My new Project: R65

[jaber]

Eyup Sid, Will take tank off the Mrs bike at some point this next week and post some pics

Steve

More good progress today.

Fitted LHS switchgear.



Wiring is SO much nicer than on the old pre 1980 /7 series.

RHS was a bit more involved.


The original throttle assembly also contained the front brake lever etc whereas the Honda Nissin brakes has a different master cylinder. Might need to fit a new throttle assembly and then a separate starter motor switch. I'll have a look around a breakers to see what might be suitable.

I decided that the comments above about K&Ns were right so I refitted the airbox followed by the carbs, throttle cables and choke cables.




Next, the electrics!



Laid the wiring loom along the top frame and easily plugged in the obvious connections. At this point I wished I had taken more photos when I stripped it all down. I simply can't remember exactly where each relay etc should be fastened to the frame.

Does anyone have any photos of R65 wiring under the tank?

Finally, thought about battery mounting. I don't think Odyssey can be mounted on its side and I don't fancy spending lots of money on a lithium so I decided to find somewhere else.

As suggested above, I think there will be room in the space behind the shock absorber within the KTM subframe. On the KTM the space is used for a massive foam airfilter so I think I should be able to fix up some battery mount in the space.

 

[k80matey]

Original bits

Sent you a PM a wee while ago re headlamp brackets. Just checking you got it.

 

[Crapaud]

Not so much progress this week.

One reason is that it is fecking cold in my workshop. I never did get around to installing the big heater.

Did a bit more cleaning up of the wiring and I think I know where every wire should go now. The photos from Jaber will help for mounting the bits under the tank. Fitted the extra wiring bits such as oil pressure switch and then tried to fit neutral switch and realised that I should have done it before fully installing the gearbox. Tried for ages to fit the damn thing then gave up. Will need to slide gearbox back to fit it properly.

The little rubber boot that covers the clutch release bearing had perished allowing muck to get into the bearing. A trip to James Sherlock today relieved me of more money to buy a new release bearing and various other little bits and pieces, gaskets etc etc.

Dropped off the extended swinging arm and drive shaft to have it refitted. I don't have a press as I only need one about once a year so can't justify the cost of buying one. I need a new circlip and spacer as it says to not reuse the old ones (which is handy as I can't find them anyway!)

Just around the corner from Sherlocks is Doug Richardson ex of Devon Rim Company Limited. He sold that business which is why they no longer do BMW wheels but he does them instead. Left my hub with him and he will built me a new back wheel. However, being Devon, it is unlikely I will see anything this side of Christmas.

So I'm now waiting for the swinging arm, rear wheel and rear shock so the project has had to slow down a bit for the next few weeks. This should allow me to slowly concentrate on all the wiring and getting that all sorted.

I called into B&Q and bought some steel rod to make a new longer rear brake rod. Just need to measure it up and then cut a thread on each end.

Lots of the little extras that I need for the project have been listed as Christmas present suggestions for family and friends. Much better to have a set of LED indicators for Christmas rather than yet another pair of socks.

 

[Kenny]

Sid,

If you can't fit the spade ends with long nosed pliers...then put a jack under engine and remove rear engine mount spindle...the spacer between the frame can now be tapped out......clean up and replace in reverse order ( once you've put the wiring on ! )

Oh, that little rubber cover on the clutch pushrod is a tad overpriced, don't you think !

 

[Voyager]

One reason is that it is fecking cold in my workshop. I never did get around to installing the big heater.

I don't have a press as I only need one about once a year so can't justify the cost of buying one.

My workshop is the same, so about three years ago I installed a "Railway Pot-Bellied Stove" (the chimney was already there).

The trouble is, it now gets so warm in there that all I want to do is sleep (its also melting the light fittings) .


Re. a press. I was in the same predicament, then, My Landcruiser lower balljoint parted company while I was towing two large horses to an event, the suspension got ripped off and I had to get the RAC to recover the truck .

Replacing the wheel bearings requires a large press (min of 20 ton). My neighbour has one but he took himself off to America for nearly three weeks at the critical time.

I now own a Sealey 30-ton press that cost £700. Its amazing how many jobs that used to require a large hammer can now be done in a more civilised manner .

Go on - buy one - a guy can't have too many tools !

Bob.

 

[Crapaud]

Sid,

If you can't fir the spade ends with long nosed pliers...then put a jack under engine and remove rear engine mount spindle...the spacer between the frame can now be tapped out......clean up and replace in reverse order ( once you've put the wiring on ! )

Oh, that little rubber cover on the clutch pushrod is a tad overpriced, don't you think !

Followed your advice and got the neutral switch wired up OK. Remembered to remove the exhaust pipes before moving engine up.
Acquired some blue coloured cable ties so the wires are colour coordinated to the blue frame.

Refitted the exhaust down pipes on both sides with new exhaust rose fittings.

Fitted the clutch push rod with a tiny bit of graphagen grease. Fitted the new release bearing and the mega expensive little rubber cap. Motorworks actually sell second-hand ones but that seems to me like using a second-hand condom so I went for a new genuine BMW part. Fitted the cable and adjusted it to have a fully working clutch.

