BMW R75/5 ....Glacier National Park

Since the R100s sidecar rig was out of commission I pulled the BMW "Hag" out of the trailer. I hadn't ridden her since last November, although I had started her and warmed the engine up on occasion. My wife was running to Billings to see the grand kids so I decided to plan a little road trip. Glacier National Park is fairly close so decided on that route. Checked over the bike and besides airing the tires nothing was really needed. I packed pretty light with camping gear but no cooking gear this time. Ran up MT. Highway 89 and stopped in Choteau MT. for a roll and a cup of coffee.

Next stop was Browning MT. I arrived there just in time for the "Indian Days" parade. Fueled and sat at the gas station for 1/2 hour or so. The tiny little town was jammed to the gills with people. Took me another 1/2 hour to get out of town.

Highway 89 leads to St. Mary and the East entrance to Glacier Park. I made another fuel stop there before heading into the park. Below is one of the many views seen approaching St. Mary.

Burned section of pines made for an interesting view.

View of St. Mary Lake.

Photo ops are at every bend. I stopped at one pull out and a young So. Cal. couple pulled in. I offered to take their photo and in return they took mine....

Further up the "Going To The Sun" highway the road turns to Gravel due to road construction. I laughed to myself as I met a lot of guys on custom Harleys who were likely in tears riding their high dollar shiny machines in the dust & gravel. A couple sections were running water making for a nice slimy "stew" to ride through. I'll bet a lot of toothbrushes were busy the next day...

Below: Approaching Logan Pass and the visitor center. I was into making some time so passed on pulling into the parking lot which was seething with Harley Davidsons.

Over Logan Pass and you can see the switchback highway descending to the west.

Had to showcase Rex's "BMW DOG" Sticker.

Water Falls everywhere this time of year.

Made it to Missoula Mt. by 7:00 pm. Decided to hit the local KOA and got the last tent site. Met three guys from New Jersey who were returning from Alaska. The Harley / Trailer Rig also made the trip. We sat up til way too late drinking & talking...

Another camping neighbor on a 650 single BMW....hauling this trailer load of gear and his Grand son...

Had a quick breakfast at the KOA...saw one of the New Jersey guys at breakfast...he was green around the gills and sort of Zombie like.....thanks to Jim Beam? I packed up and hit the road by 8:00. Left Missoula and headed to Lincoln MT. Rogers Pass sports the sign below...BRRRRRRR.

Leaving Lincoln I was on the home stretch. Still was pretty early so decided to cut over on Highway 287 to Wolf Creek and follow the Missouri River back to Great Falls. The scenery was great and the old BMW never missed a beat so far.

Staying off of the Interstate brings you along the "River Road" and a lot more scenic views.

Made it to Belt MT. only 25 miles from home but was really tired. Pulled into a small city park in Belt and took a quick nap before running the final few miles....a great uneventful trip.

I've now pulled the R100S engine top end apart and found a damaged piston and bent valve. Am working on finding all the parts needed. A new piston is nearly $400.00! Found a (hopefully) good used one for $75.00. I'll get to work on parts acquisition and hopefully have the sidecar back on the road in a couple of weeks.

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....

Spring Solstice BMW Style - 2010

I attended the annual "Bobs' Motorwerks Solstice Gathering" last weekend. I have attended a few years and camped last time I was there. Had to drive to Great Falls MT. the following day so did not camp this year.


Bob had quite a line up of vintage airheads in the shop.
Quite a few older bikes rode in as the day progressed.

Rex, the "BMW Dog" rode his sidecar rig up. The sidecar used to belong to my brother.

This old Vincent came rolling in off the gravel rode. A very nice original bike.

I installed my Heinrich tank on the Rat Rig. Also installed the /2 rear rack. The Lester wheel I purchased showed up missing some parts so I'll have to order some spacers and seals for it before installation.

The Yellowstone River is nearly out of its' banks.

We are currently in Great Falls MT. and will be in the area for the summer. We attended a "Concert in the Park" tonight with my Mother in Law and her brother this evening. I met a young man at the concert who is interested in motorcycles and has only ridden on one once when he was younger. He expressed interest in taking a sidecar ride so we'll see what we can do....

BMW Accessories

Purchased an after market /2 luggage rack from a fellow over in Turkey. My parts supplier has some similar racks but his were over two times the cost of this one. I think this "Turkish" rack will likely be a poor quality but we'll see....The one I ordered is actually black. I did not want a chrome one. The rack arrived in Montana a couple of days ago. I'll pick it next time through town.
Have wanted to find a pair of "Lester" wheels for the sidecar rig but they normally run over $200.00 apiece + shipping. This one showed up on EBay this morning for $120.00 with a near new tire and free shipping. I bought it as I don't think it would be there for very long at that price. The Lester alloy wheels are a lot better fitted for sidecar usage. I'll hopefully find a matching front one eventually.

