Complete Restoration of BMW R75/5 into Cafe Racer

[ANDYVH]

How about the gal that argued at the Ford dealer about parts for her FISO pickup truck. The parts guy is going "huh?" She takes him out to the pickup and points to the F-150 badge on the side. "I told you, I want parts for my FISO" she claimed.

 

[balkowitsch]

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays to everyone at BMWOA, you guys and gals have been great and thanks for following my build, it is getting many hits and I appreciate all the comments, advice and comradery.

Sincerely,
Shane

 

[balkowitsch]

Tail Lights

I just got a set of tail lights for the build, click below, we are going to have them powdercoated with everything else to match the bike. They seem to be the perfect size for our project.

http://www.lickscycles.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=109&products_id=2030

Happy Holidays,
Shane

 

[ANDYVH]

Just had a thought for your cafe racer build. Its real easy to find good quality rebuildable/tuneable shocks for the rear, but the front fork has always been limited in upgrades. Certainly, you can do the Progressive Springs, preload spacers, fork brace, billet upper triple clamp (or use a stock lower triple clamp on the top too, upside down), play with different oil grades and volumes. But beyond that its still limited to a really basic damper rod style fork.

Has anyone tried a Cartridge Fork Emulator in the old BMW forks? RaceTech and others in California make these for many older bikes, but I don't recall ever reading about some installed in the 70's vintage forks on a BMW.

Oh, and I agree with the other posts about going with rear shock about 1/2" longer than stock to speed up the steering a bit.

 

[balkowitsch]

Thanks

Just had a thought for your cafe racer build. Its real easy to find good quality rebuildable/tuneable shocks for the rear, but the front fork has always been limited in upgrades. Certainly, you can do the Progressive Springs, preload spacers, fork brace, billet upper triple clamp (or use a stock lower triple clamp on the top too, upside down), play with different oil grades and volumes. But beyond that its still limited to a really basic damper rod style fork.

Has anyone tried a Cartridge Fork Emulator in the old BMW forks? RaceTech and others in California make these for many older bikes, but I don't recall ever reading about some installed in the 70's vintage forks on a BMW.

Oh, and I agree with the other posts about going with rear shock about 1/2" longer than stock to speed up the steering a bit.

I will pass the suggestion onto Josh and we can do some research, thanks alot.

Sincerely,
Shane

 

[jad01]

I will pass the suggestion onto Josh and we can do some research, thanks alot.

Sincerely,
Shane

Motorcycle Classics had a tech article last year on upgrading a /6 with a Race Tech cartridge emulator: http://www.motorcycleclassics.com/classic-motorcycle-repair/race-tech-suspension-bmw-6.aspx

It seems like I've seen some positive comments about the Race Tech setup on this forum as well.

 

[MonoRT]

Race Tech Cartridge Emulators

I had the folks at Race Tech set me up with cartridge emulators for my 85 R80RT. They did have to do a little machine work on those Brembo sliders. That was one of the best upgrades I've done. I had played around with Works springs and fork oil viscosity changes, but I was not able to get beyond a stiff or soft pair of pogo sticks.

With the Race Tech guts, I can ride over the "Bot's Dots" on the freeway and the fork just tracks along with no drama.

 

[mymindsok]

SNIP....

Has anyone tried a Cartridge Fork Emulator in the old BMW forks? RaceTech and others in California make these for many older bikes, but I don't recall ever reading about some installed in the 70's vintage forks on a BMW. SNIP...

There have been several threads about installing and setting emilators over on ADVRider.

Just do a search!

OTOH the /5 and /6 forks can pretty easily be set up and work quite well. WAY better than the Brembo era forks! After rebuilding my forks and setting them up, I've had several test riders complement me on them and I did a stock rebuild with fresh oil.
(I'd have to check befores pecifying the weight!)

 

[balkowitsch]

Thanks

Thanks for all the advice and comments on the front forks suspension. I hope everyone had a nice holiday and a great New Years coming up this weekend. We will continue to move forward.

Thanks,
Shane

 

[balkowitsch]

Fix leaking fork brace studs

Josh has been busy and did another technical write-up I wanted to share:

http://beemersandbits.com/2011/12/f...paign=Feed:+BeemersAndBits+(Beemers+and+Bits)

Happy New Year everyone,
thanks for following,
Shane

 

[balkowitsch]

Looks Fun and Scary all Together

Josh brought this photograph to my attention and I wanted to share, we are not doing a sidecar, but if we were, this would be the way to drive it. The expression on the passenger is what they call "priceless".

Thanks,
Shane

 

[mymindsok]

Yeah but youre looking at one of the best Monkeys (And absolutely the best looking!) who was ever in the business!

Wowza!!!

 

[balkowitsch]

Explain

Yeah but youre looking at one of the best Monkeys (And absolutely the best looking!) who was ever in the business!

Wowza!!!

I am sorry, too new to this BMW world, can you explain what you know of the picture? Sorry for my ignorance.

Thanks,
Shane

 

[69ZEFF65]

The sidecar rider is the "monkey"

I couldn't name names but I'm sure the side hack rider "monkey" is female, very well known(in some circles) and is part of a very accomplished side hack team!

 

[balkowitsch]

Talking in Code

I couldn't name names but I'm sure the side hack rider "monkey" is female, very well known(in some circles) and is part of a very accomplished side hack team!

Now you really have my interest peaked, come on, spill the beans, who is the team and who is the young lady monkey? I am new to all this new terminology and just found out that the passenger is called a monkey.

Thanks,
Shane

 

[subagon]

I am sorry, too new to this BMW world, can you explain what you know of the picture? Sorry for my ignorance.

Thanks,
Shane

That's Dane Rowe

Google image search for Dane Rowe

 

[balkowitsch]

Thanks

That's Dane Rowe

Google image search for Dane Rowe

She is spectacular and now the "D" on the helmet makes all the sense in the world, there are many spectacular images of her back in the day, very cool, I am going to add a picture of her on my website, thanks for teaching me something today guys about a beautiful racing gal from years gone by.

Thanks,
Shane

 

[balkowitsch]

Dane

The thread deserves another photograph of Dane, I think it will help the hits to the thread for sure. Thanks again for the education.

http://thersic.com/wordpress/wordpress/?p=8907

Turns out she has a fansite as well.

Sincerely,
Shane

 

[balkowitsch]

Girls

Funny how the thread just gravitates to girls and bikes even when we are not trying.

Have a great day,
Thanks,
Shane

 

[balkowitsch]

Dane on Site

I have tipped my hat to Dane on my build site:

www.btinet.net/~sharoncol/bmw.htm

Thanks guys and gals, and especially thanks to Dane for being part of racing history for us new guys to enjoy.

Sincerely,
Shane