Bought a new throttle assembly this morning and started to modify this to fit with the Honda master cylinder, BMW switchgear and aftermarket throttle. I had to take the andle grinder and file to the original BMW switchgear to cut it down to remove the master cylinder bits and the throttle bits.

Thats all for today but its still steady progress.

 

[Crapaud]

Another week and more work to be done. The "Scrapheap Challenge" theme continues.

Firstly the throttle. The original BMW throttle cable was too short so a new longer one had to be made. When I scrapped my jet boat years ago, I kept all the cables so I started with one of these cables. Firstly, I had to make the rounded end to fit into the twist grip and then the other end to fit into the 2:1 tube. Luckily, in my big box of mountain bike bits I found various cable ends to fit. Finally got it all sorted and the throttle works nicely. The handlebar looks neat enough with the Honda master cylinder, the original (cut down) BMW switchgear and the new throttle housing. I'll get some photos tomorrow.

Found some plastic tubing from a pond pump that fits perfectly into the airbox intakes to make an extended snorkel. Again, photos to follow.

Also made good progress with a lot of the electrical connections. Some of the mountings on the frame needed to be filed back as the powder coating had meant that the block connectors would not fit. Only major component to mount is the electronic ignition/ecu.

Still can't decide exactly what to do re a speedo. Original BMW units are far too big and heavy. Easy option might be to fit Africa Twin speedo as I could use speedo cable from front wheel. Disadvantage is that these tend to be expensive, still big and heavy and have no tacho/rev counter. I've been looking at enduro speedo/tachos on ebay and could get some thing like the set up on Bertha. I suppose I could simply fit a bicycle speedo as I assume these are legal on enduro type machines? Its what my son has on his CRF230.

Played with Odyssey battery mounting but really need to wait until I get the swinging arm back before I can sort this.

Tried to mount silencers but need to bend the pipes a few degrees. Tried putting inserts into pipes, heating them and bending but not successful. Went to local exhaust centre to see if they could bend pipes but local one does not have pipe bender so will have to travel further to find someone to do this.

Ordered the KTM rear fender complete with rear light. I can now take all the KTM bits off that I borrowed and get my KTM back race ready for forthcoming enduros.

Really enjoying playing with this project everyday.

 

[Crapaud]

Drove up to Barnstaple today to try to get the exhaust pipes bent to shape. None of the car places could help as the pipes are too narrow. I then tried the bike dealers and got referred to a custom bike builder in Ilfracombe. Place called Pigin Pipes that can do anything with metal. He is happy to do whatever I want and suggested that he can build me a custom one-off stainless 2:1 exhaust when I can get the bike to him. Although reluctant to spend more money on this, I think this will be worth the cost as he promises that it will fit and look perfect. Also by going 2 into 1 system, I'll save weight of one silencer so that will help achieve target of minimal overall weight.

Got home and the rear mudguard and light unit arrived. Excellent service from MD Racing Products of Yeovil. Couldn't wait to get this fitted.









Pictures of the under tank electrics:


Pictures of my pond pump pipe used to form snorkel for air intake:


Picture of RHS switchgear merging Honda master cylinder, BMW starter and aftermarket throttle body. Original is one single unit that does all three so I'm pleased with this result and it all works.


Picture of new footrest.


Tomorrow will be more electrics I think.

 

[Kenny]

Nice touch with the throttle

Maybe worth asking Pigin Pipes to keep the plans/measurements for the 2 into 1 system as many more 650 owners may want one

 

[Crapaud]

Thanks for comments Kenny.

A few relatively minor jobs today.

Firstly, I wasn't happy with either of the sidestands so decided to modify the original to extend it by a few inches and fit a larger foot on it. I carefully cut it in two and drilled out both pieces, tapped an M8 thread and inserted threaded rod with locknuts. I've made it extra long so it can be finally adjusted after I have eventually finalised the suspension lengths and ride heights. I also cut a small pear shaped piece of steel and welded it on to the foot. Then after my shit welding, I filed down the welding to make it look acceptable. And of course, I had to colour match it in blue





Found a nice set of engine bars that I had powder coated but never fitted to the PinkLady bike as I didn't want to cut the beautiful fairing on that. Though these would be perfect on this bike as it will definitely be thrown at the scenery when I race it in anger. Unfortunately, I could only find 2 out of the 4 brackets so fitted the left side only for now.


Finally carried on with the electrics. I'm always reluctant to cut up an original wiring loom but I want everything to be just right so it has to be done.

I even found some blue coloured heat-shrink so that even the wiring can be colour coordinated.

Decided to go with a very simple bicycle speedo to start with.




MickDB1 suggested a GPS unit and I just happen to have a spare one in a cupboard so that might get fitted as well.

I decided that the engine sump looked a bit exposed and vulnerable so an engine guard/ bashplate would be needed. Luckily there is an Aluminium company not far from here so I was able to drive there and get a nice off-cut cut to my exact dimensions in 4.8mm sheet for £6.




