Gaiters on an "83 R65?

[grover1949]

I've got a 1983 R65 and need to rebuild the forks. Can I put a set of gaiters on them? If so, what modifications / changes / parts will I need?

Thanks!

 

[20774]

Off the top of my head, you'll need the gators, four clamps, and an open roll pins stuck in the lower yoke to let the gators breathe. You'll have to drop the sliders and lose the caps on the top of the sliders that are there now. Since you have the sliders off, you might as well replace the fork seals. You should really look at the fork tubes to make sure there are no stone bruises or imperfections in the surface. Otherwise, those will tear up the fork seals pretty quickly.

If the lower yoke assembly wasn't meant for gators, I'm not sure there's a place for the upper clamp to attach to. You'll need that to secure the top of the gator.

Snowbum has a little bit on this on his page:

http://bmwmotorcycletech.info/miscl.htm

 

[lmo1131]

If the lower yoke assembly wasn't meant for gators, I'm not sure there's a place for the upper clamp to attach to.

Basically there is no "place" for the upper clamp to attach. Other than the breather "roll pin" preventing the gaiter from rotating, the top end of the gaiter bears directly on the top of the stanchion tube; the upper end of the gaiter is "thicker" than the lower end that fits over the slider. All 247s use a 36mm diameter stanchion tube, so it's "just" a matter of determining which length gaiter you need - 11, 13 rib.

But more problematic may be the outside diameter of the top of the fork slider that the gaiter fits over. Easy enough to determine.

edit - I'm guessing, from Josh's project, that the diameter of the slider is not an issue.