Moving back the Boulder
This page is to report the process that I used while rebuilding my bike. Some items are just off the top of my head, so remember to read your manual!
Sections
I will be making many references to Re-Psycle in the following. If you don't know, they are a new and used BMW shop near Columbus Ohio. I feel very fortunate to have such a good shop so closely to me. I can order a part in the morning, and have it the following day in the mail. They are very knowledgeable, kind, and have the goods! Check them out, especially if you have a /2, /5 or /6!
Re-Psychle
BMW Parts
240 W. Columbus St.
Lithopolis, OH 43136
(614) 837-1160
When I first started repairing the bike, I figured that the first thing to do would be to get parts off to a painter as that would probably take the longest. Through a lot of research, I found that the best choice for a painter was a man by the name, John Borella
Borella Motorcycle
Paint & Restoration
714 Providence Pike
Danielson, CT 06239
Phone & Fax: 860-774-5535
EMAIL
You can find cheaper painters, but not better. John is well known and respected. He does complete restorations. It is difficult to find someone who will do pin striping. John does it all. I had;
TANK - Stripped, inside and out, recoated with sealant, painted, pin striped
Front Fender - Stripped, painted, pin striped
Rear Fender - Unfortunately, the original fender was too damaged by the fire. I purchased a good replacement from Re-Psycle, and had that one painted, and pin striped.
Headlight Shell - Stripped and repainted
Headlight Ears - Stripped and repainted. I wanted these to match the tone and color of the other parts.
For the frame, I wanted to find someone a bit more local as I didn't want to have to box and mail my frame / swing arm all the way to Connecticut! I saw an add for Holt BMW in the BMW MOA and decided to give them a try. They were very nice, and knowledgable, and even did some prep work on the metal that was badly corroded so the paint would come out a bit smoother, but unfortunately I caught them while they were in the middle of upgrading their paint services and installing a new blaster booth, so it it FOREVER to get everything done.
Holt
BMW Ducati Inc
15530 US Highway 50
Athens, OH 45701-9306
(740)593-6690
I had the Frame, Sub-Frame, Swing Arm, and Center-stand done. I also had them replace the races and bearings for the stearing head.
Total Money paid : Holt = ~$450 Borella = ~$900
While the items were off for painting, I decided it was about time to tear into my engine! To prepare, I set up a nice little wooden stand, in a spot of my barn that it wouldn't matter if oil spilled. I then ordered a complete gasket set from Bob's BMW and got a nice new ratchet set from Sears. I knew going into the engine that I did not want to go far enough to get envolved with any bearings, that is beyond my comfort area. So, I started on the cylinders.
I was fairly well convinced that my pistons needed rings, cylinders needed honed, and heads needed rebuilt. So I tore down the top end. First I removed the valve covers, then heads, then cylinders and pistons. The pistons were badly carbonized. I cleaned them with a brass brush and brake cleaning fluid. (Always have brake cleaning spray around, very handy!) I decided to send my pistons, cylinders, and heads to have their work done at "Motor Works":
Motor
Works Inc.
1490 Island Ave.
San Diego, CA 92101
619.233.8875 Fax: 619.233.4137
These guys were great. They inspected everything, rebuilt the heads, honed the cylinders, and re-ringed the pistons. They told me that the pistons and cylinders looked fine and didn't really need any work, but went ahead and had them done as I hope I never have to do it again! I also had them bead blast some parts like the top and front covers, heads, and valve covers. All in all, I think it took about a month for the work and shipping time to and from California. Total cost ~$600
While the engine was apart, I inspected the clutch, replaced the oil pump seal, rear main seal, and cleaned. On the front end, I tore it down to the bare block, and replaced the timing chain, and all the seals in the front. I also made one "OOPS". The main timing chest gasket that I removed was held on with gasket sealant, so when I replaced it, I used sealant. I'm not sure now if I was supposed to or not. I doubt however that it will harm anything.
