stevenrankin
Active member
This was posted in another thread along with a comment about shade tree mechanics.
I am currently in the middle of a major overhaul of a BMW airhead bike. This will be the first major restore or overhaul of this bike. I have in the past restored two R90S bikes an a partial restore of a 78RS.
One thing I am certain of is BMW engineers didn't always get it right. Or should I say, some may have but it is not apparent to me.
I find myself cursing the many goofy ways things were designed on this motorcycle that make it a royal pain to work on but in all honesty made it faster and cheaper to assemble in the factory. After all, that is the real bottom line, design it so it goes together fast, with cheapest materials and sell for the most money.
When it comes time to have it repaired, design it so it has to go back to the factory dealership shop where we can charge boutique prices for service and repair.
I am by all accounts a "shade tree" mechanic, but I can say this, I sure as heck could if I had been an engineer, designed better ways to put things together on this bike to make it easier to work on.
Then again, I forget, BMW doesn't like or want people like me as customers, They want customers who trade in bikes every three years, not keep them for 36 years and hundreds of thousand miles.
They can't stay in business just selling parts even if they did sell all the parts I need to keep my bike on the road. Sadly, they don't even sell all the parts I need.
They also don't want to bother with the dealerships working on old bikes like mine. I was told by my now gone dealer when he opened in 94 that my 84 bike was too old for him to work on, buy a new one.
Lucky for me, the old dealer's mechanic went shade tree and opened a dedicated airhead shop around the corner from the old dealership.
Nope, I am NOT an engineer, nor am I currently a paid mechanic, I am just a enthusiast who likes a particular bike enough to put up with the nonsense involved in overhauling it so it will be on the road for the next 20 years or 100K miles.
BMW engineers may do it right some of time and sometimes shade tree mechanics do it right, neither are perfect. This shade tree mechanic will get the job done and it will be done right, no thanks to BMW engineers and management. St.
I am currently in the middle of a major overhaul of a BMW airhead bike. This will be the first major restore or overhaul of this bike. I have in the past restored two R90S bikes an a partial restore of a 78RS.
One thing I am certain of is BMW engineers didn't always get it right. Or should I say, some may have but it is not apparent to me.
I find myself cursing the many goofy ways things were designed on this motorcycle that make it a royal pain to work on but in all honesty made it faster and cheaper to assemble in the factory. After all, that is the real bottom line, design it so it goes together fast, with cheapest materials and sell for the most money.
When it comes time to have it repaired, design it so it has to go back to the factory dealership shop where we can charge boutique prices for service and repair.
I am by all accounts a "shade tree" mechanic, but I can say this, I sure as heck could if I had been an engineer, designed better ways to put things together on this bike to make it easier to work on.
Then again, I forget, BMW doesn't like or want people like me as customers, They want customers who trade in bikes every three years, not keep them for 36 years and hundreds of thousand miles.
They can't stay in business just selling parts even if they did sell all the parts I need to keep my bike on the road. Sadly, they don't even sell all the parts I need.
They also don't want to bother with the dealerships working on old bikes like mine. I was told by my now gone dealer when he opened in 94 that my 84 bike was too old for him to work on, buy a new one.
Lucky for me, the old dealer's mechanic went shade tree and opened a dedicated airhead shop around the corner from the old dealership.
Nope, I am NOT an engineer, nor am I currently a paid mechanic, I am just a enthusiast who likes a particular bike enough to put up with the nonsense involved in overhauling it so it will be on the road for the next 20 years or 100K miles.
BMW engineers may do it right some of time and sometimes shade tree mechanics do it right, neither are perfect. This shade tree mechanic will get the job done and it will be done right, no thanks to BMW engineers and management. St.