revtothelimit - motorbike forum

Drained the oil and replaced with fresh 15w50, which is what BMW recommends for hot climates. Engine feels smoother, also seems to run quieter and shift nicer. Winning!

Also replaced the loose single use clamps on that leaky breather hose from the oil tank with some wider fuel hose clamps. The hose can't move now, so hopefully it seals and with that the bike is oil tight

Jules used his fairing welder to put some hot staples in a crack in the seat fairing. The crack is still visible of course, but it is solid now and won't grow any further.

Also popped the centre stand off after noticing it doesn't always return easy. Seems to have just been dried out grease.

Little by little

The bike wasn't quite right yesterday after work with a lumpy idle on startup. I put it down to being cold, and got on with the short ride home.

Today the bike let me down. Low power, wonky idle, rev counter erratic. I didn't get out the estate before the bike stalled.

Figured it out


Dug about a bit more after, the corrosion has caused the aluminium connector housing to swell so it didn't fit in the socket. I brushed the loose corrosion off, now it went in far enough that I'm hoping it'll be ok. A proper fix means two coils and a wiring loom, but it's not getting that with how it's treated me so far

You... The clutch lever pivot bolt she told you not to worry about BMW uses a 6mm pivot bolt with M5 threads on the bottom. The idea is that when you tighten the bolt, the nut stops at exactly the right height for your lever to move freely. It should also pinch the perch exactly tight enough so the lever moves on the pivot, instead of the pivot moving in the perch and wearing the hole bigger. The nyloc nut has sole responsibility for the lever not leaving the chat. This all is a bad idea from the get go.

On my bike the pattern (copy) lever must be very slightly thicker than OEM, because it would work fine unless I tightened the bolt down, then the lever pinched stiff. I could've sanded the lever thinner, but the design of this bolt is bad engineering and I don't like it. Every bike I ever had before, the pivot threads into the perch and there's a jam nut on the bottom. This gives you belt and braces retention of that bolt, and ensures the lever moves on the boot, not the bolt in the perch. Also, 6mm is too small for the pivot bolt, it will wear the hole oval in no time especially as there's no bushing in there.

So, I dug out an m8 stainless steel Allen bolt, cut extra threads to exactly the right length so the bolt stops before it pinches the perch, drilled the lever and the perch top hope to 8mm and threaded the bottom hole to m8.


Results - it certainly didn't snap back like this before.

On a role.

The bike has heated grips as standard. The "real biker" in me says they're an unnecessary creature comfort. But the nearly-40 year old in me likes creature comforts.

The left one was wonky since I got the bike. On the original handlebar it should be secured to the handlebar by two self tapping screws, but one looked like this: While the other was a too-small pozi drive woodscrew.

File the busted one flat: Put some random screws from the box in, which just happen to fit perfectly and have BMW 's favourite head on them: There's lovely

That's some ongoing project you have there man.

Heated grips are a must for UK riders imo,maybe not for Maltesers though.

What's winter like in Malta? Met Office says down to 9c overnight in winter but guessing that feels pretty cold when it 9 billion degrees in summer

Skub wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 10:26 am That's some ongoing project you have there man.

Ain't it just. But while it's very annoying that I paid basically the price of a good one for it, the process is quite enjoyable. Long time since I had a project bike.

Supermofo wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 10:57 am What's winter like in Malta? Met Office says down to 9c overnight in winter but guessing that feels pretty cold when it 9 billion degrees in summer

There's the rub exactly.

Skub wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 10:26 am Heated grips are a must for UK riders imo,maybe not for Maltesers though.

I wouldn't add them myself nor would I spec them on a new bike I bought. But the benefit is that I can wear my thin summer gloves all year round, as the hand guards (which are absolutely useless at protection of levers or hands against trees or the ground) also keep the wind off the back of my hands.