I didn't really do anything with the tranny. It was working fine when I removed it, so I didn't think it needed any work. It only has about 40k miles on it. I did however replace the Input Shaft seal, and the rubber boot on the arm in back. I also added stainless steel nuts and bolts all around where I could, and basically cleaned up as best as possible. Oh, and re-lubed everything.
As stated earlier, the swing arm went to Holt BMW to repaint. I cleaned the final drive, and it actually looks pretty good! Everything looked good, so I just replaced the seal between the drive shaft and final drive. Re-lubed everything, and installed Stainless Steel hardware.
The electrics were a mess. After all, it is what caused this entire rebuild! The gray wire running from the taillight to the ignition switch was finally deemed the culprit for the fire, as it was fried the entire length of the bike. It either shorted out at in the headlight or where the harness passes by the seat. (Here's a hint though, when you remove the old harness, save it! It can be very useful for bits and pieces of wire. I reused quite a lot of it and remade some of the wires in the headlight bucket. It's very handy as it will have the same colors as you're working with.) I initially purchased a used wire harness from Re-Psycle, and when I went to put it on, I noticed that I couldn't find it, or my new speedo cable. As it turns out, apparently a ground hog under my barn thought these things looked like they would make a nice nest, and drug them off! I found the speedo cable halfway down his hole! So I had to get a new harness, purchased from Bob's.
I had the rotor, alternator and starter sent toMotorrad
Elektrik
Motorrad Elektrik
3347 Anchor Drive, Southside, Ala., 35907
(205) 442-8886 or e-mail
Rick did a re-wind on the rotor, replaced the brushes on the alternator, and went through the starter and gave it a clean bill of health. Cost ~$150.
Wiring up the bike was pretty easy. I used the wiring diagrams HERE and this very nice drawn diagram HERE Surprisingly enough, the only problem I had with the wiring was that the turn signals were cris-crossed at first, which was easy, and they had a weird flash pattern. They would go: Flash....Flash...Flash..Flash.FlashFlashFlashFlash. This was rectified with a replacement Hella turn signal relay from Re-Psycle.
I did go ahead and reinstalled a Boyer Digital ignition system. This time though, I used the red cable going straight to the battery. You can read my old write up on the installation HERE.
Here's my biggest piece of advice when it comes to your wheels. START EARLY!!! I waited to long, and they were the thing holding up completion of the project for quite some time. I am proud of myself though, for my first time, I tore them apart, repacked bearings, cleaned the hubs, polished the rims, re-laced the wheels, trued the wheels and mounted the tires. I did everything myself with the exception of balancing them. I didn't have the equipment for that. I used Ed Korn's wheel building video available at CycleWorks HERE. And Buchanon stainless steel spokes available HERE.
I will admit though, I was unsure how good of a job I had done, so I took both wheels to Rick at Re-Psycle and had him check them. He was very thorough, fair and honest. He said that everything looked good, and he remounted the wheels and balanced them for me.
Cost= Spokes~$90 Tubes=$40 Rick's service~$50
Well, I treated myself with my exhaust. I've been staring at these nasty looking blued and rust color headers ever since I inherited the bike. I finally got sick of them and got a replacement set of stainless steel headers from Re-Psycle. They cost about $260, but since their stainless, with a very minimal bit of effort on my part, hopefully this will be the last set I ever have to invest in! The look and fit great, and when fully broken in, turn a sort of golden brown.
I only have a couple pictures to share with you at this time of the finished product, but I will hopefully get more taken and posted soon.
My goals for this bike are to first and foremost, take care of the seat. My pretty new Eurosport seat was melted by the fire. So, I'm back to using the old, not so good seat. It's something under my butt, but after an hour or so, it starts hurting pretty bad.
Secondly, I'm going to get a set of bags. I want a pair of Wixoms, the more teardrop-shaped the better. I think the bike will fill out nicely with them. Just the sides though. The top case and fairing look sort of bulky and out of place.
Clean. I think this is every BMW owners dream. To have a clean looking engine. Right now some of my parts are blasted, and some are not. I would like to get them all somewhere in the same tone area.