We took some riding shots today up in the canyons off PCH. While taking a break, i snapped this cell phone shot. I can’t wait to see the rest… but they lay in the hands of my photog friends…
Finshed
I have a bunch of build and tech updates I need to write but the bike is done!
I had some charging issues that i had to figure out (alternator).
Carbs couldn’t idle low enough so I got a new-ish set of 32mm Bings from an ’84 GS and they work great.
Suspension is tight which can be painful on these horrible Los Angeles roads. I am playing with spring rates and dampening after each ride.
The biggest trouble right now is keeping it clean! I got about 80 miles on the clock.
Glamor photos to come… But her modeling career has begun!
Willow Springs Vintage Races 2013
A day at the races. April 27th, 2013
Learning the rules of the track:
First race:
A friend and fellow BMW /5 rider Jerome Brown on a Honda:
Stacy from the East Side Moto Babes club:
The BMW race representation:
Side Car Races. I wish i got up on the hill to get some photos of them leaning out the sidecars on the turns. Their heads were about 4 inches from the pavement leaning out the side of the sidecar. Crazy. And afterwards I saw that many of the sidecar passengers were women. Rock on ladies!
Anatomy of a BMW sidecar:
I couldn’t agree more:
The people watching was as good as the race watching:
My buddy hanging out at turn #4:
This vintage piece of art was only $250,000:
Swap meet and display bikes:
I’m a sucker for beautiful blue bikes:
This guy has his German priorities straight:
Nice details on this bike:
Finish Line:
BMW Black Gold – Update
Well, the bike runs thanks to the help of a local BMW genius.
But it wasn’t without a bunch more setbacks.
After an hour or so of scratching our heads, we found out that the starter relay was bad. I had a real old ratty one to replace it with and despite all the rust, it worked.
The rear set bracket I made was pinching a bit and made shifting really tight. We had to make a new shift rod. We actually made one out of a R65 pushrod.
The front forks were really stiff which ended up being due to the high weight fork oil. I drained and checked for stiction, then added lighter oil and all is well.
I took it for a break-in ride and it rides and sounds amazing.
After the break in though, the idle was not setting properly. The old /5 carbs were nasty and saw a bit too much action in their day… and i think despite the rebuild, there is nothing you can do with worn parts.
I’ll be replacing the carbs soon so fingers crossed she’ll run a bit smoother. I hope to have it dialed in this weekend.
I still have some finishing touches to do as well. Almost to the finish line. Almost.
Here’s $60 of BMW’s texas tea:
Victoria Bergmeister
Stunning piece of German history.
Friday’s photography
I teach a Photoshop course at a local college. The college recently had their annual student photo exhibit. This photo caught my eye. The artist wasn’t a student of mine but if she was, it would have been an easy “A”.
Crankcase breather
I had to put on my plumbing hat for this job.
I started by building a bracket to hold a breather filter above the transmission.
I then scoured my garage for all sorts of tubes, hose, fittings etc…
I was able to piece together a connection that ran from the crankcase breather outlet to the filter.
Unfortunately, the angle of the crankcase breather outlet aims outwards towards the right side of the engine. I test fitted the custom starter cover before I added all the hoses but once the hoses were added, the starter cover wouldn’t fit. I tried shaving down the edge of the hose but it wasn’t going to work due to the angle of the breather. If I forced everything together, after time, the vibration of the the parts would have damaged the fiberglass starter cover.
Luckily, there is a later model breather that has the exact same footprint but the outlet aims upward. 
Then it was just a matter of connecting new hoses.
I cut down a new BMW crankcase breather hose meant for this style breather.
I also made a trip to my local hardware store and found a brass elbow fitting to connect with the filter.
I had a small tray fabricated out of aluminum. I placed it under the filter and connected it to the top of the transmission using the original air filter retaining bracket’s bolt hole.
I don’t anticipate any oil coming from the crankcase breather for many many many miles to come. But should the engine start to weep oil from the breather, it will get caught in the trough and not leak onto the transmission.
It isn’t the prettiest plumbing job but it will work and luckily it will get covered up by the starter cover. If you want to get your plumbing work done then you must go for a professional plumber Toronto.