captainsteve
New member
After a ride the other day I stepped off the bike and had a "What's wrong with this picture" moment. The right side battery cover had gone AWOL somewhere on my ride. I spent the next couple of hours retracing my route in hopes that I would find it lying along the curb but no such luck. Obviously the bike does not look great with the missing cover so I began a search for a replacement (keep in mind that it is 29 year old R80 RT).
I started with the local BMW dealer, Iron Horse Motorcycles here in Tucson and Dan in parts soon called back with the bad news I was expecting: They don't make them anymore. Armed with a couple of his suggestions as to where to look and the latest issues of AirMail and BMW ON I started searching the internet and making calls. I quickly found one in Murrieta that was primer gray and elected to make it "Plan B" and continue the search. I struck proverbial gold with the next call to Quality Cycle Service in Mesa (just east of Phoenix).
They had a couple and the best of the batch was a black one in perfect condition right down to the R80 RT lettering and pin striping for a very reasonable $27. My plan was, and still is, to have this cover painted to Colorado Rot to match the rest of the bike. I had them hold it for me and this morning jumped on the bike for the 100+ mile ride up through Florence and Apache Junction's to their shop in Mesa. I'll take it to a custom paint shop after getting some recommendations here locally but.... for now it really doesn't look all that bad.
The owner, Dave Alquist welcomed me warmly as I rolled in and noted "Your idle sounds high, want me fix that? "Sure" I responded and producing a screw driver he went to work on the carbs while I mounted the cover. A couple of minutes later he had the bike purring like a Bavarian kitten at a very sedate 1,000 rpm. BMW's are his specialty and he has lots of spare parts. If you ever need parts or service anywhere near Phoenix give Dave a call at 480 9064-4800.
I started with the local BMW dealer, Iron Horse Motorcycles here in Tucson and Dan in parts soon called back with the bad news I was expecting: They don't make them anymore. Armed with a couple of his suggestions as to where to look and the latest issues of AirMail and BMW ON I started searching the internet and making calls. I quickly found one in Murrieta that was primer gray and elected to make it "Plan B" and continue the search. I struck proverbial gold with the next call to Quality Cycle Service in Mesa (just east of Phoenix).
They had a couple and the best of the batch was a black one in perfect condition right down to the R80 RT lettering and pin striping for a very reasonable $27. My plan was, and still is, to have this cover painted to Colorado Rot to match the rest of the bike. I had them hold it for me and this morning jumped on the bike for the 100+ mile ride up through Florence and Apache Junction's to their shop in Mesa. I'll take it to a custom paint shop after getting some recommendations here locally but.... for now it really doesn't look all that bad.
The owner, Dave Alquist welcomed me warmly as I rolled in and noted "Your idle sounds high, want me fix that? "Sure" I responded and producing a screw driver he went to work on the carbs while I mounted the cover. A couple of minutes later he had the bike purring like a Bavarian kitten at a very sedate 1,000 rpm. BMW's are his specialty and he has lots of spare parts. If you ever need parts or service anywhere near Phoenix give Dave a call at 480 9064-4800.
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