I think there is enough to keep me busy until all the other bits come back.

 

[nick.ct]

Sid, you know there are narrow engine bars for a 650 motor?

No need to make the bike as wide as a 800 or 1000

 

[Kenny]

Looking good, cracking project....hmmmm, are you sure that 8mm threaded bar will be strong enough at that length of adjustment ( just being cautious, hate to see those spanking black engine bars scratched ! )

 

[Crapaud]

Sid, you know there are narrow engine bars for a 650 motor?

No need to make the bike as wide as a 800 or 1000

Yes, but this is what I've found lying around in my workshop in keeping with the "Scrapheap Challenge" concept. The project could have been very different if I was simply throwing lots of money at it. Anyone who knows me will know that I am a careful ex-accountant and ex-banker and hate to ever spend any of my own money.

The two main criteria of this project were light weight and low cost and I seem to be achieving both so far. A Richie Moore or HPN special would have run to 5 figures but I'm trying to achieve something fun for a tiny fraction of that by recycling various Airhead bits I can find around the workshop. Also its far more satisfying to build something yourself rather than just buy it off the shelf.

Kenny - I've made the sidestand on the basis of lightness is best. If it is not strong enough I can improve it with the mark two version. Bike will continue to be a test bed until I'm completely happy with everything.

Then I might think about building some more replicas as a sideline to supplement my meagre pensions.

Lots of fiddly little electrical jobs today. I seem to have connected up all the loose wires and nothing unknown is left over Managed to find a colour matched blue horn and had to make a new bracket to mount that nicely.

Decided to fit indicators so going to use original BMW ones as I found a box with 6 pairs Adapting the mounts to make them narrower.

Still can't decide on battery mounting but will need to extend main battery leads where ever it goes.

Just having a lunch break but will be back in workshop for rest of day.

 

[maikhoepfel]

Loving this, please keep posting!

 

[Crapaud]

Sorry that I've not updated this recently but I've been suffering from a terminal case of Man Flu this week. Didn't fancy spending too long in workshop in the cold.

However, did make some progress even if it was 3 steps forward and 2 steps backwards.

Wired up the indicators using the original BMW fittings. Wired up battery in temorary location and checked that ignition switch worked, horn worked and flashers. All good.

Then I decided that the indicators looked crap and not crash resistant so I completely removed them and started again. Instead of the BM fittings for the rear I used a piece of garden hose! Just cut a few inches off a hose SWMBO uses for the horses water, she'll never miss 6 inches

Much happier with this fitting as it is lighter, flexible and cost nothing.









I got the swing arm back from Sherlocks with the extended drive shaft fitted. After lots of swearing I got it fitted. Then removed it when I realised that I needed to fit the new rubber boot first.
Then removed it again after I dropped one of the new bolts into the drive shaft.
Finally got it all sorted and bolted up.

Fitted the rear bevel box with new gaskets. Still waiting for my spoked wheel to be built so used the original R65 cast wheel until other one is ready.

Fitted the rear shock from KTM as again waiting for new one to be built.

I originally mounted the battery within rear subframe but really didn't like it at all. Looked all wrong and put weight in wrong place. So, I've decided to modify the airbox to create space at back of airbox for the Odyssey. Will have to find someone locally who can work in alloy to recreate the design I have knocked up in cardboard as a pattern.

 

[Crapaud]

Some photos to show the back end finally fitted.



This hopefully shows the nicely extended swingarm, the new stainless nuts and my home made brake rod extension. I know some of the experts will tell me that the swingarm is at too acute an angle but it is hanging down with no weight on it. Next week I might even move bike off the ramp and see how it sits with 14.5 stone of fat tosser on it. Also I'm waiting for new shock to be made to order. Along with the new back wheel, I think this may put a severe dent in my "low cost" ideal.

Work in progress on the new airbox. I found an old air filter and had a play with cutting it down to size. Then I mocked up a pattern for a new airbox and cover to allow battery to fit near to original position.



Also called into Maplins today and bought a nice selection of led lights to make up a lightweight module to contain all the idiot lights. Proff suggested I use a tobacco tin to house these but first I have to smoke the Moroccan contents to empty the tin.

Anyone still remotely interested in all this bollocks I'm posting?

 

[wreck diver]

Yes,great read.She is looking good cant wait to see the end result.

 

[MickDB1]

I am more than interested Sid I am well impressed by your imagination and use of almost anything handy. A proper Bushmechanic
and in inspiration.
Regarding the air box battery box. It looks like there is plenty of space above the air intake could the battery be placed inside the air chamber and a taller air chamber be created with the Lid still holding the air filter. If yer follow my to late to be of use idea
Top man and keep posting - I wish I lived nearer - I would be stickin me nose in regularly for sure

 

[k80matey]

Keep it up Sid. Very interesting I think!

 

[Kenny]

Anyone still remotely interested in all this bollocks I'm posting?

Just

Kidding...very interesting...far more fun than a standard concourse renovation