Bored in Texas.........

Bike projects on hold for now........Removed the sidecar from the R75/5 last week and put her to bed in the cargo trailer for the time being...hope to get over to Arizona around Thanksgiving for an Airhead gathering at the Salton Sea but work will likely interfere with that plan......We'll definately attend the 3 day Rally at Agua Caliente for New Years....I'll crawl there if necessary!

The R100S is sitting idle for now...I mounted a set of Bates saddle bags on it but don't like the mounting setup ....I have some original Bates brackets which need some welding done on them so I'll repair them and put them to work eventually.At least it is looking like a Motorcycle now....not much left to do to get her running.

Found a used pair of /5 "cigar" mufflers on EBay for $70.00....they are originals with some "patina"...re: dings etc....but I wasn't gonna spend $600.00 for a repro. set....they'll go on the /5.

R100S Sidecar Progress

Dug the Sputnik sidecar wheel / axle assembly and took a closer look at what is needed to adapt it to the Jupiter sidecar. Received some opinions from a machinist who is building his own sidecar from scratch. now just need to remove the axle in use and get them both to a machine shop for fabrication of a new axle.
The Jupiter hack fender sits on a pivot for easy access to the assembly....the old shock absorber in place should be changed too.

The 1973 1/2 long wheel base sub frame ....I've installed this on the bike in the past week. It is a lot stronger than the stock "single cross member" sub frame.

The "new' sub frame after priming / painting.

Rear view......

Spent a couple of hours and mounted the Bates saddle bags....not a good mounting yet...need one more bracket made to stabilize them. See a set of better mounting frames on eBay so might bid on them.

Pulled the top / front of engine apart.....pulled starter relay cover off and sorted through the wiring...got the wiring squared away..(I hope) replaced the R100S engine wiring harness with the R90/6 wiring harness. Wired in the tail lights and turn signals....cleaned a lot of electrical connections. Removed the starter and checked flywheel teeth / starter teeth...starter appears to be in good condition.

Removed diode board and replaced the rubber mounting parts...two of them were broken. Need to pull the points and mechanical advance unit to check them.

Still need to sort out the gauge wiring......need new cable for clutch, the one I have is way too long.

Swapped out the final drive with a fresh one I had on hand. Replaced the drive shaft bolts with new ones.

Getting closer to life....

R100S Sidecar Tug Progress

Came up with an old set of Bates Saddle Bags for $75.00 the other day....I was looking for a set of Wixom Bags but these are larger and a lot heavier built...they came with mounting brackets but might need some modifications before fitting the /5 or /6 frame.....They were locked and came with no key but one key I had fit them perfectly.....


The R100S engine went together last week after a couple of hours work.....was able to fit each ring to the cylinder right within spec. as they were oversize .025mm...had to file each ring separately to for fitment.

heat painted the lower cylinder jugs...I wanted the machine shop to media blast all the old black paint off but they did not.....so repainted.

Decided to install pod style air filters. The engine should breath a little better.

The lower sidecar mounting sub frame. The sub frame has a foot peg welded as it requires removal of the existing foot peg.

Looks like a motorcycle again but there is still a lot of work to be done......

Wixom Ranger Top Case / Bates Saddleags

Finally have all the R100S Engine parts coming to me....My buddy Bert told me I was crazy if I didn't pull the rod bearings and check them when I had the engine top end pulled off....he was right as when I removed the bearings they did show evidence of wear. No bad scoring but showed wear non the less. The crankshaft journals look just fine. So I ordered a new set of std. rod bearings along with new rod bolts....BMW rod bolts are a one time use item and must be renewed each time. Only $3.30 each & BMW rod bearings were $14.20 each. Ordered the over size rings which I hope are correct......Should have all parts in hand in a few days so will begin reassembly of the engine.

This seat will go onto the R100S...am EBay find for around a $100.00 + $100.00 to have it recovered......

I gave this German Police tank a dry run on the "Hag" for a few trips and it works fine.....It was traded for my old Toaster Tank and I had a $75.00 Mexico paint job done.....new BMW "Roundels", new tank pads and a restored aluminum fuel cap. This will go on the R100S....

I've been wanting some older style saddle bags for the BMW /5 "Hag" when the sidecar goes over to the R100S. The R100S will get the BMW stock bags currently on the "Hag". Wanted to purchase a set of "Wixom" saddle bags but their costs have been pretty high....The ones I've been tracking on EBay have been well over $300.00 w/shipping. Decided to settle for a cheaper set of "Bates" saddle bags & mounts I found on the IBMWR classified site for a total of $90.00 and that included shipping...a pretty good deal! They have an older "retro" look and are actually better made with heavier material than the "Wixoms". The Bates bags are also larger and will likely hold the "Krauser" inner - liner luggage I use. Most of the Wixom Bags crack at the mounting pin areas...

Wasn't sure I wanted this "Wixom Ranger" Top Case but I won it on EBay for a total of $10.19 plus $38.00 shipping. Can't believe that I was the only bidder........Not sure which bike it will go on but the price was definitely right!

