two "new" BMW acquisitions but will likely build another bike of some sort out of the two of them. We'll see how much damage the R100S sustained and decide which platform we will build on.
Tuesday 17Th. We came to Las Vegas for work today and had time to pick up the R100S. The bike was crashed 15 years ago and has been hauled all over the western U.S. as the owner moved about. The side car preparation on this bike was extensive. It has a very wide set of handle bars definitely with the side car in mind. Also has a heavy I-Beam sub frame attached on the lower frame motor mounts and a series of tubes welded into the main frame for the upper rear attachment point. Someone had a real good plan when setting up this bike, definitely not their first set up. The leading link front suspension looks good and has no apparent damage. The main frame only shows damage at the lower right. The swing arm is tweaked and the right lower passenger foot peg section of the frame is seriously bent and the factory weld has cracked. I think the only way to go on with this project is to remove the additional frame sections which were installed and attach them to a new frame. I will get a few more opinions on that scenario. Quite often frames subjected to serious impacts are tweaked in such a way that the problems are not really visible. One would hate to try to repair this rear frame only to find the rig dog-tracking after assembly. The bike is a real eye sore and has had a rough 15 year retirement from the looks of it. Hopefully I can help it find a new life someday. I was able to store the bike/trailer securely in a shop building in Henderson until Friday AM when I'll haul it out.
The rig was originally set up in the Bay Area by a side hack builder who was well known in that area. The Blue 1974 R90/6 will end up being the "donor" bike for this project. The main frame will be reinforced, the engine removed and the R100S engine installed. I am not sure of my transmission choice but apparently the tranny on the R100S was rebuilt right before it was crashed. I have two other kick start 5 speeds and a 4 speed tranny so there is no shortage of gear boxes. The front suspension will be replaced with the leading link unit. Between the two bikes and all the spares I have I should be able to come up with a pretty good Tug.
I've been running a couple of EBay auctions recently and have a customer in Tennessee buying quite a few BMW parts. I sent out a shipment nearly every day last week. I had about 17 EBay auctions week before last and moved a lot of pars from the Green Toasted bike.
I had a pick up load of odds and ends of parts which I didn't have room for. Two frames, two extra engines in various stages of disrepair, old seats, mufflers, boxes of misc. parts. Most were not really good EBay items due to size and condition. I ran a "Craigslist" ad three days ago and had a buyer come up from Tucson this morning. He took the whole load home with him. That really helped me clear up some space as my little shed is getting quite crowded.
We head back to Las Vegas tomorrow for work. I will pick up the 1979 R100S around noon and have a place to store it for the week at a contractors yard. ( outfit that worked with us at LakeMead). Today's truckload sale nearly paid for the R100S so I am happy about that. I am not sure what I will do with the two "new" BMW acquisitions but will likely build another bike of some sort out of the two of them. We'll see how much damage the R100S sustained and decide which platform we will build on.
Tuesday 17Th. We came to Las Vegas for work today and had time to pick up the R100S. The bike was crashed 15 years ago and has been hauled all over the western U.S. as the owner moved about. The side car preparation on this bike was extensive. It has a very wide set of handle bars definitely with the side car in mind. Also has a heavy I-Beam sub frame attached on the lower frame motor mounts and a series of tubes welded into the main frame for the upper rear attachment point. Someone had a real good plan when setting up this bike, definitely not their first set up. The leading link front suspension looks good and has no apparent damage. The main frame only shows damage at the lower right. The swing arm is tweaked and the right lower passenger foot peg section of the frame is seriously bent and the factory weld has cracked. I think the only way to go on with this project is to remove the additional frame sections which were installed and attach them to a new frame. I will get a few more opinions on that scenario. Quite often frames subjected to serious impacts are tweaked in such a way that the problems are not really visible. One would hate to try to repair this rear frame only to find the rig dog-tracking after assembly. The bike is a real eye sore and has had a rough 15 year retirement from the looks of it. Hopefully I can help it find a new life someday. I was able to store the bike/trailer securely in a shop building in Henderson until Friday AM when I'll haul it out.
