RonKMiller
New member
The old man stood there in the late April desert sun, half bent over with arthritis. Although the air temperature was only 75F, the fireball was reaching zenith, and sane creatures were heading for the shade.
He slowly read the letter from Butler and Smith which was attached to the luggage rack of my 1979 BMW R80/7. I judged him to be in his mid 80's, wearing an old thread bare Motorrad long sleeve dress shirt. His bald head showed the ravages of age - with a dark tan, deeply freckled with scabs and skin damage caused by never wearing a hat. I asked him if he lived in Tucson and he replied in a thick German accent: "only during the winter - summer in Illinois".
He gently nodded in agreement with the information in the letter, dated March 27, 1980. "I knew Helmut" he said. Helmut Kern, a BMW executive and author of the letter, detailed where my airhead was first delivered along with all of the factory equipped options. From there he took a slow walk around the R80, looked up at me and said: "Start it up please."
It wasn't so much as a request but a command, and I acquiesced with a nod and tentative smile.
The R80 sat idling roughly for a few seconds as I gently coaxed the choke toward the stop, and it settled into a very low idle around 800 rpm - not unusual - as once hot it always stayed at a steady 1200 rpm, which I always considered a bit high. I had been having a difficult time getting the idle just right but had learned to live with it. I had only owned the bike for 4 months, and just considered this issue to be one of it's follibles.
Theodore knew the idle wasn't right.
"Do you mind?" he said, looking at the throttle. "No, not at all" I replied.
With his thumb he pinned the rubber flange of the throttle grip against the housing, making it easy to hold the rpm at a bit higher rate for a minute or two. It was instantly obvious that he used this technique a thousand times before, eschewing the mechanical set screw. Once the throttle was released the rpm's dropped off again to about 800, with the generator light flickering indicating a likely stall.
"Yah, yah" he said as he unexpectedly pulled a tool roll from his back pocket and laid it on the seat, picking out some small wrenches and shorting wires made from threaded spoke nipples and braided wire. As a Commercial Pilot I instantly recognized the insulation on the wires as military grade - very thick and transparent in order to detect any corrosion. They had become cloudy and yellowed due to their age. He attached the wires between the top of the plugs and the caps.
Without another word between us he put a small screwdriver in his mouth and with a wrench loosened the cable stop on the left carb, then gently touched the wire with the screwdriver, grounding out each cylinder side to side. He repeated this process several times - going back and forth, back and forth. He listened intently, and although it sounded just fine to me he reached over and gave the left stop half a turn, then shorted that cylinder a few more times just to be sure. He then snugged the nut against the stop and put his tools back on the seat.
By this time a small crowd of fellow vintage BMW enthusiasts had gathered around as he continued his work. "You see - it sounds better now." ...and I did have to agree it was a more pleasant sound - more in synch. "Now you can raise the idle and you won't have any more problems - make sure you balance the carbs again - yah??"
I nodded in agreement as he continued to look things over.
"The clutch lever" he said, "must be exactly 4mm". "You have it too tight, I will show you how to adjust". Although he couldn't bend down he handed me a 13 and 10 mm wrench and said "loosen the big nut, then turn the small nut 1 full turn clockwise - it has a 10 to 1 ratio so don't over turn it". Within seconds he said "Stop".
"Now it is correct, tighten the large nut while holding the small one steady".
"The carburetors should be tilted in a little to avoid straining the cables". I responded by loosening them and tilting them inward about 15 degrees. "Yah, yah" he responded in approval.
"The fork boots need to be lower" he said. I responded again with a screwdriver and loosened the clamps - pulling the boots down until they were fully extended. "Those are not BMW" he said. I agreed and told him that I could not justify spending $60.00 for original boots, and had found them at a 4X4 store for $7.00 out the door. "13 pleats" he said, noting that I had cut them in an attempt to replicate the originals. "Yah, yah" he said. "Very clever, yah".