Also bought a set of "Luftmiester" Header Guards and Muffler guards for a total of $45.00 plus shipping.....I've seen the header guards go for over $100.00 alone....so all in all I came up with some pretty good bargains lately....all financed by selling misc. BMW parts on EBay.....The R100S bike's cost is coming up with all the parts I've been accumulating...I figure I'm into the bike around $1500.00 now. Not too bad.....Still need to replace the tires at some point too......

I have the R75/5 Long Wheel Base sub frame repaired as it had a small crack...it will be sanded primed and painted.

Also had a BMW R75/5 Steering Friction Damper modified / lengthened ,to fit the Leading Link Front end. I'll need to do a few more minor modifications to the lower friction plates & mounting
tabs....

Sidehack Trip.....Roswell / Ruidoso, New Mexico

Finally a three day weekend and a little time for a sidehack trip! Spent part of last Sunday preparing the BMW. Reset all valves, reset points, changed oil, and replaced the 2 year old battery. The battery hasn't been taking a proper charge for quite some time and the plates looked funky. Nice to have a functioning, charged battery again!
Saturday morning dawned a wee bit foggy and overcast. We headed out around 9:30 AM and the fog burned off within the first 1 1/2 hours.

We headed south on highway 207 through Panhandle Texas, crossing I-40 going south. Kind of an eerie looking morning with the fog......

An old decrepit barn, ready to fold up.....in another hundred years or so.....

Texans' have a thing about burying cars...hence the "Cadillac Ranch", which is simply ten or so old Caddies with their noses buried.....here we have the "Bug Ranch", I guess.... On a previous trip we saw a row of old combines with their asses pointing skyward.......

Heading south on 207 we passed through the eastern side of Palo Duro Canyon...very pretty area with a lot of red rock and dirt......

South of Palo Duro we turned east on highway 145 which took us towards New Mexico....It was over a hundred of mostly straight miles through cotton fields, corn fields and cows......
I thought I was lost for a while but then this sign straightened me out.....Earth...that a way!

We had a motel reservation a few weeks in advance...luckily so as there was a big AKC Dog Show going on in town. Looked like everything but the roach motels were filled. The "Aliens" are ever present all over Roswell.

Sunday morning we headed out on a seldom traveled back road highway 246 which heads west out of Roswell towards the Capitan Mountains. This was a great route and we saw maybe 5 cars in 100 miles. Ran into a little rain squall by noon or so.....The mountains aren't too impressive when approaching, but actually they are quite a large range of mountains.

We crossed down towards Ruidoso N.M. and it was like riding into a Metropolitan area. Traffic was thick and people everywhere. Looks like the area is a huge tourist area.

A lot of thunderstorms everywhere around us.....a beautiful area and it is built up with a lot of homes.......

This hillside place was on stilts.

We ran over to Lincoln N.M. which is where "Billy the Kid" was jailed and waiting to be hanged when he escaped the jail and slipped out of town. Somewhat of a tourist trap type town, but it does have a lot of old 1800's buildings which have been preserved......Above, we are racing ahead of a pile of storms, headed back towards Roswell.....some of the storms were very heavy, but we only got caught in a few squalls......

"Ruidoso Downs" is on the map......ended up that there was a huge horse racing track and a massive Indian Casino.....It looked like a zoo and so many people were trying to get in that the Police were directing traffic in after a car accident occurred while someone was trying to turn in.

I'm always looking close for road debris while traveling so I always spot the tarantulas as they wander across the road. This was a fairly big fellow...saw one today that was quite a bit larger....

Had about 100 miles of back roads today.....lots of cows and ranches.....saw about 10 cars in a hundred miles.

Stopped in Fort Sumner and went and checked out "Billy the Kids" final resting place....seems that people keep stealing his headstone...once it was found in Texas and another time it was found in California......they have it pretty well caged in now. We ran straight back to Fritch and arrived at 5:30PM. Just missed another huge system of storms heading home. Didn't get a drop of rain today, but must have killed hundreds of grasshoppers....I had bunches of them cooking on the engine cylinders when we got home.........

BMW R75/5 Valve Adjustment / Roswell Ride Prep.

Planning a ride over to Roswell NM next weekend. After years of riding the Airhead I know when a valve adjustment is due. Decided to perform a few maintenance items yesterday. I'd ordered some Spectro Motor Oil a few weeks ago from an Amarillo Dealer but they sent the semi-synthetic oil rather than what I ordered.....I learned the hard way not to use any synthetic oils in the older airheads. Had to re order the oil. I pulled the valve covers and found a couple of the valves a little out of adjustment. I've run around 3000 miles since the last adjustment so it was due. Pulled the front cover (always disconnect the battery ground when doing that!) and checked the point gap....was a little tight so adjusted the points. Since my oil didn't come in I changed the oil with some Castrol 20-50. Didn't change the filter this time. We'll probably run around 1000 miles next weekend. Charged the battery yesterday but the battery is not holding a charge.....I see a lot of crap in the cells...battery is only 1 1/2 years old.......I'll try to hunt down a replacement battery......probably won't have much luck around here.(?)