The rig was originally set up in the Bay Area by a side hack builder who was well known in that area. The Blue 1974 R90/6 will end up being the "donor" bike for this project. The main frame will be reinforced, the engine removed and the R100S engine installed. I am not sure of my transmission choice but apparently the tranny on the R100S was rebuilt right before it was crashed. I have two other kick start 5 speeds and a 4 speed tranny so there is no shortage of gear boxes. The front suspension will be replaced with the leading link unit. Between the two bikes and all the spares I have I should be able to come up with a pretty good Tug.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
The Past Years BMW R Bike "Barn Finds"
1979 BMW R100S [$$$] This bike was carrying a right hand side car and took a hit on the sidecar side, damaging the rear framework. I committed to purchase this bike today. I am seriously thinking about building a bike from the ground up. Using the (Blue bike below) R90/6 frame and the R100S Engine / Transmission with the leading link suspension. This should be a very good combination with the twin disc brakes. My goal this winter would be to get the R90/6 engine & front end removed and the R100S front end & engine installed into the frame. The R90/6 engine/transmission could then be sold or used as a spare for the black bike. I have a 6.2 Gallon Police Touring Tank in Mexico right now being repainted in Black. The paint is done but they needed to buff it out again. I will paint all the blue bodywork black on the /6. I worked on the /6 bike today and found that the engine is stuck. Meaning that there is probably some surface rust in the cylinders. I've filled the cylinders with Marvel Oil and will let it soak. The engine oil looks real clean so suspect the engine lower end should be fine with 40k or so miles on the clock. I hope that the R100S engine is good as it sits. (?) The seller said that the transmission was rebuilt right before the accident. Monday, February 9, 2009
AZ. Road Trip Day 3
About 25 miles from home I was faced with this scene. There is a big range of mountains amongst all those black clouds between me and home. I sat here for 1/2 hour or so hoping that it might pass but no way. It was swirling around and I could see the water roaring down a mile or two up the road. Finally decided to go for it. Put on the rain gear and tarped the sidehack (and my computer) as best I could and away I went. It was a gully washer as I went through Wellton and there was a lot of water standing on the roads. Eventually I had to get back on the Interstate but the rain subsided just long enough for me to get home fairly dry. As I passed over the Fortuna Wash it was roaring with dirty brown water. In 15 years down here we have never seen it run with anything. I wanted to go down and photograph it but more black clouds were heading my way so home I went. Had just enough time to unload the bike and throw everything into the trailer before the rain poured again. All in all I was happy I cut the trip a little short and came home. The weather was real crappy that night and the next day where I had planned on being. Oh well it's Winter.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
AZ. Road Trip Day 2
Friday morning was calm as the blasting wind quit about at sunrise. The weather was perfect for riding. The view below is looking back towards the previous nights campsite. There is a gravel back road which cuts over to Patagonia but I wasn't willing to risk running on gravel as a flat tire would be a real problem. I stopped in Green Valley for coffee and a bit of breakfast. Then on to Nogalas AZ. Nogalas is situated right on the Mexican border and is a very busy town. A lot of border traffic and trucks everywhere. I fueled up there and headed north.
Thirty miles north of Nogalas I was in a little canyon area and the scene below caught my eye. Turned around to check it out.You see a lot of little shrines along the road in the south. The Mexican folk down there are serious about setting up and maintaining these shrines. This one is a bit more elaborate. It was carved into the rock and then had a steel gate installed. I walked up and it was chock full of religious items, candles and little items.
This tells about the origin of the shrine and a little history about it.
Patagonia AZ. appears to be a quiet little town.

I headed north and was planning on turning just past Tuscon. Had to run the freeway for a few miles. They had about 4 or 5 exits closed going through town and before I knew it I had passed my turn by 20 miles. Pulled off at Pichaco Peak and refigured my route. Ended up going through Florence AZ. which is a major prison town. They have a number of prisons and it appears to be the main industry. Darian and I have both worked in prisons at one time and neither of us think we would want to make a career of that. I ended up in Superior AZ. for a food stop and a break. Found a little C-Store that had a Mexican Deli which was good (and cheap). Decided to head up towards Miami / Globe AZ. and camp up at Roosevelt Lake.
This is one of many bridges between Superior and Miami. It is a great road with canyons, tunnels, and fantastic scenery. There was a lot of truck traffic though. This used to be a big mining area.
There is a lot of rugged country in this area of AZ.
I was cruising up the road and I glanced over and saw this massive rear tire. Had to u-turn and go back to check it out. Visited with the builder of these monsters. The one on the right has a chevy 427, supercharged with 8 carburetors. Scary! The one next to it is a 350 chevy. The seats are at about a 45 degree angle and about 4" wide. Pretty spooky. Think I'll pass on one of these.

This is one with a 383 motor he is building for a customer. No front brakes! Next to it is the beginning of another one. He builds them with 2 - speed auto transmissions. He showed me a photo of one he built in the 70's with 2 - small block chevy motors grafted together.
Made it to Roosevelt lake by 4:30 PM in time to get set up before dark. The coyotes were going crazy for an hour or so. This place has a huge campground with very few people. I tried to pay but a sign said you had to pay for a pass at the local stores / businesses. I wasn't about to drive back 20 miles to do that. No one ever came around and I was out of there by 7:30 the next morning so had my 2nd night of free camping.
I headed north and was planning on turning just past Tuscon. Had to run the freeway for a few miles. They had about 4 or 5 exits closed going through town and before I knew it I had passed my turn by 20 miles. Pulled off at Pichaco Peak and refigured my route. Ended up going through Florence AZ. which is a major prison town. They have a number of prisons and it appears to be the main industry. Darian and I have both worked in prisons at one time and neither of us think we would want to make a career of that. I ended up in Superior AZ. for a food stop and a break. Found a little C-Store that had a Mexican Deli which was good (and cheap). Decided to head up towards Miami / Globe AZ. and camp up at Roosevelt Lake.
This is one with a 383 motor he is building for a customer. No front brakes! Next to it is the beginning of another one. He builds them with 2 - speed auto transmissions. He showed me a photo of one he built in the 70's with 2 - small block chevy motors grafted together.
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