I just joined this forum and have recently purchased a 1971 BMW R75/5, my second R75/5, that was bought from the estate of the original owner who bought the bike in Germany. Also included in the sale was a Vetter Windjammer fairing (#4365 with documentation that it was purchased in 1972) and a Vetter RainyDay fender. The bike needs some work but both the Windjammer and RainyDay fender are in good shape for their age. I hope to learn more about these Vetter products from this forum.
Hi From Kirkwood MO
- Thread starter jimmiejag
- Start date
Scott-E
Vetter Aficionado
That's a nice setup! Welcome to the Forum also. I can't imagine any motorcycle sold at an estate sale that does not need work. I found a BMW K750 at an estate sale I had to pass up. His Widow could not give up her husbands motorcycle until it was past saving. I told my wife not to do that. I want my Motorcycles to go to someone that would ride and love them they way I do and to sell them as soon as possible after my death.
Thanks for the welcome Scott. I fully expect some issues with the R75/5 due to it's inactive status for a significant amount of time. It is obvious from the documents I received with the bike that the original owner took good care of it -- the oil is clear and full to the mark -- but, as you know, bad things happen to any vehicle that sits unused for an extended time. One of the first things I plan to do is change the oil/filter, replace the old, dead BMW battery with an AGM battery so I can check the compression, and clean and seal the tank with Red Kote. I also plan to replace all rubber parts that I can, most particularly the dry-rotted Avon tires. The spokes are rusted and I plan to try my hand at relacing both front and rear wheel spokes with SS from Germany. I will know more about the internal condition of the engine in a few more days. Right now, I plan to keep the patina but do a mechanical restoration. I am on the fence about the Windjammer fairing but will keep the Krauser panniers. The saddle looks original and is near perfect but most rubber boots are shot. I will be looking for advice from the forum as this project progresses.
Scott-E
Vetter Aficionado
Last year about this time I found a Soviet Union era Dnepr military sidecar motorcycle in a barn where it had sat 27 years. According to the import paperwork that came with it, it had sat in the back of a warehouse in Ukraine for 20 years before the collapse of the Soviet Union. The person that purchased it had it shipped from Ukraine in 1992 because he wanted an "Indiana Jones" sidecar motorcycle. After it arrived which took several months he proceeded to ride it around his farm. On the second day he decided to take it on the road so he could show it off. He was not a Biker and he had no training to ride sidecar motorcycles so he ended up getting tossed off it and put in the hospital a couple of days. After returning home he put it in the barn never to ride it again. He was the type of person that didn't want anyone else playing with his toys even if he would never play with them again. Anyway I purchased it because it was cheap at the auction. So cheap I could remove the sidecar and it's frame to mount to another motorcycle with one of those universal sidecar mounting kits, junk the old motorcycle, and still come out ahead. After I got it home I removed the sidecar and and frame and went to work on the motorcycle. I poured a 50/50 mix of acetone and transmission fluid down the spark plug holes and let it sit overnight because the engine was stuck. The next day I put my foot on the kick start lever and to my surprise the engine turned over with just a little pressure applied to it. I cleaned out all the acetone and transmission fluid, put some gas in the tank, and kicked it over. It actually started and ran on one of it's two cylinders. That's when I decided to go ahead and replace all the seals, O-rings, and gaskets in the entire motorcycle. It was designed to be worked on out in the field by military personnel so it was super easy to take it apart and put it back together again. I had to wait a month and a half for the parts to arrive and a week later I had the motorcycle up and running very well. It's unbelievable just how easy it is to work on. No special tools are required, no electronics, the electrical system is simple as well. They actually went out of their way to make it simple to work on. My lawn mower is a lot more complicated! I did go ahead and order an Electronic Ignition system for it. The points type system that came with it is poorly designed and no reliable at all. It left me on the side of the road a couple of times putting in a spare set of points and a condenser that also went bad, which was a new one I had ordered in the first batch of parts. The new electronic ignition system has been very reliable and the engine runs a lot better than it did on points even when they were working perfectly for as long as that lasted.
