My wife surprised me with a 50th birthday present. She convinced my uncle to sell her his bike that hasn't been on the road since 1990. I guess I have a project in front on me now. 1974 R90/6. My uncle bought it used in 1978 according to the title. Some kids burnt down the apartment he was living in and the bike was in the fire. It was rebuilt at that point. When he bought it it had Lester mags and a /5 toaster tank on it. Stuff he did during the rebuild was dual plug heads, lightened flywheel and Martek electronic ignition. My uncle doesn't remember alot of the detail of who/what/when things were done, but so far as far as I can tell, this is the jist of it. About ten years ago he puttered with it and said he had it running and changed the oil then back into the garage it went.
What I have done so far is to check the oil, put some gas into it, and go for broke! It started right up. Ran REAL rough and wouldn't idle, and then would die. Wouldn't start up again unless it sat for awhile. Turns out, bad petcocks. I bought new ones since there was evidence of someone already trying to fix them at some time. New fuel line also. Then it started right up, albiet real rough again. The next weekend it doesn't start and backfires like a shotgun with flames out of the exhaust. My game plan is to check the valve adjustments, clean the carbs and go for it again. I do have new plugs in stock in case I need them. Wish me luck!
To add, the new instrument cluster is reading about 6k miles. My uncle seems to think the melted cluster read about 10 or 11k miles.
Welcome Aboard !
Say, does your wife have a sister ? That's a REALY nice present she gave you ! ?
Owning an old Airhead is easy.
Keeping an old Airhead running great is the true test.
That's the way these bikes do... often times you can put gasoline in them and crank them right up, like it had run yesterday. Lots of English and Jap motorcycles need to go through a $5000 rehab before you can get as far as you've already gotten, but the German bikes come roaring back to life. This means you can ride them while you update, BUT there are some items you MUST check within the first 30 days. These are items that historically have given new owners trouble when bringing one of these bikes out of long term storage. (And this happens more often than you can imagine.)
I complied a list of the "usual suspects", and that article is here:
Hope this helps.
Owning an old Airhead is easy.
Keeping an old Airhead running great is the true test.
Thanks for the link. Good info.
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