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Anyone near Bloomington,IL that could go over my bike with me?

hoobie7

New member
So I bought my bike back in December of 2017. It is a 1977 BMW R75/7. I spent that winter getting it running and then rode it for most of this season. With the cold weather upon us again I would like to start tearing it apart and really get it in tip top shape. I'd like someone with some experience with these bikes take it for a ride and give me some second opinions on what I think it needs.

Thanks!
Hobie7

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Welcome to the forum! While you wait for some locals to check in, maybe you can tell us what you did to get it running and how it has been running? What kind of gas mileage does it get? How many miles are on the clock? I'm sure there are some short term maintenance things that should be done, and you might be looking at bigger items depending on the mileage and past usage.
 
Welcome to the forum Hobie7:wave
If the screen name is wrong, call the office and they can correct.

That said, some response may come along here, more so in Airheads.


One of the suggestions will be to check this site out, join and find folks near you.

http://www.airheads.org/

Good luck with the /7
 
Ya if I can't find anybody local I may just start asking questions in here and airheads.org.

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I'll try to make this short and sweet.
The bike reads 90,000 miles but it could be 190K I suppose.
Bought the bike from a guy that never got it running. The question that should have caught my attention more was "Are you good with electrical?". At some point the bike had a fairing and hard bags on it. There were a lot of vampire crimps and splices. The biggest problem was there was no fuses! With some work I got the electrical sorted out and started getting it to at least turn over. At that point I was willing to put more effort into it. Honestly once it's warmed up she runs pretty darn well.

List of fixes:
Removed vampire crimps
Installed fuses
Installed new battery
Rewired ignition/tumbler
Replaced headlight relay
Replaced choke cables
Rebuilt petcocks
Adjusted valve clearance
Replaced tires
Replaced stripped valve cover bolt
Rgapped spark plugs
Cleaned carb jets
Replaced clutch safety switch
Replaced brake pressure sensor

Issues:
Currently it leaks oil so I bought a complete gasket kit.
The clutch seems at the high end of the travel so I'm thinking it needs to be replaced.
The brakes seem a bit soft so I'm thinking I need to rebuild the master cylinder and/or replace pads
Even with a new battery it seems to have a hard time getting that first crank, not sure if that is a starter or alternator issue yet

And if I don't find a local person I'll prolly just copy\pasta all of this into the airheads section.
 
I live near Peoria. Send a PM for telephone contact. There is a member near Lexington who has an Airhead tech day scheduled for May 5. Are you a member of the Airheads Beemer Club? www.airheads.org

I think 750's are the very best airhead motor.

"hard time getting that first crank", could be a static timing issue.
 
Even with a new battery it seems to have a hard time getting that first crank

Nice list of things that you did! Install fuses? Those are normally in the headlight shell...did the PO wire directly across the contacts or was their a different headlight bucket installed?

As for the first crank...are you saying that the starter turns over very slow or are you saying it cranks fine but just doesn't fire up quickly? If it's the later, it could be timing, but could be the carb enrichener circuits aren't working, could be the valves are not set quite. Not sure of your experience with the Airhead motor, but there are a few "quirks" about setting the valves.

As for the front brake, you probably should at least flush the fluid and see where you are...then think about a master cylinder rebuild.

Where are the leaks? Two common places are the pushrod tube seals and the oil pressure sender switch. At 90K, the pushrod tube seals are likely hard and they need to be replaced.
 
The Hoosier Beemers is your local club. Check out this club. You are also within striking distance to one of the top Airhead technicians in the country. Gunther Wuest in southern Indiana is well known for his knowledge of /2, /5 and other Airhead motorcycles.
 
The Hoosier Beemers is your local club. Check out this club. You are also within striking distance to one of the top Airhead technicians in the country. Gunther Wuest in southern Indiana is well known for his knowledge of /2, /5 and other Airhead motorcycles.

I think the Dinky Dozen would be more local to Bloomington, IL. Send a private message to Chasman and I suspect he can aim you in the right direction.
 
Install fuses? Those are normally in the headlight shell...did the PO wire directly across the contacts or was their a different headlight bucket installed?
The guy I bought it from had already removed the fairing but my guess is it had some sort of remote fuse holder because where the fuses should have been there were just wires soldered on to the tabs.


Ok, got signed up on the Airheads forum and found the central Illinois tech day. Also found the Dinky Dozen on Facebook. I got in contact
with James.A so hopefully I'll get this bike all sorted out. Thanks everyone for the help!
 
So... I met up with Hoobie today to give his airhead a good looking over. Without knowing the history of the bike, he has a very fine specimen. I think it is an honest 90,000 mile bike that has seen more care than neglect in the last 40 years. A diamond in the rough, if you will.
 
Local to you

I am a Champaign, IL rider.

I would enjoy looking at your bike with you sometime
and perhaps I could help.

However the guy in Indiana would be a good day trip
if you'd like to head over there one day this winter.
He understands the vintage bikes.
Linton, Indiana is his area.

I have been wanting to pay him a visit.

PM me.
or email
ken@shape-master.com
 
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