1973 R 75/5 Restoration

Hey everyone, I just picked up a 75/5 yesterday!

A little background: I own a 2012 R1200 R Classic for almost 3 years now. This was my first boxer in 35 years of riding and I love it!! In the past I have restored a CB 750 and a KZ 1000, but I decided I wanted to dig into a fine airhead now and the 75/5 seemed to be a good compromise, given the fact that I can't quite afford a R69S at this stage in my life.

The bike I picked up looks unmolested to me. The gentleman I bought it from had it sit in his garage for the last 9 years, never registered for the street. But he rode it around the neighborhood occasionally, so I was able to ride it as well.

I have experience maintaining my Camhead, however don't know much about these old bikes. I thought I'd ride it around the block a few times to warm up the engine, then change all the fluids, air filter, plugs, check the points, etc. Once I got that sorted out, I probably should check the valves, maybe disassemble the carbs for a good cleaning and so on. Tires are old, but the wheels are top notch, clean and straight, brakes are good too, however can't hurt to take a peek inside. Anything else important I am missing?

I'll post more pics soon, looking forward to discussing some of this stuff here, loved the write-up about the white bike.

Cheers, Olaf

Nice find!! How many miles? That sounds like a good list to cover. Down the road you'll need to consider the transmission input splines as well as the rear wheel splines...probably do that when you're changing rubber. Wheel bearings might need some attention. Cycleworks makes a bearing greaser that plugs into the axle holes and pump grease through the bearings. Not as good as pulling the bearings and hand greasing, but something.

Welcome aboard! Very nice example of a /5 for you to get lucky enough to start out with. Very lucky. Get a good manual too start with..........A ride around the block is not enough to even get the mufflers warmed up......15 to 20 miles is a good round number. For me, I suggest in this order: Torque the heads and set the valves. Pull the plugs, remove the front cover, replace the points and condenser, set the timing statically, put the plugs in, fire it up, check idle and set that roughly. See if you can time it with a timing light. Now if it runs, go for a warm up ride of 15 to 20 miles. Bring it back and set the carbs.............While it's hot....drain those fluids or an alternate to that is to put in some el-cheapo oils after draining the old over night. NOW GET IT RUNNING WITH THE ABOVE STUFF. After that is done, now put in the good fluids..............Actually this just scratches the surface.......Good luck

Nice looking machine! You chose wisely!

You might want to persue the many articles on Snowbum's website to get any idea of the usual maintenance items and some of the "gotchas" of the /5.

http://bmwmotorcycletech.info/

Thanks for the great advice everyone!

Bike has 41,000 mls on it and I believe it to be true, given that is pretty much sat for 10 years and only had one owner before that, who sold it because he got too old to ride.

I'll post some pics when I get the bike home tomorrow, hopefully it turns out to be as unmolested as I think it is. My goal is to get an as close to 100% original bike as possible back on the road!

Side question: Is there a way that I can get email notifications, if someone posts a new reply?

anotherbmw said:

Side question: Is there a way that I can get email notifications, if someone posts a new reply?

Click to expand...

Click on Thread Tools at the top of the page. Then subscribe to the thread. That should send you an email using what you provided in your profile.

20774 said:

Click on Thread Tools at the top of the page. Then subscribe to the thread. That should send you an email using what you provided in your profile.

Click to expand...

Thanks!

Do all the maintenance but don't try to "restore" it. They're only original once.

1074 said:

Do all the maintenance but don't try to "restore" it. They're only original once.

Click to expand...

That's exactly what I am thinking! My goal is to get it as close to original as possible (with the Internet's help and the people behind it!), including leaving the rust bubbles on the tank.

Brought the bike home to today! Will start a fresh thread "1973 R75/5 Back-to-road Project", since it really isn't a "Restoration". Check out my other thread and see for yourself. And I hope y'all stick around!