Complete Restoration of BMW R75/5 into Cafe Racer

[r90r100r]

I thought it was "Awl".

Mac, I believe 'Awl' would be North Texas.

Mike
76 R90/6
93 R100R Legend

[EBEEBY]

Then there was the gal who told her car dealer that she was missing part number 710. They looked it up, found nothing, insisted there was no part number 710. She took them out and opened the hood and pointed to the OIL fill spout and said "see, the cap that goes on there is missing. I remember it had a number on it - 710"

[Anyname]

Then there was the gal who told her car dealer that she was missing part number 710. They looked it up, found nothing, insisted there was no part number 710. She took them out and opened the hood and pointed to the OIL fill spout and said "see, the cap that goes on there is missing. I remember it had a number on it - 710"

Ah, that would be the the ID 10 T error on computers.

[balkowitsch]

Then there was the gal who told her car dealer that she was missing part number 710. They looked it up, found nothing, insisted there was no part number 710. She took them out and opened the hood and pointed to the OIL fill spout and said "see, the cap that goes on there is missing. I remember it had a number on it - 710"

That is funny, thanks for sharing, have to remember that one.

Thanks,
Shane

[lmo1131]

... have to remember that one.

Both of them!!

[ANDYVH]

How about the gal that argued at the Ford dealer about parts for her FISO pickup truck. The parts guy is going "huh?" She takes him out to the pickup and points to the F-150 badge on the side. "I told you, I want parts for my FISO" she claimed.

[balkowitsch]

Happy Holidays to everyone at BMWOA, you guys and gals have been great and thanks for following my build, it is getting many hits and I appreciate all the comments, advice and comradery.

Sincerely,
Shane

[balkowitsch]

I just got a set of tail lights for the build, click below, we are going to have them powdercoated with everything else to match the bike. They seem to be the perfect size for our project.

http://www.lickscycles.com/catalog/p...oducts_id=2030

Happy Holidays,
Shane

[ANDYVH]

Just had a thought for your cafe racer build. Its real easy to find good quality rebuildable/tuneable shocks for the rear, but the front fork has always been limited in upgrades. Certainly, you can do the Progressive Springs, preload spacers, fork brace, billet upper triple clamp (or use a stock lower triple clamp on the top too, upside down), play with different oil grades and volumes. But beyond that its still limited to a really basic damper rod style fork.

Has anyone tried a Cartridge Fork Emulator in the old BMW forks? RaceTech and others in California make these for many older bikes, but I don't recall ever reading about some installed in the 70's vintage forks on a BMW.

Oh, and I agree with the other posts about going with rear shock about 1/2" longer than stock to speed up the steering a bit.

[balkowitsch]

Just had a thought for your cafe racer build. Its real easy to find good quality rebuildable/tuneable shocks for the rear, but the front fork has always been limited in upgrades. Certainly, you can do the Progressive Springs, preload spacers, fork brace, billet upper triple clamp (or use a stock lower triple clamp on the top too, upside down), play with different oil grades and volumes. But beyond that its still limited to a really basic damper rod style fork.

Has anyone tried a Cartridge Fork Emulator in the old BMW forks? RaceTech and others in California make these for many older bikes, but I don't recall ever reading about some installed in the 70's vintage forks on a BMW.

Oh, and I agree with the other posts about going with rear shock about 1/2" longer than stock to speed up the steering a bit.

I will pass the suggestion onto Josh and we can do some research, thanks alot.

Sincerely,
Shane

[jad01]

I will pass the suggestion onto Josh and we can do some research, thanks alot.

Sincerely,
Shane

Motorcycle Classics had a tech article last year on upgrading a /6 with a Race Tech cartridge emulator: http://www.motorcycleclassics.com/cl...ion-bmw-6.aspx

It seems like I've seen some positive comments about the Race Tech setup on this forum as well.

[MonoRT]

I had the folks at Race Tech set me up with cartridge emulators for my 85 R80RT. They did have to do a little machine work on those Brembo sliders. That was one of the best upgrades I've done. I had played around with Works springs and fork oil viscosity changes, but I was not able to get beyond a stiff or soft pair of pogo sticks.

With the Race Tech guts, I can ride over the "Bot's Dots" on the freeway and the fork just tracks along with no drama.

[mymindsok]

SNIP....

Has anyone tried a Cartridge Fork Emulator in the old BMW forks? RaceTech and others in California make these for many older bikes, but I don't recall ever reading about some installed in the 70's vintage forks on a BMW. SNIP...

There have been several threads about installing and setting emilators over on ADVRider.

Just do a search!

OTOH the /5 and /6 forks can pretty easily be set up and work quite well. WAY better than the Brembo era forks! After rebuilding my forks and setting them up, I've had several test riders complement me on them and I did a stock rebuild with fresh oil.
(I'd have to check befores pecifying the weight!)

[balkowitsch]

Thanks for all the advice and comments on the front forks suspension. I hope everyone had a nice holiday and a great New Years coming up this weekend. We will continue to move forward.

Thanks,
Shane

[balkowitsch]

Josh has been busy and did another technical write-up I wanted to share:

http://beemersandbits.com/2011/12/fi...rs+and+Bits%29

Happy New Year everyone,
thanks for following,
Shane