Assorted Fairing Questions '84 R80RT

Hey guys, thanks for all the great advice on replacing the steering head bearings, but since there's still snow on the ground I figured I'd take care of some cosmetic things which leads me to a few questions about my fairing.

I am replacing the large rubber strip "gasket" around the front, outside were the fairing meets the windscreen, P.N. 46631240649, see fische link below.

http://www.maxbmwmotorcycles.com/fiche/MainDiagrams.asp?VIN=6173761

I've read through what I could on the list about installing it, but are there any hints or tricks on it's installation? It seems that I have copper grommets on the black plastic dash that the inner insert of the "gasket" strip gets inserted into, which don't seem removable and removing the old gasket requires tearing it out. I don't think I can successfully tear the new one in

My second question is, the black finish on the interior of this VERY large fairing has worn out spots, dings and scuffs that have revealed the white below. Is there any way to touch this up without removing the whole fairing and repainting without making it look like I took a roller and a can of Benjamin Moore to it? I DO NOT want to remove the fairing.

Any and all advice is appreciated!

Mike

Fairing Questions

You'll have to drill the heads off the rivets. The most important trick is to drill fast enough to get the head off the rivet before the dash gets hot enough to let the rivets spin. Once you have all the rivets out, the dash is lifted away and the new gasket installed. Doing a good job re-riveting requires a special tool. Many choose to simply bolt the dash back on, only using the rivets at the two front holes.

Making the interior look good again will require removing the inner panels. This is even less fun than replacing the windshield gasket. Once you have them out, simply prep and spray with a low-gloss or flat black spray paint.

There are several gaskets and whatnot inside as well. Check a fiche to see what you may want to replace.

Removing the fairing is not too tough, but a two man job to prevent scratching.

Check the cross piece that attaches under the gas tank to stabilize the fairing. Mine was broken.

Now repeat after me: "While I'm in here...," then take out your checkbook.

This helps too

question

So if I'm understanding correctly, the order of things is this:

1: pull out the rubber prongs from the outer lip of the gasket from the windscreen

2: remove windscreen

3: drill out brass grommets

4: install new gasket with rigid grommets to dashboard

5: reinstall windscreen

6: pop new rubber grommets from new gasket into fairing?

Do i have this right???

Also, dead center on the fairing, sandwiched between the rubber gasket and the windscreen is a flush bracket about 3/8" top to bottom x 2.5"-3" left to right that seems to be holding the fairing to something underneath. How does this come out? How does it get replaced? Does it get destroyed like the old gasket?

Thanks in advance for any help!

M

mbellantone said:

Also, dead center on the fairing, sandwiched between the rubber gasket and the windscreen is a flush bracket about 3/8" top to bottom x 2.5"-3" left to right that seems to be holding the fairing to something underneath. How does this come out? How does it get replaced? Does it get destroyed like the old gasket? M

Click to expand...

This is the bracket that holds the windshield to the fairing at the front. There are studs at each end of the bracket and there are nylock nuts that have to be removed from them, which granted isn't easy. These nuts are very easy to lose, so don't drop them. It's an awful job and of course the headlight glass has to be out for access.

You have to use nylock nuts here, as they cannot be tightened down until they stop or the windshield won't raise/lower.

The big rubber gasket could be reused, but you'd have to glue it to the windscreen as you'll never get the previous windscreen off without losing the little "****" on the gasket.

1: pull out the rubber prongs from the outer lip of the gasket from the windscreen
And remove screws holding windshield to the 2 adjustment levers on each side as well as remove the eyebrow light to gain access to the 2 nuts holding that metal strip in the centre of the windshield at the bottom . Must remove that to get windshield off. I found it easiest with the eybrow light and the headlight tunnel removed.
2: remove windscreen
Yes, as above

3: drill out brass grommets
they are actually brass rivets, but yes drill them out carefully

4: install new gasket with rigid grommets to dashboard
You can use new brass rivets or small flush mounting black plastic nuts and bolts with washers. I got mine at Home Depot, but lots of hardware stores carry them.
5: reinstall windscreen
Don't forget to install that metal strip in the centre bottom of the windshield. Without that, the windshield will not seal properly at the bottom.
6: pop new rubber grommets from new gasket into fairing?
You got it done.
Now go have a beer and admirer your good workmanship.

mbellantone said:

6: pop new rubber grommets from new gasket into fairing? M

Click to expand...

