Monday, July 29, 2013

The next bike in the stable an old 1984 R65

I went to look at an old R65 that has been sitting for 5+ years. She's pretty beat up, but looks like she could have some life left in her. I'm trying to work a partial trade for some computer equipment. Of course I need another bike like I need a hole in the head.... but she's an old R bike! I don't have any cash right now, I've put it all into the K and Little Wing I've been working on. No real big purchases. The brake bleeder, oil, screws, nuts and bolts all add up.

Damn, I've found myself in another hobby that soaks up lots O muny. And I don't know what makes me think I can get an old R bike running. I'd like to delve into the mysteries of carburetors but don't want to screw with the running bikes I own. With the Old R I can work on it and if I screw it up I really can't make it any worse than it is. Well, not much worse.

It's an old 1984 R65. That makes it four years newer than my old R100RT. It's blue, not as dark as my old blue, close to Pacific Blue, which is sail cover blue which I hate, it's bearable though. It has BMW side bags and the old black panier racks just like my old R. The interesting thing is that it has a fairing mount attached, sadly no fairing goes with it. From that age it could be for a Vetter or a Luftmeister. There may be some I don't know about. Fairings are fairly common on Craigs and ebay it's the mount that's hard to come by. Even if the fairing I bought was wrong I think I could probably cobble a fit.

Things I found:

  1. I actually got the bike to go into first gear. It was tough but I was then able to get it into other gears and heard valves opening and closing, or the suction caused by them. With my modest knowledge I would say that the engine isn't seized.
  2. The gas cap had an issue and someone put a blob of epoxy up under it, I suppose to hold it together.
  3. The gas tank, well it might have been rusty, or someone painted the inside rust red. 
  4. There was a hole that was welded up on the lower right side of the tank. A good indication of rust in the tank. 
  5. There must have been some damage to the speedo, there was another blob of epoxy on it, sealing a hole I guess.
  6. The petcock was missing. 
  7. The headlight is missing.
  8. The right panier mounting latch fell apart when I took the bag off
  9. The title work is being done
Things I didn't find out:

  1. If keys were available
  2. What, if any the oil looked like. After 5+ years what would you expect
  3. If there were any electrics at all.

No comments:

Post a Comment