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Beginner questions from a new owner.

ivicenzo

New member
Hello,

After many years growing up admiring my friend dad's collection, I decided that it was my time to own one of these beauties. And I got myself 2. One fully restored 1966 r50/2 and a 1971 r60/5 that will need some love but it is running after a quick visit to the mechanic.

In this thread I will address only questions for the r50. The first one is about the best gasoline to put in it. By personal car experience, my mini cooper only takes premium. Les than that and it's evident the engine doesn't like it.

Thanks,


Ivan.
 
Ivan -

Welcome to the forum! Nice instant collection of bikes!

As for the /2, the lowest grade of gas should be fine. The compression is 7.5:1...that's pretty low so start with the low grade and go from there.

Curious minds want to know...what does fully restored on the /2 mean? Is that cosmetically or does it include the engine?
 
Fully restored. Starts at the first kick and it just feels great.

Thanks for the answer about the gas. I guess my concern was about regular an silver ethanol content in gasoline. At least here in Canada.

Thanks,
 
87 octane (US methods) should be sufficient. I think US is [R+M divided by 2].
 
Resurrecting this thread. I've had a frame up restored '64 R50/2 for about a year now. Unfortunately have only managed to put about 400mi on her and have some newbie questions myself. Re stating this first question from the picture thread this was touted as a numbers bike but with a possible factory re stamp. I've always wondered what that means (636315). The restorer said to treat this like a new bike so at 500-600mi change it's oil and carry on and that I shouldn't have to do anything "serious" for at least a few years. It has a slight oil leak (more of a drip actually) that I can't really tell where is comes from. Appears to be the drain plug and/or breather tube but could also be the edge of the oil pan. I think the tube drip is normal. The throttle feels like it has too much play and wonder if there's a quick way to adjust that. She used to start on one or two kicks. Now she likes the throttle cracked open to start, IOW she basically won't unless I do that. I do have the Barrington Motor Works manual and it has tons of information but it never just tells you how to do something (like the throttle play adjustment). Are there any more straightforward forward reference materials? I'm not a "wrench" but am not opposed to diving in and trying. A quasi local BMW dealer works on vintage and I'm considering just taking it to them in a few hundred more miles....is that a good idea? I did do searches for this stuff but not having much luck. Thanks in advance.
 
daveyator -

I responded to your other post with the picture regarding the restamp.

So frame up restoration means the whole ball of wax? Engine internals, meaning new bearings and the slingers cleaned/replaced? I'm not sure I'd be that hands off for 2-3 years...maybe that's just me. I'd be changing oil a little more frequently. Break-in is important, varying speeds and decelerations but keeping away from the highway speeds...just more local stuff. You should be checking the valve clearances fairly regularly and probably need to retorque the head bolts at least once. If they remain snug and don't move at say 25 ft-lbs, then things are settling in. What you're looking for is the head gasket might be compressing some which changes the valve clearances. Clearances should be kept at 0.15mm intake and 0.20mm exhaust.

As for the oil leak, you should probably clean the bike in the area and ride again to see where the oil is coming from...maybe blow some baby powder around the area to see where it sticks. I think you should recheck the bolts that hold the oil pan on. I don't know the torque but I just use a nut driver with a 10mm socket on the end. In a criss-cross pattern, just give each bolt a bit of a turn to get a nice snug feeling. I suppose the oil pipe up front could have oily gases come out, but that hasn't been my experience. Hopefully the restorer put strong rare earth magnets in the oil pan...this will attract the metal bits that are a result of the break-in.

On the throttle, likely the handle part isn't meshing quickly enough with the part of the throttle mechanism. There is a section on Duane's page about throttle adjustment:

https://w6rec.com/bmw-motorcycle-controls-and-cables-adjustment-and-replacement/

I believe there are supposed to be marks on the handle tube and the throttle side that should match up when the cover is put back on. Give it a try. If it doesn't feel any better, remove it and try another tooth either side to improve it.

Continue to ask questions here and we can help. You can also look at the Vintage BMW MO forum/website here: https://vintagebmw.org/forum/ - It's free to join but there are some things that come only with a paid membership. Also get to know Vech and Richard at Bench Mark Works down in Mississippi. They have your parts and are more than willing to help out on the phone.

http://www.benchmarkworks.com/
 
Thanks for the tip. The oil pan bolts were indeed not "tight" but not loose either so I "snugged" them as much as I dare. The throttle info was useful but wow I just can't get it to do quite what Duane says it will do.
 
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