marknreimer
New member
Hello,
First, I'm new to the forum, so hello everyone
I recently purchased a 1986 BMW r80 from a friend of mine who's had it for the last few years, maybe 3-5 years. I've been politely nagging him to sell it to me and he finally came around about a month or two ago. I've been going through the bike and making small repairs/updates (new brake rotors, cables, a few gaskets, springs/rear shock, changing all fluids, etc) but recently I started noticing an odd sound originating from the engine. It doesn't happen all the time, so it's been tricky to capture it on video.
I've done a few things to try and narrow down where this sound is coming from:
- It will happen when the bike is in neutral with the clutch released. It also will do it when in gear and the clutch pulled in, or when accelerating/decelerating with clutch released. In other words, when stationary, moving, clutch in or out, on the gas or off the gas. That suggests to me that the sound is not likely originating from the tranny since, if I understand correctly, nothing is moving in the tranny when the bike is not moving.
- The fact that the sound is consistent when the clutch lever is pulled in or when it is released suggests it likely is not a clutch issue, correct?
- So, moving forward along the engine, I'm thinking the sound could possibly be a rod bearing, or perhaps the timing chain? I've asked a more experienced airhead owner to come have a look later this week, but beyond that I'm on my own and stumped!
- For what it's worth, the bike runs perfectly other than this mystery sound. It idles steadily at 1050rpm, accelerates hard and smooth through the entire rpm range, fires up quickly, quite a joy to ride really. Odometer reads 20,500km, though with only five digits available I suppose I have no way of knowing if it's actually 20,500 or 120,500km. The bill of sale my friend received indicated he bought it with 7,500km on it, but I find that hard to believe based on the wear in some parts (IE: The rear drum lining is worn right to the maximum recommended level right now)
Here is a link to the video with the strange sound. Any thoughts? Thanks!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEtMKPZ1IlI&feature=youtu.be
Thanks everyone, I'm looking forward to learning a lot about these wonderful bikes here!
First, I'm new to the forum, so hello everyone
I recently purchased a 1986 BMW r80 from a friend of mine who's had it for the last few years, maybe 3-5 years. I've been politely nagging him to sell it to me and he finally came around about a month or two ago. I've been going through the bike and making small repairs/updates (new brake rotors, cables, a few gaskets, springs/rear shock, changing all fluids, etc) but recently I started noticing an odd sound originating from the engine. It doesn't happen all the time, so it's been tricky to capture it on video.
I've done a few things to try and narrow down where this sound is coming from:
- It will happen when the bike is in neutral with the clutch released. It also will do it when in gear and the clutch pulled in, or when accelerating/decelerating with clutch released. In other words, when stationary, moving, clutch in or out, on the gas or off the gas. That suggests to me that the sound is not likely originating from the tranny since, if I understand correctly, nothing is moving in the tranny when the bike is not moving.
- The fact that the sound is consistent when the clutch lever is pulled in or when it is released suggests it likely is not a clutch issue, correct?
- So, moving forward along the engine, I'm thinking the sound could possibly be a rod bearing, or perhaps the timing chain? I've asked a more experienced airhead owner to come have a look later this week, but beyond that I'm on my own and stumped!
- For what it's worth, the bike runs perfectly other than this mystery sound. It idles steadily at 1050rpm, accelerates hard and smooth through the entire rpm range, fires up quickly, quite a joy to ride really. Odometer reads 20,500km, though with only five digits available I suppose I have no way of knowing if it's actually 20,500 or 120,500km. The bill of sale my friend received indicated he bought it with 7,500km on it, but I find that hard to believe based on the wear in some parts (IE: The rear drum lining is worn right to the maximum recommended level right now)
Here is a link to the video with the strange sound. Any thoughts? Thanks!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEtMKPZ1IlI&feature=youtu.be
Thanks everyone, I'm looking forward to learning a lot about these wonderful bikes here!