BMW Airheads on Memorial Day

Memorial Day 2010. Had a huge load of spare BMW parts...and a spare BMW hulk to drop off in Yuma AZ. I had packed all my spare parts with me while I was building the R100S/6 so wanted to lighten my load a bit. Stuffed about 5 big boxes of spare BMW parts in the shed in Yuma. Also dropped the small trailer and R75/5 chassis in the lot. I have buyers for quite a few of the spare parts but just don't want to mess around with the task right now. The parts sales will have to be a winter project...Since Yuma is only 2 1/2 hours from San Diego we decided to run over to Escondido CA. to visit our niece Julie and her husband. Also hooked up with a bunch of our Airhead BMW Club friends...


Some shuffle board games were taken on during the day...man ...shuffle board...is that a sign of age? Darian shown here with a serious looking shot...

Our friends, Kevin & Scott acquired a huge stainless steel "Burn Patient Tub" a few years ago and turned it into a Koy Pond. The toilet tank contains charcoal filtering and the water circulates through the bowl...the fish definitely look healthy.
Left to right: Steve, Niece Julie, Debbie...

Debbie's Husband Kelly...he is the master chef extraordinaire...we will meet up with them next weekend in Las Vegas.

Bill.... Retired So. Cal. Airmarshall

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Sitting at the BBQ / Bar...Great food was on the grill all day long...

Catching up...haven't seen any of these folks for a year and a half...

New Surroundings........Nevada Desert

Lake Mohave at Cottonwood Cove...our new location for the next few weeks......

After nearly a year in the Texas Panhandle we are very pleased to have a new view. I will not miss the Texas unpredictable weather, constant wind and the infamous tornado alley......
Desert views from my window......

Our RV site is outside town on the deserts edge. We are the only inhabitants of the RV Park right now...got the prime end spot with pine trees on our patio side.

Sunsets are nice every night....

Arrived here on Sunday. Got settled in right away and took a 40 mile motorcycle ride down to the lake. Temperature was in the high 90's. The road down to lame mohave drops about 2500 feet in 14 miles. Temperature is usually 10-15 degrees warmer than Searchlight.

Pulled the bike out tonight and went for a quick 30 minute ride down the Joshua Tree highway. Bike is working good but believe I'll need to add an oil cooler of some sort. Engine oil temp was pretty high when we ran up from the lake at 97 degrees....

Have nearly everything done...might add a small /2 luggage rack to the rear fender. Still need to fine tune the sidecar toe-in settings.

BMW R100S/6 Break-in Time....Hydraulic Steering Damper....1000 mile solo seat

Ran the bike 50 or so miles this weekend just tooling around the area. Not ready to venture too far from home yet. So far the engine sounds real good and everything is working as it should. I'm seeing a little oil weepage at the right cylinder base. The R100S engine is very powerful and 75 mph is easy to attain. The oil temperature runs a little higher than the /5. Might end up installing a 4 quart oil pan as I did on the /5.

Swapped the seats from the /5 to the R100S/6. The dual 1000 mile solo seats went back onto the /5, along with the large luggage rack. Also installed some smaller bar-end mirrors as I wanted the larger pair on the sidecar rig.

Completed the brake component rebuilds last weekend. Rebuilt the master cylinder and both the brake calipers. The disc brake front is much better than the old /5's drum brake set up.

. The newly covered black seat looks like it belongs there.....

Removed the large luggage rack which aslo doubled as a grab point for dragging the hack in "Reverse".....by chance I had a /5 front fork brace which lined right up with the holes in my saddle bag mounting frame.....the loop at the back of the bike is the new "reverse" grab.

I received a Volkswagon hydraulic steering damping cylinder a week or so ago...was able to put together a mounting assembly with spare stuff I had laying around. The cylinder sits at an angle but works just fine. The Heim joint joint does not bottom out so I can't see any issues with this mounting. The lower mounting point rotates as the forks turn. Steering is much more effortless than the previous /5 set up. I run the friction damper snug and with the hydraulic damper cylinder I should never see a low speed wobble again......

Have not yet fine tuned in the sidecar to the bike...I'm feeling a little "yaw", especially with a passenger. Think it needs to be toed-in a bit more. I'll need to find a level chunk on pavement to finalize the set up.....now if i could just find the damned horn I so carefully put away.....

Next Stop........

Received my "new" Tokico Suzuki brake calipers and found them as stuck as the ones they are to replace.....went on line and found seal kits to rebuild them. First step was to free the stuck caliper pistons......Proceeded to give them a shot of WD 40 on a daily basis. This went on for 10 days. Researched techniques for freeing up the pistons...air pressure, grease injection, or using the master cylinder to pump them out......decided on the latter.....

Proceeded to rebuild the master cylinder upon receipt of the rebuild kit. Everything looked pretty good in the old cylinder bore....some rust which was carefully removed with crocus cloth....completed the master cylinder rebuild and installed it. Spent hours attempting to get the cylinder to pump oil...no luck...took a nap instead.
Finally used a syringe to force fluid through the cylinder pistons. That removed the air lock in the cylinder. Once that was achieved the caliper pistons pumped right out. Cleaned up the pistons and bores and reassembled. Rebled the system and now we have brakes!...Finally!

Today I take another shake down run and figure out how to mount the new hydraulic steering damper cylinder.