Even though the PO has probably ran them on full power (manual calls it warm-up mode or something to that effect) too often and for too long causing the rubber to melt and look shitty, I will keep them, maybe eventually even change the rubber outer, rather than fit ordinary rubber grips.

Changed the footpeg relocation brackets for my kid to be able to reach the footpegs. They'll get a test ride on the way home from school today.

The parts came from China, the main mounting holes didn't line up so needed drilling bigger, and they didn't include longer/extra cotter pins for the holes through the footpegs... not recommended!

Before After

Jules finally rode the Mule today: "Here, you know your clutch is slipping?"

Nope, despite having doubts about the clutch, I'd not thought to give it a high gear up a hill.

Clutch plates and springs it is, then.

Between having reworked the clutch pivot to make the lever feel right, new plates and springs that should hopefully let it shift into and across neutral without the feeling of clutch drag, and a new cable en route to take up the excess slack... I'm hoping it'll shift as it ought to, which is still pretty famously notchy.

Lol set it on fire.

weeksy wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 9:10 pm Lol set it on fire.

£500 + expenses.

Tho' 1st class flights to an island in the med will probably make it prohibitively expensive.

weeksy wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 9:10 pm Lol set it on fire.

I think we covered that somewhere not far above, but since you mentioned it.

My impression of the bike has grown from it just being a shitbox that I bought thinking it was a good bike, into it being a rolling project, a hobby in and of itself and an excuse for spending time in the garage tinkering.

Don't get me wrong, it still is a shitbox that caught me unawares, but it's also the other thing. And it is, albeit gradually, recovering from its time in the wilderness.

A_morti wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 11:47 am

weeksy wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 9:10 pm Lol set it on fire.

I think we covered that somewhere not far above, but since you mentioned it.

My impression of the bike has grown from it just being a shitbox that I bought thinking it was a good bike, into it being a rolling project, a hobby in and of itself and an excuse for spending time in the garage tinkering.

Don't get me wrong, it still is a shitbox that caught me unawares, but it's also the other thing. And it is, albeit gradually, recovering from its time in the wilderness.

I love and hate both the thread/bike in equal amounts

Well, that's two of us then

Satisfied that the engine is no longer going to leak oil on the plug, I put the replacement sidestand switch on the bike. Safety undelete completed and everything works as it ought to!

The box with loads of bits including LED indicators, clutch plates and springs, and a replacement airbox is now en route from Christoph in Germany so I will probably receive and start to fit that stuff in a week or two.

Bit by bit

I'm with @weeksy on the set fire to it approach

Mr Moofo wrote: Thu Feb 16, 2023 6:01 pm I'm with @weeksy on the set fire to it approach

It's ok, I can help with that problem!

The bike always had a little squeak in the suspension, and as above I always intended to strip it down.

So, start with the linkage since it's relatively easy to get off.

Dirty, but came apart easy and no rusty hardware etc. Gave everything a squirt and wipe down, still looking good and all the needle rollers and bushings are in very reusable condition. Always fun repacking full complement bearings! The tweezers were Mrs_morti's, but she didn't want them back?

had really hoped that would be enough, but the squeak (perhaps better described as a groan?) persisted, so so on to the next job.

Welp, that ain't good. Also not great. I used a bicycle front spindle as a chuck with the bearing cone for self-centring, to clean up the bushings on my drill. First the wire brush (shown here) then wire wool. I didn't take another picture, but they got to a "good enough for a 10 year old bike with 30k miles" level.

If you're wondering why the linkage bearings were so nice but the swingarm so shitty, the answer is right here as part #2:


This foam piece of shit is meant to seal the bearings.


There's really no excuse for this, since if you drive the bearings in 2mm deeper the gap taken by the foam seals is big enough for the exact same 28*22*4 oil seal BMW used in the linkage. So, 4 of those go on the shopping list for one day when ICBA to take that apart again. Certainly before winter rolls back around.

You sir, have the patience of a saint. It would have been the subject of an insurance claim months ago had it been mine...