Terri’s 1971 BMW R60/5 Log Archives (April 2005 – April 2010)

April 23, 2010 – 92,452 Miles: After 5 years with the R60/5 , a “too good to be true” offer prompted Terri to trade the old Airhead in for a 1996 R850R . It was fun while it lasted!

April 7, 2010 – 92,452 miles: About 300 miles have been added since May 12, 2009. The speedo is beyond economical repair, and new ones are around $550.00. Ouch! So I’ll keep tallying the miles this way.  I also gave her an oil change.

• Motor Oil and Filter Change with Dynacycle 20W/50 Semi-Synthetic Blend

November 7, 2009 – 92,452 miles: About 310 miles have been added since May 12, 2009. I’ve put the R60/5 away for the winter, and will soon send the speedometer in for a rebuild.

• Driveline fluid change with Castol 80W/90 GL5

May 12, 2009 – 92,452 miles: Fixed some pushrod tube and seal leaks, and also installed a Dyna electronic ignition. The odometer quit following Tech Day, so until that gets rebuilt we’re going to go on dates for maintenance.

• Complete Top End Gasket Kit installed

• 4 New Pushrod Tube Seals installed

• Dyna D35-1 Ignition installed

• 12-12-1-338-146 Bosch W5DC Spark Plugs (Qty 2)

• 11-13-1-338-427 Oil Pan Gasket Installed

• 3 Stripped Oil Pan Bolts repaired with M6x1.0 Helicoil Inserts

• Motor Oil Change with Castrol 4T 20W/50

• Points Cavity Strip Seal & Cam Seal Replaced

• Honed Cylinders and Decarbonized Heads

April 11, 2009 – 92,452 miles: We held a New Jersey Airheads Tech Day at our house, but it was a washout due to storms. Still, some very helpful Airheads showed up, and proceeded to fix a burned out wiring harness in the R60/5’s headlight bucket, as well as clean and tune the carbs. Here’s Airhead Bill Dudley working on the wiring (PICTURE). Hopefully, next year it won’t rain!

November 11, 2007 – 90,833 miles: The bike gets some fresh fluids to get ready for winter season.

• Motor oil & filter change with Dynacycle 20W/50 Semi-Synthetic Blend

• Driveline fluid change with Amsoil Severe Gear 75W/90 GL5

November 27, 2006 – 90,200 miles: The bike gets some fresh fluids to get ready for winter season.

• Motor oil change with Dynacycle 20W/50 Semi-Synthetic Blend

• Driveline fluid change with Bel-Ray 80W/90 GL5 Hypoid

June 24, 2006 -90,183 miles: The bike had developed an idle which oscillated ever so slightly. We suspected the beginnings of an air leak in the intake system, or worn advance springs. Today we replaced all the gaskets on the intake side between the carbs, heads, and sleeves, as well as the advance springs. Also, we installed some “Quieting Buttons” in the cylinder heads to help quell the reverberating racket from the cooling fins. I first read about these in a Matt Parkhouse column in BMW- ON December 2004. True to the article, the buttons worked wonders! It takes 24 buttons to dampen the ringing of a running airhead.

• 13-72-1-254-200 Carb To Cylinder Head Gasket (x2)

• 13-11-1-255-975 Carb to Sleeve Gasket (x2)

• 11-12-1-337-818 Quieting Buttons (x24)

• 12-11-1-356-546 Heavy-Duty Advance Spring installed (x2) (PICTURE)

June 17, 2006 -90,015 miles: We gave the bike some fresh fluids, new plugs, and a new gas cap gasket. The original gas cap gasket was installed with a pin, which over time had become virtually welded to the cap, and was a real bear to remove. Rather than use a pin this time, we opted to drill and tap the gas cap, and use a more commonly available stainless steel phillips-head screw to hold the new gasket in place. This modification will make future gasket replacements a snap! See picture below for details.

• Motor oil and filter change with Dynacycle 20W/50 Semi-Synthetic Blend

• Driveline fluid change with Bel-Ray 80W/90

• 16-12-2-307-113 Karcoma Cast Rear-Spigot Petcock (left-side) installed

• 16-12-2-307-114 Karcoma Cast Rear-Spigot Petcock (right-side) installed

• 12-12-1-338-145 W6DC Spark Plugs

• 16-11-1-230-603 Gas Cap Gasket (PICTURE)

June 1, 2006 – 89,985 miles: The needles in the respective slide carbs were move up a notch, to richen up the mixture in order to combat pinging. The change seemed to do the trick once and for all!