For the next half hour we stood there, adjusting small things and him grilling me with questions about how I torqued the heads down - and exactly why did I decide to do that? I responded 25 foot lbs, and that I read that it was needed by 21,000 miles. "Only if you put on new head gaskets" he replied. "The threads are very easy to strip - leave them alone after this, don't ever tighten them again".
He queried me about the valve settings and drew me a couple of pages of diagrams explaining how to set the rocker arms, and questioning why I should even bother. "1/1000 of an inch" he explained - the thickness of oil". I stood there absolutely amazed.
We talked about wheel bearing pre-load, adjusting the e-pins on the brakes - he noted that I had actually cleaned out the individual holes on the rotors prior to rebuild. Absolutely nothing missed his keen eyes. He felt for the amount of friction I had adjusted the steering head bearings for after cleaning and re-greasing them. "Yah, yah" he responded again. "Very good".
This went on for another half hour with me asking him arcane questions - that had kept me up at night - about exactly how things were to be adjusted and when to change oil, etc. He told me the canister ignition was a very good ignition but that it had to be kept lubricated and clean - and that the points would last a VERY long time. He told me that "These bikes - the R80 - were built for police patrol. Very heavy flywheel - very smooth and pleasing to ride day after day."
I couldn't have agreed with him more, and I thanked him for his time and insight.
Theodore rolled up his tools, and I asked him if he would be at the National this year so that I could buy him dinner one evening. He struggled a bit and said that his wife had bad knees and that his dog - a Shelty - had dementia, and was running around in circles constantly chasing his tail. "I don't know, but yah, I will try to come."
Theodore was obviously getting very tired from the hot sun, and he stood there still talking to me bent over looking at the ground - unable to raise his head and make eye contact. He was exhausted.
As I said goodbye and thanked him again, he managed to look up briefly and met my eyes.
"Never, ever, sell this bike. You will keep it - yah?" It was a distinct command, not a question. I assured him that I intended to keep it forever.
He gave me a quick smile, then the old man slowly shuffled off. I learned more in an hour about my airhead than I could have possibly read on the Internet in a year - all due to his generosity and authority.
I had met my guru. Thank you Theodore.
He slowly read the letter from Butler and Smith which was attached to the luggage rack of my 1979 BMW R80/7. I judged him to be in his mid 80's, wearing an old thread bare Motorrad long sleeve dress shirt. His bald head showed the ravages of age - with a dark tan, deeply freckled with scabs and skin damage caused by never wearing a hat. I asked him if he lived in Tucson and he replied in a thick German accent: "only during the winter - summer in Illinois".
He gently nodded in agreement with the information in the letter, dated March 27, 1980. "I knew Helmut" he said. Helmut Kern, a BMW executive and author of the letter, detailed where my airhead was first delivered along with all of the factory equipped options. From there he took a slow walk around the R80, looked up at me and said: "Start it up please."
It wasn't so much as a request but a command, and I acquiesced with a nod and tentative smile.
The R80 sat idling roughly for a few seconds as I gently coaxed the choke toward the stop, and it settled into a very low idle around 800 rpm - not unusual - as once hot it always stayed at a steady 1200 rpm, which I always considered a bit high. I had been having a difficult time getting the idle just right but had learned to live with it. I had only owned the bike for 4 months, and just considered this issue to be one of it's follibles.
Theodore knew the idle wasn't right.
"Do you mind?" he said, looking at the throttle. "No, not at all" I replied.
With his thumb he pinned the rubber flange of the throttle grip against the housing, making it easy to hold the rpm at a bit higher rate for a minute or two. It was instantly obvious that he used this technique a thousand times before, eschewing the mechanical set screw. Once the throttle was released the rpm's dropped off again to about 800, with the generator light flickering indicating a likely stall.
"Yah, yah" he said as he unexpectedly pulled a tool roll from his back pocket and laid it on the seat, picking out some small wrenches and shorting wires made from threaded spoke nipples and braided wire. As a Commercial Pilot I instantly recognized the insulation on the wires as military grade - very thick and transparent in order to detect any corrosion. They had become cloudy and yellowed due to their age. He attached the wires between the top of the plugs and the caps.
