Ahhh, the universal metric crescent hammer!
Ahhh, the universal metric crescent hammer!
F.O.G.Rider, Rounder #6, Foundation Director
Ambassador, Biergarten co-chair
BMWRA Wisconsin Region Rep, security chair
I get mine at Walmart or any auto parts store.Originally Posted by ultracyclist
Scott Wynter
Pleasant Hill, CA
1971 R75/5 SWB, 2000 R1100R
BMWMOA, Central Cal, IBA, MFS Ridercoach, ECV.
This occasions the need to tell a story.
Voni and I have been to the doings at Sturgis a few times. Last time we went Voni made me promise that during the last 50 miles heading in, I couldn't stop to help/fix every bike we saw - or we would never get there. They all had a crowd anyway so we didn't leave anybody stranded.
We got to town, and parked the bikes in a lot 1 block from Main Street. Before we got to the street there was an attractive, somewhat scantily clad young lady standing on the sidewalk beside a Harley Davidson motorcycle, crying, and a guy in stout engineer boots soundly kicking the crap out of his rear brake caliper. I was still 1/4 block away when I smelled the odor of hot brakes - like following a big truck down a long steep hill.
I asked what was wrong! He said the brake just kept locking up. I could tell it was hot. He said it had been doing this all the way - ever since he took it off the trailer. I asked if he had a tool kit. He said, "Sure." He unstrapped a tool roll from his front forks and unrolled it. He had a 12" Crescent adjustable wrench, a pair of large Vice Grips, an old wood handled screw driver and a claw hammer. That was it!
I took the big Crescent wrench and used it to open the caliper bleed valve. "Psst." It shot hot brake fluid about 3 feet into the air. I closed the valve and he could then roll the bike. I asked if there was free play in the rear brake pedal. He said, Huh.?
So I checked. There wasn't any. I was able, barely, to use the Crescent wrench and Vice Grips to loosen the lock nut and adjust the pedal so there was a little free play. She quit crying. He was happy, and off they rode.
Paul Glaves - "Big Bend", Texas U.S.A
"The greatest challenge to any thinker is stating the problem in a way that will allow a solution." - Bertrand Russell
http://www.bigbend.net/users/glaves
"The Paul Glaves Texas Tool Rally"
Awards will be given to the riders who schlepped the most tools to Texas.
"What is beautiful is simple, and what is simple always works"....Kalashnikov, inventor of the AK-47.
Current Bike: '73 R75/5 "Center yourself in the vertizontal. Ride a motorcycle...namaste' "
For both, I just carry the tool kit that came with my motorcycle as well as a pocket-sized DMM and a few simple parts (QR O-rings, oil filler cap and oil sight glass) in a small Nalgene jar.
For both, I just carry the tool kit that came with my motorcycle as well as a pocket-sized DMM and a few simple parts (QR O-rings, oil filler cap and oil sight glass) in a small Nalgene jar.
Oil sight glass?? Are those prone to disappear? What does it take to install a new one?
From what I've read, some have popped out. I really can't understand why unless the seal around them is so dried out due to age and heat, or internal engine pressure (why), or a poor fit due to the hole not being machined to specification at BMW.
Nothing...if you have one one hand.
The sight glass popped out of my R1100RS sometime after about 150,000 miles. It did it right on startup, so I suppose that was a moment of higher than usual pressure. I put it back in by hand -- it didn't take much effort -- and then used some duct tape to help hold it in place until I could visit a BMW dealer a couple hours later and get it replaced.
HOw about some prevention....such as super glueing it in before it has a chance to pop out!?
How do you change the oil site glass?
Doesn't that automatically mean one should carry a spare container of oil, too?
"What is beautiful is simple, and what is simple always works"....Kalashnikov, inventor of the AK-47.
Current Bike: '73 R75/5 "Center yourself in the vertizontal. Ride a motorcycle...namaste' "
Superglue won't work. When it sets up, it's very brittle. Every time the motor runs and cools, it expands and contracts. The glue will break up, and it would probably provdie a smoother surface than the rubber sealing surface it coats.HOw about some prevention....such as super glueing it in before it has a chance to pop out!?
Just bring some duct tape with you. These things rarely if ever occur in a bike's lifetime. Duct tape will hold the old one in, if you should find it, or will keep the oil in enough for you to get to a dealer (or a place with more duct tape). Once the motor is running, there's a slight vacuum maintained and you shouldn't have to worry about the tape coming off.
In my case, I was in rural France and when I started my bike that morning, it was somehow louder than usual, like there was a hole in the exhaust pipe. It was loud enough that I heard it even with my earplugs in. I stopped to check it out and found the sight glass in the bushes next to me. I taped it back in place and got a new one installed that afternoon.
Use a machine screw to puncture the old glass and pull. You may need to use something like a screwdriver to lever the glass out. Lightly lubricate the rim of the new glass and push it in. A socket about the size of the glass can help. Keep the glass flush to the case. It's pretty much like installing any other seal.
As for oil, may not be needed immediately. Remember, if the oil level is at the bottom of the glass you're down maybe 1/2 a quart. Assuming you didn't have the bike leaned over or were pumping oil out you're not going to be down much more than that.
And on the hexheads the sight glass is held by a circlip.
// marc
If I ever have mine out, I'll see if there is enough material to machine the hole deeper; all I need is 0.100" . Then I can machine a goove for a circlip.HOw about some prevention....such as super glueing it in before it has a chance to pop out!?
Duct tape and...a "Harley" wrench! (The one with the red handle.)
1994 R1100RSL, '78 R100RS
"Ride hard or stay home."
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