Having successfully completed a full rebuild of another monolever BMW, I occasionally get slapped upside the head with what I think I know, vs what I know. I have watched videos, read articles, studied technical manuals and more for all the work I do on these bikes. In all, I've done well into the hundreds... Continue Reading →
Motor Stand…
Project Blue is my second airhead. I enjoyed Red a ton and Blue is shaping up into a very different and interesting project. I already have another airhead waiting in the wings, and have realized that one aspect of this work that is tedious is manipulating the motor and gearbox while servicing and rebuilding. This... Continue Reading →
Project Blue: Removing the Timing Cover, Bars, and getting the engine out of the frame.
Just a short update between some work travel. The project is coming along slowly, but without issue. I've given up on finding a way to do what I want without a complete teardown. There were portions of the bike I was hoping to leave intact, but that was becoming more of an effort than simply... Continue Reading →
Project Blue: Revisiting Colors and Parts Luck…
Sometimes, events conspire to guide us in ways we did not expect. This happened this month in a few ways. I had been pondering what to do about auxiliary lighting on this project. I want Blue to be a capable road tourer and definitely want to add to the visibility. I've looked pretty far and... Continue Reading →
Project Blue: Getting Started
I have been focusing more on video content so far, so this is a bit of a catch up post. I started Project Blue in earnest in November. The teardown has been pretty straightforward so far. I will say that removing the fairing was tricky. When I was working on Project Red, I knew that... Continue Reading →
Blue, blue, what to do…
Now that I am basically done with Red, I have begun considering what to do with Blue. Blue is a 1991 R100 RT. It has only around 15,000 miles and spent the better part of two decades in a basement. I found Blue while hunting for a potential parts bike so I would have something... Continue Reading →
Blue’s Shoes
Quick update on Blue. It's all back together. Finding tires was a bit of a challenge. Metzler no longer seems to make the tires I would prefer, so I opted for an Avon option. They are quite nice and should hold up well according to all the feedback I've reviewed. I also have the rebuilt... Continue Reading →
Carb Rebuild on Blue
There was a good bit of varnish on these when I started. Some of the internal bits needed more cleaning than usual, but it all worked out in the end. No "in the works" photos, but here are the finished carbs.
Installing Progressive Springs on Blue
I had to come up with a way to do this without removing the fork tubes. Yep. I am a little lazy at times. A little creativity with a puller and I could compress the spring enough the get the lock rings installed. It was a bit frustrating, but the result was worth it. It... Continue Reading →
Instrument Cluster Update (Blue)
One thing that I have noted is that the odometer and trip meter are not functioning correctly. Given the impact with a deer, this is not surprising. The trip meter reset knob was fully pressed into the speedometer housing. I also noticed that the odometer is clocking about 20% of the miles it travels. Good... Continue Reading →