May 29, 2006 – 89,940 miles: The R60/5 made it through the Vermont Tour with no problems. The bike pinged a little under load, so we retarded the timing ~2 degrees and that cured most of it. We will play with the carbs at a later date to see if I can tune the rest of the pinging out. The bike drank what was left of its oil, so 1.5 quarts of BMW 20W/50 motor oil were added at Classic Airheads before the final leg of the trip.

May 26, 2006 – 88,720 miles: With the original clutch at the end of its travel and no adjustment left, we decided a replacement was in order. We took the bike in to Classic Airheads for the replacement. Obviously, the splines were lubed while the tranny was out of the way – the splines still look OK! A worn speedo bushing was replaced as well.

• 21-21-1-250-288 Spring

• 21-21-1-236-332 Clutch

• 21-21-1-231-666 Ring

• 21-21-1-251-801 Plate

• 21-21-1-231-463 Clutch Bolts (6)

• 26-11-1-242-297 Driveshaft Bolts (4)

• 13-72-1-254-382 Air Filter

• New BMW 80W/90 Transmission Fluid

The bike’s all set for our tour of Vermont coming up this weekend!

May 1, 2006 – 88,276 miles: The points on the R60/5 had closed up, leading to rough running and stalling. We regapped them using the Paul Tavenier Tool, which was invaluable in making the job much easier than it otherwise would have been with the Mechanical Advance Unit in the way. While the Mechanical Advance Unit was out for the points gapping, it was cleaned up and lubricated. The Unit already had the Heavy Duty Springs installed by the previous owner in 2003, according to the old service records which came with the bike. The fly weights still “snap back” nicely per the Duane Ausherman Mechanical Advance Unit test, so all is well with that component. With the Tavenier Tool, the entire job took less than 10 minutes, and now the R60/5 runs like a dream again! As an added bonus, we added some generic fuel filters to the gas lines.

• Points gapped

• Fuel filters added to fuel lines

October 22, 2005 – 87,319 miles: We took the R60/5 in to Classic Airheads in Phillipsburg, NJ for installation of Motorrad Elektrik’s “Omega” Charging system to prep the bike for winter riding. The new Omega system produces 400W with charging starting at 2,000 rpm, a quantum improvement over the stock system’s 180W starting at ~4,000 rpm. Terri’s new Gerbing’s heated gear can now be used without stressing out the charging system. To facilitate installation, a vented Front Motor Cover from a /6 model was installed, as well as a Stator Housing from a /6 model. Both parts were bought used from Airhead Salvage. The bike received a general checkout and pronounced ready for the upcoming winter season!

• Motorrad Elektrik Omega 400W Charging System installed (PICTURE)

• 11-14-1-263-265 /6 Vented Front Motor Cover installed (used)

• 12-31-1-243-002 /6 Stator Housing installed (used)

• Swingarm lubrication

• Rubber Fuel Hoses replaced with black Braided Cloth Lines

• Clutch adjusted

October 14, 2005: Corbin leather Gunfighter and Lady seat for /5 SWB model installed. The Corbin seat provides added comfort for longer trips and a more luxurious seating surface.

September 10, 2005 – 86,680 miles: Pennsylvania Tech Day! The handlebars were swapped out for the “US High Bars” from my R75/5, and some other odds and ends were performed. The Airhead gurus at Tech Day also did a “sticktion test” on the forks and pronounced them OK.

• Progressive Fork Springs installed

• Fork Oil Change (BMW 7.5W – 250cc per side)

• Exhaust nuts lubed

September 9, 2005: National Cycle Street Shield EX Windshield installed. This 17″ high shield will help reduce fatigue on longer trips, and is quickly removable when not required.

August 17, 2005 – 85,860 miles: The bike gets some fresh fluids to get ready for winter season.

• Motor oil and filter change with Dynacycle 20W/50 Semi-Synthetic Blend

• Driveline fluid change with Castrol 80W/90 GL5 Hypoid

April 2005: Terri picked up this White 1971 BMW R60/5 with 85,203 original miles from an ad in Airmail magazine. The story of the bike is that it was bought new by a female professor in Pennsylvania, who kept it for 20 years and rode it across country twice. The bike then changed hands to its second owner, another Professor and Airhead fanatic who rode it and maintained it regularly. The bike was in great condition for an original machine of this age, and the previous owner had equipped it with many worthwhile upgrades, including the H4 headlight conversion, a fused wiring harness, and more. Front splines were lubed ~74k miles, and rear at ~81k miles.