Just purchased. R80, '86

[steveindar]

Hi All,

New to this but been registered a while. Don't see an intro page. Picked up an old R80 the other day and need to start getting info etc together. Is there a source for an online manual/wiring diagram etc? Any recommendations for online parts suppliers? I live in East Africa.
Cheers
Steve

 

[steve hughes]

Welcome , Im sure the knowledgeable will be along soon. My suggestion would be looking at Mikeboy’s Tetley’s and others threads , as they have rebuilt a few. There are other good threads like these

Thread '1988 R80RT -> R80 Part 1'

Aug 7, 2015

Hi Folks, thought this might be of interest and also it's a heads up in case I need any advice

I bought a slightly 'used' RT earlier in the year as a bit of a project to keep me sane while I was looking after my wife through her illness.

As it happens it's turned into a complete rebuild and I've dumped the fairing as it was quite tatty......

• daveg
• Replies: 61
• Forum: Airheads

Thread 'R80 engine for sale'

Feb 23, 2022

https://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/575456-R80-engine-full-rebuild?p=6239322#post6239322

• mikeyboy
• Replies: 0
• Forum: Airheads

Thread 'R80TIC Winter Project'

Nov 21, 2023

Here we go again, this time with a special. So plenty of faffing around, making and fitting non standard parts. The doner bike is a 1982 R80 police bike, model designation TIC. The reason for a TIC is…..wire wheels, Brembo brakes and G/S forks. I also like the tank with the cubby.

• Tetley
• Replies: 120
• Forum: Airheads

• 
• 

Thread 'Something for the weekend sir?'

Dec 12, 2015

Boys with their toys
Over a year ago dermot mentioned that he had an old R80 he had bought ,wanting to build a project bike,a street scrambler!
Eventually it ended up at my workshop
After some research ,and a few emails with pictures a basic design brief emerged.
Here is what we started with

• mikeyboy
• Replies: 307
• Forum: Airheads

 

[Bucephalus]

Welcome, my mechanical skills are rubbish but I’d match my passion for Airheads up against anyone, and am always pleased to hear of someone starting a journey to keep another one alive..

You're in good company, keep us posted..We like photos ..

 

[Gelandestrasse]

I believe both Motorworks and Motobins post abroad. Probably James Sherlock too. There are specialists in Germany and Holland; Siebenrock, boxer2valve, Bayer, and on ebay BMWsalvage. There are enthusiasts in South Africa who may also know the African scene.

 

[Vulpine2]

At some point or another I've used all of the following to send stuff internationally:-
Germany:
SWT, who stock an exceelent range, with an off road bias ( https://www.swt-sports.de, ),
Bayer, good for rarer stuff, tend to be pricey ( https://www.bayermotor.de/ ) ,
Motoren Israel ( https://www.motoren-israel.com/ )
QTech who are rather specialised and IIRC, payment via Paypal or bank transfer only ( https://q-tech-shop.de/en ).
Holland: Mat Beekers, who speaks good english and is excellent to deal with ( https://www.bmwboxersupplies.com/ )
USA: WIlliam at Boxer2Valve, who also does great youtube tutorials ( https://www.boxer2valve.com/

In the UK I occasionally use Motorworks but prefer Motobins and Sherlocks as they give a more personal service. And whilst MW have the best range they are also the only dealer for whom you have to muck about getting import receipts in order to reclaim VaT on stuff exported from the UK. Everybody elase just reduces the invoice by the relevant amount which simplifies things considerably

I've had the very occasional issue (delayed parcels, lack of communication) but nothing that wasn't solvable.
I find find the Real OEM Parts Finder link useful (via 'Quick Links' on the header)

 

[steveindar]

Time to start her up, but apart from the odd fart, nothing!
Cleaned up carbs, new o-rings and diaphragms.
New fuel and flowing well into floatbowls.
Cleaned up sparkplugs but spark seemed weak so have ordered new.
Anything else I should check before I burn out the starter? Valve clearance maybe?

Steve

 

[Posh Pete]

Time to start her up, but apart from the odd fart, nothing!
Cleaned up carbs, new o-rings and diaphragms.
New fuel and flowing well into floatbowls.
Cleaned up sparkplugs but spark seemed weak so have ordered new.
Anything else I should check before I burn out the starter? Valve clearance maybe?

Steve

A valve check and then an ignition timing check would be sensible. Have you examined the air filter? Bikes laid up for a while can acquire lodgers!

A bit more detail about year/model would be useful too. Older R series bikes have old fashioned points while the later ones have a HES type ignition system.

 

[steveindar]

As per heading, she's an '86 monoshock so assume more electronics than the older stuff. I'll slowly go through all the usual stuff listed. I purposely left the fuel taps open overnight and just checked to see slight fuel seepage. Might be needles. I'll replace soonest.

Sent from my TECNO KG5j using Tapatalk

 

[Stirlingmoz]

Sounds like you’ve got a spark so 1 of the 3 ingredients that an engine needs to run.

If the bike’s been laid up for a while, it’s worth checking the idle jets to make sure they’re clean and not blocked.

When the carbs were ‘cleaned up’ did this include the choke / enrichener mechanisms ?
These can jam or get dirty and cause difficulty starting.

If all that is good, are you able to run a compression check ?

 

[steveindar]

I think I may have found one of the problems, I bought a carb rebuild kit off of Alixpress and it's come back to bite me. The cork gaskets for floatbowl and enricher mech are now sweating quite profusely. You truely get what you pay for! Had mostly fair results from Ali and prices decent with rapid delivery. Eish!
So, bike will be stashed until I can import kits from Europe. Should take a month or so. In the meantime I'll check valves and electrics where possible. Dammit!
I'll update accordingly. I must say that the replies have been most helpful. I'm no newbie to biking or fixing, but this is my first BMW spanner session. I bought an R80GS/g/s (haven't figured the difference) but got it home and promptly sold it to a mate in South Africa.

Later.

Steve

 

[ChasF]

Steve, If you have a spark I think you can rule out the bean can which is the the hall effect trigger switch which in effect replaces the points on earlier models. A weak spark could be due to the ignition amplifier or the coil - ignition coils seem to degrade with age rather than use, sometimes there is an obvious crack in the casing. Leaking cork gaskets is common but usually result in rough running rather than not running at all. There used to be plentiful stocks of R80 parts in Kenya and Tanzania because they were the universal police bike but I am talking years ago!

 

[steveindar]

Steve, If you have a spark I think you can rule out the bean can which is the the hall effect trigger switch which in effect replaces the points on earlier models. A weak spark could be due to the ignition amplifier or the coil - ignition coils seem to degrade with age rather than use, sometimes there is an obvious crack in the casing. Leaking cork gaskets is common but usually result in rough running rather than not running at all. There used to be plentiful stocks of R80 parts in Kenya and Tanzania because they were the universal police bike but I am talking years ago!

Tz cops also used to ride XRV750's too. Nothing left of them either.
Can i make my own gaskets out of normal gasket material? I can find thick material.