The "****" on the new rubber gasket only go through the windshield.

Thank You!

you guys saved me a heap of stress about this... I always wonder how the hell these guys design these things... not in a bad way, but such complication for a simple thing.

AMAZING!

shire2000 said:

You can use new brass rivets or small flush mounting black plastic nuts and bolts with washers. I got mine at Home Depot, but lots of hardware stores carry them.

Click to expand...

You can obtain the correct hollow rivets from a BMW dealer and they're really inexpensive. Anything else will look dumb and won't work as well. Anything with a head that protrudes above flush will contact the windshield when it's raised/lowered.

There is a BMW special tool for installing these rivets, but you may be able to use a drywall screw and a nut to squeeze them into place.

Where I am, of course, I just borrow the local BMW club's tool. If you're on good terms with your BMW dealer--and you should be--they may even loan their tool.

lkchris said:

You can obtain the correct hollow rivets from a BMW dealer and they're really inexpensive. Anything else will look dumb and won't work as well. Anything with a head that protrudes above flush will contact the windshield when it's raised/lowered.

There is a BMW special tool for installing these rivets, but you may be able to use a drywall screw and a nut to squeeze them into place.

Where I am, of course, I just borrow the local BMW club's tool. If you're on good terms with your BMW dealer--and you should be--they may even loan their tool.

Click to expand...

If you can't borrow the tool, there is a low cost alternative. I found a great way to do it on the internet a few years ago. While it's no longer available on the net (it vanished), I have a copy of the article. Just PM with your email and I'll send you a copy. In any case, I try and explain the procedure in the following paragraph.

Bring a copper rivet to the hardware store and buy countersunk bolts, washers, and nuts. Place the rivet side to be crushed toward the countersunk head first, add some washers, the nut, and tighten. This will begin spread the rivet portion out. After a short bit, you will reach the maximum that's achievable. You're only half way there. Remove the bolt from the rivet, then re-assemble in this order. Washers on the bolt first, then the rivet (side to be crushed toward the washers),
more washers and nut. Continue to tighten until the rivet is tight.

I hope I did an OK job explaining this in the short time I could spend at work. If not, I apologize for confusing anyone. By the way, I used this method when I replaced my dash and rubber seal, and it worked well.

As to the rivets. Like I said earlier, I got some nice countersunk black plastic bolts and nuts from Home depot when I did mine. You can't even see them, they blend in perfectly with the dash.

The last time I was in my favourite BMW shop, the owner had brought in some bolts that look exactly the same. Comes in a blister pack with enough to do 2 fairlings. I think they were around $5.00 Cdn. You can order them from Shail's Motorcycles. http://shailsmotorcycles.com/ they have a 1-800 number. Shail is a good guy who was factory trained by BMW back in the 70's and 80's. He knows these airheads better than the designers.

Picky, Picky, Picky...

88bmwJeff said:

Bring a copper rivet to the hardware store

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Jeff - You are the first person to call those little bastard rivets what they are - COPPER ! They are copper, NOT brass.

Why does anybody care, one might ask? Here's why:

As has been mentioned previously, they are a real bitch to drill off, in my experience (which happens to be on RS machines, BTW) and those copper rivets are soft, gummy and very annoying.

Any drill bit will immediately try to "dig-in." This is especially true for the common, "fluted" drill bit, the kind that MOST folks have around.

The instant that drill bit digs-in, the rivet will spin in the hole, with the bit and the rivet now locked together as one.

Keep that drill motor turning now and you will only enlarge the hole in the plastic fairing and dash panel.

I have had better luck (I'd like to say MUCH better luck but I'll stick with "better") by using a so-called "step" drill, trade name "Unibit."

The Unibit does not have the two flutes of a "conventional" drill bit and has a lot less tendency to dig-in to those soft rivets.

If you are LUCKY, and have a light touch, you can wear away most of the swaged end of the rivet - BEFORE it begins to spin in the hole - and it WILL spin in the hole!

After that, you're on your own. Sometimes, I've been able to use needle nosed pliers (fine-tipped ones) to squeeze that end of the rivet in far enough that it will poke through the hole.