My spokes were rusty too. They were never chrome plated. It's a military bike so the spokes were just zinc plated with a dull finish. It was going to cost $40 a wheel to re-spoke just one of it's four wheels and the only spokes available were chrome plated, which I did not want. What I did was remove all the spokes and put them on a wire wheel and remove all the rust. Then I went to Harbor Freight and purchased several rolls of green heat shrink tubing. I cut the tubing to length and as I installed the spokes I slid the tubing over the spokes and used a heat gun to shrink the tubing on the spokes. It turned out better than I expected! The green spokes match the green rims and the bike is Russian Military Green too so they look like it was factory done.
I have a Windjammer 4 on my 2006 Honda VT600CD and love it! I actually went to a lot of trouble to make brackets for my bike to get the fairing, bags, and trunk on it. It's become a modern version of the early 1980's GL500 Silverwing. It's a nice light touring bike without the weight and bulk of a Honda Goldwing. When I purchased it it only had 1,400 miles on the odometer which was the correct mileage. Very soon I will have over 50,000 miles on it. That would have happened sooner if not for my old Russian Bike which I ride a lot more for some strange reason. I can't explain that except that it's a lot more fun to ride the hack than the two wheeler.
UPDATE from the OP.
Scott, I appreciate the story of your Russian barn find. It must be a blast to ride.
I have discovered that the compression in one of the cylinders on my bike was around 25 psi so I have removed both heads, cylinders and pistons and had a local airhead expert, Dave Clark who owns Forever Endeavors in Pacific, MO, install new rings, valves, guides, etc. and ensure all are within factory specs. In addition, I had Dave re-spoke, true and balance and install new tires on both wheels that are now back on the bike.
We have the engine re-assembled and one of the carburetors rebuilt. Unfortunately, the other Bing had one stubborn screw out of the four holding the cap on and the main body was cracked while sttempting to remove it. We have JB welded the piece (see photo) and hope it will hold. As you can see, the screw still fits the original threads.
After completing the left carb rebuild and installation, the new OEM-style exhaust needs to be installed and the tank will require repainting, restriping and re-installation. Lots of fine tuning and smaller parts installation will be required before the bike will be ready for a test ride. I hope that can be accomplished this Spring.
BTW, is it possible to TIG weld this broken piece after JB Weld has been used?
Scott, I appreciate the story of your Russian barn find. It must be a blast to ride.
I have discovered that the compression in one of the cylinders on my bike was around 25 psi so I have removed both heads, cylinders and pistons and had a local airhead expert, Dave Clark who owns Forever Endeavors in Pacific, MO, install new rings, valves, guides, etc. and ensure all are within factory specs. In addition, I had Dave re-spoke, true and balance and install new tires on both wheels that are now back on the bike.
We have the engine re-assembled and one of the carburetors rebuilt. Unfortunately, the other Bing had one stubborn screw out of the four holding the cap on and the main body was cracked while sttempting to remove it. We have JB welded the piece (see photo) and hope it will hold. As you can see, the screw still fits the original threads.
BTW, is it possible to TIG weld this broken piece after JB Weld has been used?
Larry Fine
Moderator
As a non-stressed part, I would think smoothing with more filler and sanding would suffice.
Alan F.
Vetter Aficionado
Get in touch with Jim French. I met him over on the SOHC4 Honda forums.
http://www.jmfmicroweld.com/index.php
He's been successfully repairing broken float pin towers and cracked carb bits like yours for quite a while now.
http://www.jmfmicroweld.com/index.php
He's been successfully repairing broken float pin towers and cracked carb bits like yours for quite a while now.
As an update to my original posting, the compression in one cylinder was 110 psi but the other was 25 psi, so I took both heads to a local expert, Dave Clark, who did a thorough job on them. I also took both pistons and cylinders to Dave who fitted new rings and checked the cylinders. Both carburetors needed to be rebuilt and the exhaust system was rusted, so I bought replacements. Much more piddly repairs/replacements were required, but she is ready for a test run. Fingers crossed for good weather and a good static test.