good source on "situation" or just Heeellpppp!

[beemermeup55]

just reentered motorcycle ownership since 16, 53 now. Wild hair, or hare! Found 78 R80/7 retired fellow in Indiana. Bike looked real dusty in pics and in fact was. Received via shipper 2 weeks ago. I did'nt even know where key went. Old fellow helped start it (and find ignition obviously) via my phone call in garage. Bike has 17,500 miles on it and starts and runs out real good. Some leaks at one pushrod tube seal, small at one corner of oil pan and I'm not sure whether it is drainage from above but looks like small leak at gear shift lever entering transmission casing. Paint is in great shape and original on this bike and has color matched Black Mettalic Vetter Windjammer Fairing in great shape and BMW side bags great shape.

I'm new to all this but kind of an engineer (HVAC contractor) and that is what led me to choose an airhead motorcycle. I think I may have a good one. What would someone recommend as far as restoring this bike mechanically. I think I know what I'm going to do cosmetically. I'm not going to fix anything that isn't broke there. But I want to do the mechanical right. It is a soon to be 30 year old antigue motorcycle. I want to do it myself.

Is there a good source on what to check on this bike so as to insure it is in "specs"
all the way around mechanically. Obviously at 17,500 miles but 30 years it is showing a surprising little, but some seals and a gasket or so now. But, how bought splines, carbs, ect... parts?

I see ya'll got a good group here, well I guess I'm diving in head first.

Howdy! Mercy!

Gerald, near Asheville, N.C.

PS the retired guy laughed when I suggested the carbs may need to be rebuilt, he replied, the left hand carb would sometimes leak a little gas on shut down. He told me he looked at that during lead time shipping and cleaned it. He suggested I run it out a bit. I have and have noticed no sign of leaking on shut down. Whew!

 

[axlray13]

Welcome to Beemer World! It's a pretty great place to be. First thing I would get is a Clymer's Repair manual. They're about $35 but they have most everything in it you need except your own practical experience. Good luck, this is a very handy forum for Q n A...
Ray

 

[26667]

welcome!

you'll get loads of advice in this forum. But guys and gals here have been so helpful to me that it makes me want to jump right in.
I bought a similar '78 last year and I've been working on it ever since. it's seemed like every time I think I 've done the last thing....there's one more thing. But here's my short list: Everything rubber is probably shot. that includes o-rings inside the carbs. Get the rebuild kit from Bing Agcy In'tl. Push rod seals, rear main seal, oil pressure and neutral switches. You're going to want to look at the drive splines and input shaft splines. Drain the tank and clean it. You might even look at re-sealing the liner. Clean the in-tank fuel filters and petcocks. Spring for a new clutch cable.
Hook up w The Airheads Beemer Club. Subscribe and then hook up w your local chapter. Go to Snowbum's website.
Notice that a lot of guys have 3, 4, 500,000 miles on bikes older than yours.
Be patient. Have a ball. Post pics. go to rallyes. ride.

 

[sumran]

Service records?

Welcome. Sounds like you have found a winner.

Did you get any service records or receipts along with the bike? Given the mileage there probably wasn't that much done. First, you will want to change all of the fluids. If you can have someone familiar with airheads riding shotgun you will enjoy it more and learn more from the process. Be sure to completely change out the brake fluid.

Pushrod seal leaks are fairly common. You may be able to wait on that a little while if it is just seeping a little. Pan gasket can be a problem if you are losing more oil. Because gravity moves leaking oil to the pan, the pan gasket frequently gets blamed for other leaks. Check carefully to determine the origin of the leak.

When I got mine, the first things I serviced were the bearings, suspension, and brakes. I wanted to know that it was safe. As I heard noises (most of them were normal, but I didn't know it) I did not want to wonder about those issues.

Doing a complete major service would make sense. Rebuilding the carbs is probably a good idea. You may want to check prices on carb rebuild kits from BMW dealers. I found them to be significantly cheaper than Bing on this item. If I were you, I would want to replace the floats as well. The carbs are a mixture of art, science and a little voodo. You may want to have an experienced airhead mechanic rebuild them. If you take it on yourself, make sure you have all the information.

Once you have those things done, ride it and fix what breaks or leaks. You will probably have some of both, but that is part of the fun.

 

[osbornk]

I've brought several old vehicles (cars, tractors, etc) back from long time storage (abandonment) and I would suggest riding it a while after changing the fluids. Many seals and gaskets will swell back to normal once they get lubrication and heat from use. Use dino oils. synthetics are far more prone to leak. My pushs rod tube seals leak with synthetic but do not with dino oil.

 

[rocketman]

For the push rod seals you can make a tool to tap them in. Note there is a metal collar just above the rubber part. Get a piece of pipe say 12-16 inches long that has an inside diamater a tad bigger than the push rod tube. Cut a section out at a slant starting about 6 inches back from one end and working toward the end of the pipe so that you have about a half circule left at the end you're cutting toward. You can then use this to tap the metal ring and help seal the rubber where it fits the engine block. You don't have to go all the way around just as much as you can get to. Or if you don't/can't make that then use a wide ended punch and tap the metal ring at 3 or so spots 90 Deg. apart. does not have to be hard, you don't want to leave marks in the ring, if you do, then you've tapped too hard (not that it will hurt it just don't want to leave marks). That will usually solve that unless the rubber is really shot. Learn to do the valve adjustment, its easy once you've done it a few times you can do both sides in an hour easy. valve adjustment is critical on these motors, too tight and compression/power goes WAY down when hot. A little tapping is fine, as they say "Tappy valves are Happy valves!" that and timing and carb adjustment/sync are three things anyone can learn and make a big differance in how she runs. Change/check oil often as its as much an "oil cooled" as it is an air cooled motor.

RM

 

[20774]

For the push rod seals you can make a tool to tap them in. Note there is a metal collar just above the rubber part.

Be careful if you consider this approach. Some of the collars are brazed onto the tube. Tapping it will then pull the tube out of the head. Even if it isn't brazed on, it can still slide the tube...DAMHIK! In addition, if the seal is brittle, squeezing it some more can end up splitting the seal, making things worse. The problem over time is the hardening of the rubber to the point that it doesn't change shape very well when the engine heats up and cools, thus resulting in seepage.

As others have said, ride the bike for a while and get to know what is really leaking. If it's a real problem, then there's really only one way to fix it.

 

[lkchris]

There is VERY SPECIFIC information as to EXACTLY what year the tubes came with braised-on rings. '78 is PRIOR to that year. It's the sort of information you'll find in a BMW workshop manual but probably not in a Haynes or Clymer.

 

[Polarbear]

ONE FINE BMW, /7's

I'm 55 now and in your age bracket. I've ridden all my life, without any breaks in there, so we share little here, BUT. We have the same bike in our /7's...I bought mine new and its been a fine bike, with very few equals out there. I just rode it 1700 miles last weekend to Tucson and back at 75-80+ speeds and she ate it up as if new. This is no spring chicken, either at 300000+ miles on it now. You can feel very "excited" to have one like it, even though it needs some loving care, it will be a good one to keep around as mine has been. I will never part with mine and many, many Beemers have come and gone in my garage. The R100/7 is my keeper for life, Randy13233

 

[jbcollier]

Never mind the bike, go out and get some rider training.