No matter what you do - IT AIN'T PRETTY...!

I got so tired of this (on the RS) that I ditched the copper rivets - for good and for ever in favor of an entirely different system.

I won't mention it (explain it, I mean) here because it probably wouldn't work on an RT.

Good luck!

Just another reason to go find those plastic bolts. So, unless you are building a bike for concourse competition, go with the platic bolts. They work. You can hardly see them after installation. And you can remove them very easily the next time you may need to. Also, no special tools required to install or remove them. I bet everyone has a 3mm allen wrench and a 9mm box end wrench.

Just fished the package mine came in from the back of a drawer. Distributed by Lockhart Phillips of California. Their part number is 101-118. Comes with 10 in the package. Last batch I bought was $8.98 Cdn.

They will work on both RS and RT fairings.

shire2000 said:

Just fished the package mine came in from the back of a drawer. Distributed by Lockhart Phillips of California. Their part number is 101-118. Comes with 10 in the package. Last batch I bought was $8.98 Cdn.

Click to expand...

Shire2000, I looked on their catalog, and part 101-118 are aluminum windscreen bolts and nuts, while Part 101-100 are nylon bolts and nuts for windscreens. They're on page 86-87 of their catalog.

http://www.lockhartphillipsusa.com/

Maybe I read the part number wrong on the package, but they are the plastic ones in the right hand picture. All black. I see I got charge a fair bit more for them, but shipping would have been even more.

They work very well. Never had any issues with them getting loose or breaking. Just remember, Don't over tighten your plastic nuts.

Mike, I just sent you an email with the PDF.

Hi Mike:

I'll suggest that you do not try to drill them out, since once the rivet attaches to the drill bit and begins to spin, it heats up, and as another poster mentioned, enlarges the hole. Then, you have a whole new problem.

The best way I found was to use a punch on the edge of each rivet, carefully collapsing the top part into itself. This will get easier after the first one. Once you get it collapsed sufficiently, just tap it through the fairing towards the rear.

To install the new rivets, get a drywall screw and a pop rivet tool. File down the threads on the screw so that it will fit into the pop rivet tool. The fluted head of the screw does a great job of spreading the backside of the new rivet as it is compressed. PM me if you need more clarification.

Good Luck!

Greg

I'm about to squeeze those copper rivets in place. I'm tempted to convert to plastic screws; page 79; http://www.lockhartphillipsusa.com/Catalog Viewer/2010_Catalog_LPUSA.pdf
Anybody seen "stuff" you can screw together, do the rivets job, and have an open center, so that the center windscreen piece can go through? That would be neat!
Hans

88bmwjeff said:

If you can't borrow the tool, there is a low cost alternative. I found a great way to do it on the internet a few years ago. While it's no longer available on the net (it vanished), I have a copy of the article. Just PM with your email and I'll send you a copy. In any case, I try and explain the procedure in the following paragraph.

Bring a copper rivet to the hardware store and buy countersunk bolts, washers, and nuts. Place the rivet side to be crushed toward the countersunk head first, add some washers, the nut, and tighten. This will begin spread the rivet portion out. After a short bit, you will reach the maximum that's achievable. You're only half way there. Remove the bolt from the rivet, then re-assemble in this order. Washers on the bolt first, then the rivet (side to be crushed toward the washers),
more washers and nut. Continue to tighten until the rivet is tight.

I hope I did an OK job explaining this in the short time I could spend at work. If not, I apologize for confusing anyone. By the way, I used this method when I replaced my dash and rubber seal, and it worked well.

Click to expand...

Do you mind sending me the article you mention?

If you don't use the correct hollow rivets

FYI, Two hollow copper rivets MUST be used in the center of the windscreen. This allows the pain in the butt bracket to fit from front to behind the dash. As Ikcrhis mentioned this is a bear of a design to get the ny lock nuts on and tightened.

If you don't use this bracket and directly bolt the windscreen, you will give up the adjustment feature.

This is only true of stock style windscreens such as BMW direct replacement or Clear-view.

The parabellum shields use an entirely different mounting system that does not use the rubber strip and does not have a tilt or adjustable screen. Cheers, St.