Received all the parts for reassembling the R100S engine....installed a top ring in a cylinder to check ring end gap and found that the gap was way out of spec....... .030 which is much to wide. The cylinder must be a .025 oversize.(?) sent the rings back and ordered an oversize set. After visiting with a fellow airhead I've decided to go ahead and change the rod bearings. That is an easy task when the engine has the top end removed...the rod bolts must also be replaced as they are a one-time-use item. So I'm waiting on the rod bearings for a while.

I received the repaired 1973 1/2 LWB subframe after a welding repair...weld looks good, hope it will work out. Also had a R75/5 friction damper rod lengthened as I will modify a /5 friction damper assembly for the "earles forks" rather than a hydraulic type damper. Straightened the slightly bent sidecar sub frame and fitted it to the R100S. It appears that it will work just fine......With the receipt of the rod bearings I think (?) I have everything to begin reassembly of the "new" tug.

Ran 21 EBay items for auction last week. Sold 19 small items for a total of $205.00. These were just small extra parts I had laying around....seat hinges, tank mounts, fuel t's, a set of rocker arms, etc.

BMW R100S Sidecar Tug Progress

I dis assembled the R100S engine top end a few months ago after soaking it in "Marvel Mystery Oil" for 6 weeks. The left side cylinder was rusted but freed up after sitting in an oil bath. After a long soak I would raise the rear tire off the ground, put the transmission in 5th gear and then rock the drive wheel forward / backward. After a few tries the rust lost its' hold and "free at last". I found that water had entered the left intake port and sat in the cylinder. I hauled everything to a competent engine shop and had the cylinders honed and the valve seats freshened up. The pistons looked good and a fresh set of standard rings should be good. They found that both the exhaust valve guides were sloppy so I ordered a complete set of new guides to be replaced. One cylinder shows minor "stains" after honing but hopefully will be OK. They looked just like the (earlier rebuilt ) R90 cylinder "stains" which have now run 14k miles with no issues.

This is the finished (was Blue) R90/6 tank that I had as a spare. It went in for body work and paint...then onto EBay ......now in the hands of a new owner.......I only profited a few dollars on this one but now a fellow BMW guy has a nice newly reconditioned tank.

I sealed the intake / exhaust ports with clamped caps to retain the oil during the "soak". The exhaust valve was open so it wouldn't hold the oil.

The QSL 1000 Mile Solo seat back from the upholstery shop. A whoppin $90.00 for a recover. Into the seat about $200.00 now. .....It's worth that much.....I installed it (and the tank below) on the "Black Hag" for a trip or two and it is very comfortable. I like the black QSL seat better than the old brown QSL as the foam is thicker & newer.....I swapped the mounts around and now have this seat permanently on the "Hag".

This old "German Cop Tank" worked good on the "Hag". Fuel capacity only at around 5.5 to 6.0 gallons so fuel stops were more often...I like the Heinrich Tank much better. This tool bin holds the stock tool kit just right, but no extra stuff.

I've received all the new engine parts needed to assemble the R100S engine so hope to get it together in the coming weeks. I got lucky and found a set of real nice vintage "Luftmiester" header & muffler shields via the IBMWR site for $45.00. What a find! I wanted another set for the "new" bike. I've seen just the header guards sell for over $100.00 on EBay.

Slow but sure the R100S stuff is stacking up......Had a /5 friction damper rod modified to fit the leading link forks on the R100S also.

I purchased a 1973.5 long wheel base rear sub frame to install . (EBay) upon receipt and inspection I found the frame had a crack in it......the seller said he would cover the cost of repair.....I had the machine shop repair the frame and hope the crack repair will hold. The 73.5 sub frame uses two pipe cross braces and will fit the stock QSL seat mounting frames. Slso the 1974- on cross braces are very prone to cracks at the welds. ( mine was cracked and has been re welded) It just dawned on me that the bigger battery will not squeeze into the holder with the different sub frame.....I'll likely use the smaller style battery......

Parts for R100S: reconditioned 40MM Bings with K & N Pod Filters

repaired the sidecar lower mount sub frame (minor bend from crash)

reconditioned /6 German Cop Touring Tank W/ tool box

reconditioned QSL 1000 Mile Solo Seat

Modified /5 Friction Steering Damper (rather than hydraulic)

"Luftmeister" muffler & header shields

32:10 Final Drive

5 speed kick start transmission

new top end / seals & gaskets

I surely hope the engine bottom end is good. The engine showed 45k miles but with the exhaust guide wear I'm not sure if that is correct....I have a pair of spare lower end engines in AZ. if needed. I'll go with the engine bottom end as is and we'll see........It was running good when wrecked....I sold the R100S 5 speed transmission to a guy in Ca. and it worked great with no seal leaks at all.....it sat for 12 years or more.......

BMW Sidecars.......BMW MOA Rally..2008

My old Black Hag

Radical

Low , Lean & Mean

Pretty Blue

Decal Fetish

Honda Silverwing

A new definition of "Sidecar"....hope they have A.C.

Cruiser with a hack....

Clothes line......

Pauls' rig.....he's a one legged rider.....

Velorex