Complete Restoration of BMW R75/5 into Cafe Racer

[balkowitsch]

And I was just about to delete my post...

Glad you got a kick out of that, I sure do miss him and our little cups of coffee we would have together over the next Porsche design.

Thanks,
Shane

[balkowitsch]

Just had a 45 minute talk with Josh over the phone, always good to hear his voice, we ironed out some questions we had. He is going to have the tins ready for paint hopefully in the next couple of weeks. We are looking to Spring as the completion date for the bike, that would give him time to break the bike in as well and make any adjustments before I have it shipped back to North Dakota. I am very excited to continue with this wonderful journey, it very therapeutic for me.

Thanks,
Shane

[Walking Eagle]

Somebody up there in the northern prairie needs to loan/rent/give Shane a motorcycle so he can get a few rides in before the earth either freezes or burns up over the winter . . . Spring will come, and we hear now that this beautiful work of art is on the way home along with it. The rider must ready himself for the road ahead.

This machine won't be a living room ornament, and we don't want any abraded bar-ends nor head scrapes on those marvelous lustrous peanuts before their time, eh? That's just plain wrong.

If no volunteers for this worthy cause, at least North Dakota is one of the better places to learn to drive, ride a motorcycle, or fly a kite, and this new little baby isn't exactly a Goldwing. Besides, any guy with a Porsche knows some hand/eye coordination right smart.

This thread just gets better and better as time approaches. You and Josh are really building something special together, so don't let him get married again and take a long honeymoon until this is finished!

Walking Eagle

[balkowitsch]

Somebody up there in the northern prairie needs to loan/rent/give Shane a motorcycle so he can get a few rides in before the earth either freezes or burns up over the winter . . . Spring will come, and we hear now that this beautiful work of art is on the way home along with it. The rider must ready himself for the road ahead.

This machine won't be a living room ornament, and we don't want any abraded bar-ends nor head scrapes on those marvelous lustrous peanuts before their time, eh? That's just plain wrong.

If no volunteers for this worthy cause, at least North Dakota is one of the better places to learn to drive, ride a motorcycle, or fly a kite, and this new little baby isn't exactly a Goldwing. Besides, any guy with a Porsche knows some hand/eye coordination right smart.

This thread just gets better and better as time approaches. You and Josh are really building something special together, so don't let him get married again and take a long honeymoon until this is finished!

Walking Eagle

Dear Walking Eagle, damn I look forward to your posts, you have a way with words, don't worry, I will have practice under my belt, I will take the safety class and with license before driving the Cafe Racer, this summer just gotten away from me, but trust me, in the spring, it will be done and I will post my progress. You are absolutely correct, it will be driven, I just turned over 3000 miles on my Porsche and people always say "why do you drive that car around?" and I say "Not driving this car would be like being married to a super model and not being able to sleep with her!" Jay Leno says, restore the vehicle to 100 Point Concourse Perfection and then drive it until it is down to 1 and restore it again, I like that philosophy.

Thanks again,
Shane

[RINTY]

3,000 miles; well done.

[balkowitsch]

We are going to go with the Shorai battery for under the rear cowl, hidden and out of view.

Product Information -
BrandShorai Inc
Manufacturer Part Number42-3813
Item Weight 4 Pounds
Height 8.30 inches
Length 9 inches
Width 5 inches

Ordered it today, cheapest on Amazon. $182.28.

Thanks,
Shane

[balkowitsch]

After much playing around, I think Josh and I have come up with the magical width of the Porsche White race stripe for the bike. 3" appears to be just perfect. It was important for me to have it be wide and beefy and to encompass the gas filler and the emblem on the ass end of the bike, and as you can see from our tape mockup, mission accomplished!

Thanks,
Shane

[balkowitsch]

Another Look at stripe

[balkowitsch]

More

[balkowitsch]

Final

[balkowitsch]

Josh was just not happy with what he had going for the license plate bracket so he got some aluminum and fabricated a newer one, it sits more snug up under the seat cowl. I think we will have it painted with the tins,

Thanks,
Shane

[balkowitsch]

Not the best picture but gives you an idea as to what it looks like.

Thanks,
Shane

[balkowitsch]

Josh has sent me the original VIN plate from the front column for safe keeping. With the Porsche I encased the VIN plate with the original hood emblem and keep it in the glove box of the car, I want to make the same kind of protective case for the BMW VIN. The problem is that we do not have an original BMW emblem off either of the two bikes, they just were not included when we bought the bikes. But there was one BMW logo, it is an aftermarket emblem and we do have that, here is a picture of it, it will have to suffice, at least it was with the bike for some years, would nice to have an original but what can you do. I will share a picture of the final case once I get it back from the trophy shop.

Josh is picking tires out this week I believe. He has been doing much research and everyone is recommending going with the stock size tires, we were going to go beefier but I think we may just stick with stock width. Any thoughts about tires, please post them, would love feedback and input from guys in the know.

Thanks,
Shane

[20774]

Josh is picking tires out this week I believe. He has been doing much research and everyone is recommending going with the stock size tires, we were going to go beefier but I think we may just stick with stock width. Any thoughts about tires, please post them, would love feedback and input from guys in the know.

Currently being discussed here:

http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showthread.php?t=62983

[40427]

You could post a wanted advertisement on the forum for old original badges, or on the IBMWR , and Adventure Rider forums.
Lot's of fairly obscure stuff shows up in all three locations.