New Old Bike: '73 R60/5

[kentuvman]

Greetings fellow airhead enthusiasts,

After being smitten with joy with my R65LS project, I've become hooked with Airheads. My first BMW was a 2003 F650GS and then I started moving the clock backwards as follows: '87 K75s, '82 R65LS and now '73 R60/5. The compelling feature for me of the slash 5's is the speedo/tach in the headlight bucket - kinda reminds me of an old Porsche.

The R65LS was a major project - she didn't run, had sat outside for a several MN winters and needed Everything! A great bike now but took a lot of resources to bring her back. Vowed if I ever bought another Airhead, she'd have to be in running condition.

Found this one at a reasonable cost. Seller was intimidated by the "complexities" of the bike. He was nervous about taking longer trips for fear of breaking down. Had a pretty good oil leak going and the speedo/tach reminds me of a windsock in variable winds while driving - fluctuates like crazy! I thought the leak would be pushrod seals but when I brought her home, discovered every 10mm bolt that holds the oil pan was very loose. Snugged 'em up and the leak seems to have stopped.

She has @ 80,000 on the clock and I've got receipts going back to 1999 - she's been pretty well maintained and is period correct for her age - no modifications. Came with BMW panniers in very good shape with keys, even the original tool kit and a Haynes book.

Took her for a 20 mile ride yesterday before the temps dropped here in MN - was in the 50's and this morning, there's snow on the ground! She runs amazing, idles well, clutch and transmission works good too. I filled her with non-oxy fuel and put in Seafoam before putting her up in the shed. All oils were recently changed and looked good.

[lakemaker]

What a gorgeous bike. Congrats!

[35634]

amazing find for an almost 40 yr old bike. I went from a r65ls to a k75s and never looked back, until last May when I bought the ultimate retro BMW, a Ural

[kentuvman]

something classical & magical about the Airheads.

[lmo1131]

SAH-weet old machine!!

Now, immediately disconnect the tachometer/speedometer cable(s) before they totally destroy your instruments.

Replace those two cables as soon as possible. If the tach/speedo continues to flucutate wildly ... you were too late. Time for an instrument rebuild.

[kentuvman]

SAH-weet old machine!!

Now, immediately disconnect the tachometer/speedometer cable(s) before they totally destroy your instruments.

Replace those two cables as soon as possible. If the tach/speedo continues to flucutate wildly ... you were too late. Time for an instrument rebuild.

Thanks, Lew

The plan is to send the instrument to Terry Vrla, aka Wirespokes - he repaired the speedo on the R65LS and cleaned up the speedo & tach so well they look new.

On the R60, the needles look sorta crooked and there appears to be some condensation or a smudge on the inside glass or plastic. I will order a new gasket as well as the replacement cables for the speedo & tach.

You can PM me if you'd like but curious to know where you buy your slash 5 parts.

Interestingly enough, I've got some service records on the bike - the 3rd owner behind me, acquired her in 1999 and lived in San Francisco - took her to BMW of San Fran, Die Werkstatt, and Darwin motors. He sold it to his brother who lives or lived in Minnesota and sold it to the party I purchased it from, who'd owned it @ 3 years.

Overall a lot of love & care has presided over this bike.

19 year old son Isaac, who rides dirt bikes fast, took her for a spin and was impressed with the nice power band of the bike.

[kentuvman]

Saw a picture of an R60/5 with the mirrors mounted on the headlight bucket - looks very cool and but read you basically get a good view of your knees.

The bar end mirrors look good too or best to stay with the stock mirrors?

Really interested in best visibility - there were big automotive concave spot mirrors attached to the stock mirrors when I bought her.

[braddog]

-snip-

Seller was intimidated by the "complexities" of the bike. He was nervous about taking longer trips for fear of breaking down.

-snip-

From the folks here and others that I know that ride airheads, that's part of the advantage of owning one; you can usually fix it on the fly.

That's a great looking R60, Kent. Way to go.

[tjtraver]

Hmmm ...,I have an R90 where every now and then on a cool day the tach jumps up by 3k or so . If I tap tach it drops back to where it should be .

On Brit cars I've seen dry speedo cables stick , then wind up , then release which bounces the needle up ... but that doesn't seem to be the case here . ( a graphite cable lube fixes this )

More closely I've seen Brit cars where too much cable lube will enter the speedo thru the cable connection and internal to the speedo stick the spinning metal housing to the needle assembly which causes it to read too high .
( a squirt of carb cleaner fixes this )

Reason I mention brit stuff as they are the only ones I'd seen with similar problems , where I've opened up the speedo and / or fixed it .

Should I replace my R90's cables ? I'm happy to do so ... But if so why ?
Not pushing back , just looking for what / how that fixes things vs fixes listed above.

Todd

[Walking Eagle]

Great buy, Ken. I've enjoyed your rebuild stories, and can only say that this is one LUCKY '73 machine to have fallen into your hands.

I still love my '94 Oilhead RS, but the Airheads in the garage also get ridden a LOT. Yes, they almost always "need some love" when acquired, and usually "need some more" when I return from a ride (despite thinking "nothing left to do" -- HA!), but the old ones remind me of a beautiful high-maintenance woman -- sometimes a PITA, but brother, it's worth it! (The analogy is NOT meant to be sexist.)

Thanks (again) for sharing. I'm currently of the opinion that Airheads are either something you "get" or you "don't get" and nothing for it. These are very HONEST machines, and repay the mandatory attention in S.E. grins many times over.

Walking Eagle

[kentuvman]

Thanks Walking Eagle - what a great calming name! (especially after a looong stress filled day).

Yea, I'm pretty psyched about acquiring this bike - I even emailed the seller telling him how grateful I am for him selling it to me - he knew it has potential but wasn't up for the task - some people just like to get on their bikes and ride - I respect that. He emailed me back and asked me to send pictures and feels good that I'll get her into shape.

To me, these old Airheads are like finding a nice piece of art - a Van Gogh or Rembrandt - sounds silly but I really get a lot of gratification from these bikes. What really helps the projects is the availability of spare parts - try getting parts for an old Honda! I recently fixed up a CT90 with a blown engine and had the only place that had a new crankshaft was in Thailand - good thing I wasn't stuck somewhere - it took 6 weeks to arrive.

I've sent the instrument pod to my buddy Terry "Wirespokes" Vrla to freshen her up. The rest of the stuff will be minor - lots of deep cleaning, lubing cables first (replacing if needed), instrument bulbs, just the basics. Compared to my R65LS project, this "should" be a cakewalk.