Without another word between us he put a small screwdriver in his mouth and with a wrench loosened the cable stop on the left carb, then gently touched the wire with the screwdriver, grounding out each cylinder side to side. He repeated this process several times - going back and forth, back and forth. He listened intently, and although it sounded just fine to me he reached over and gave the left stop half a turn, then shorted that cylinder a few more times just to be sure. He then snugged the nut against the stop and put his tools back on the seat.
By this time a small crowd of fellow vintage BMW enthusiasts had gathered around as he continued his work. "You see - it sounds better now." ...and I did have to agree it was a more pleasant sound - more in synch. "Now you can raise the idle and you won't have any more problems - make sure you balance the carbs again - yah??"
I nodded in agreement as he continued to look things over.
"The clutch lever" he said, "must be exactly 4mm". "You have it too tight, I will show you how to adjust". Although he couldn't bend down he handed me a 13 and 10 mm wrench and said "loosen the big nut, then turn the small nut 1 full turn clockwise - it has a 10 to 1 ratio so don't over turn it". Within seconds he said "Stop".
"Now it is correct, tighten the large nut while holding the small one steady".
"The carburetors should be tilted in a little to avoid straining the cables". I responded by loosening them and tilting them inward about 15 degrees. "Yah, yah" he responded in approval.
"The fork boots need to be lower" he said. I responded again with a screwdriver and loosened the clamps - pulling the boots down until they were fully extended. "Those are not BMW" he said. I agreed and told him that I could not justify spending $60.00 for original boots, and had found them at a 4X4 store for $7.00 out the door. "13 pleats" he said, noting that I had cut them in an attempt to replicate the originals. "Yah, yah" he said. "Very clever, yah".
For the next half hour we stood there, adjusting small things and him grilling me with questions about how I torqued the heads down - and exactly why did I decide to do that? I responded 25 foot lbs, and that I read that it was needed by 21,000 miles. "Only if you put on new head gaskets" he replied. "The threads are very easy to strip - leave them alone after this, don't ever tighten them again".
He queried me about the valve settings and drew me a couple of pages of diagrams explaining how to set the rocker arms, and questioning why I should even bother. "1/1000 of an inch" he explained - the thickness of oil". I stood there absolutely amazed.
We talked about wheel bearing pre-load, adjusting the e-pins on the brakes - he noted that I had actually cleaned out the individual holes on the rotors prior to rebuild. Absolutely nothing missed his keen eyes. He felt for the amount of friction I had adjusted the steering head bearings for after cleaning and re-greasing them. "Yah, yah" he responded again. "Very good".
This went on for another half hour with me asking him arcane questions - that had kept me up at night - about exactly how things were to be adjusted and when to change oil, etc. He told me the canister ignition was a very good ignition but that it had to be kept lubricated and clean - and that the points would last a VERY long time. He told me that "These bikes - the R80 - were built for police patrol. Very heavy flywheel - very smooth and pleasing to ride day after day."
I couldn't have agreed with him more, and I thanked him for his time and insight.
Theodore rolled up his tools, and I asked him if he would be at the National this year so that I could buy him dinner one evening. He struggled a bit and said that his wife had bad knees and that his dog - a Shelty - had dementia, and was running around in circles constantly chasing his tail. "I don't know, but yah, I will try to come."
Theodore was obviously getting very tired from the hot sun, and he stood there still talking to me bent over looking at the ground - unable to raise his head and make eye contact. He was exhausted.
As I said goodbye and thanked him again, he managed to look up briefly and met my eyes.
"Never, ever, sell this bike. You will keep it - yah?" It was a distinct command, not a question. I assured him that I intended to keep it forever.
He gave me a quick smile, then the old man slowly shuffled off. I learned more in an hour about my airhead than I could have possibly read on the Internet in a year - all due to his generosity and authority.
I had met my guru. Thank you Theodore.
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You are a very lucky man.
He absolutely KNEW that I needed his wisdom.
