Hi Folks!
I'm a brand new member, thought I'd join up to find others in my area to ride with and ask some advice.
I have a wet head, my wife has a Rotax powered BMW, and my most recent love is a relatively new to me '73 R75/5 sidecar rig in green with 57,000 miles.
Crazy part is, I think I'm more in love with this airhead than I am the new wethead!
It's not without issues though. It all started last week when I was checking valve clearances for the first time on this bike. I noticed on the right side it had different pushrods. One original and one newer style. So, with the advice of members on another forum, I've taken it down on both sides. I'm at the point where I need to get the pistons off the rods to de-carbon them. Heads need it as well. No valve recession as I expected to find, so that's good. I found one cam follower on the left side that may need replacing.
I'm in Marion, NC and I'd love to find some members that may be in the WNC area that wouldn't mind looking over my top end parts and give me some pointers on what needs replacing and what doesn't. I know this is a tall order to ask for, but thought I'd give it a shot and see if anyone was willing to kind of look over my shoulder on this.
Anyway, glad to be a member. Can't wait to get involved!
I do have a heated and cooled shop that I can offer to anyone needing a place to work on their bike. Rim clamp tire machine for easy, free tire changes too.
I live in far NE Georgia and could possibly ride by one weekend. There's no personal mail on this site so contacting people is not the easiest. Send me a text to 77 ohh eight tu 7. Eight 7 three 9 and we'll get together.
Owning an old Airhead is easy.
Keeping an old Airhead running great is the true test.
Another option for you would be to contact your North Carolina Airmarshal. Airmarshals are the keepers of the state membership lists. That person ought to be able to put you in touch with another member.
If you can get Wobbly to swing by, let him. He is a sharp tool and generous with time and expertise as demonstrated on this (Airheads) forum. I recall seeing your posts on the M.O.A. forum.
In North Carolina, a good guy to get to know is Anton Largiader. He has a shop and is highly regarded by many in the BMW motorcycle world. www.largiader.com/
former Airmarshal, IL.
I think I may have lucked out today and found a really good BMW machinest in Asheville. Hes going to check out the heads and measure and hone the cylinders. I got to the point where I realized it wasn't in my skill set to be measuring cylinder bores and checking ovality, etc. Glad to have found this shop. Reassembly should be the fun part for me in a week or so, and not having to worry wether I got the right size rings or something.
Wobbly, I'll take your offer to look over the bike anytime! Hoping to meet some more Airheads in the area for sure. If your ever near Marion, let me know.
I'll keep you guys updated. Glad to be here!
► 8053 is absolutely correct. Contacting your state's Air Marshal is the first step and he can advise you on who and how in your local area. Along those same lines, getting a copy of the membership list that details each member's location and abilities should make it easy to locate other members in your locale. These white paperback lists are typically mailed out once a year. There is also a list of Airhead shops in the AirLore pull-down menu at the top of this forum.
► I'm not sure exactly how one makes the mental leap from mis-matched push rods to taking the top ends apart. I find most internet armchair mechanics are far too free with other people's money and other people's time. A mis-matched part is a far cry from burning oil or knocking sounds, the usual reasons to take a top end apart. Still, what's done is done, and it will be good to start your own knowledge base with this older machine. I would not expect to find anything wrong at 57K miles, other than 1 mis-matched push rod.
► Your comment on the cam follower brought this to mind... One thing these older engines need is an oil with a good ZDDP package, which means using API rated SF/SG oils. You'll want to do some investigation and train yourself on that particular topic, because that will not be the same oils you use in your Oilhead or Rotax. I'm NOT trying to start an oil discussion here, simply to alert you to the need for an older grade of oil for an older design engine.
All the best.
Owning an old Airhead is easy.
Keeping an old Airhead running great is the true test.
Crazy part is, I think I'm more in love with this airhead than I am the new wethead!
That's not "crazy" at all. In fact, that's a sure sign of sanity !! 😛
Owning an old Airhead is easy.
Keeping an old Airhead running great is the true test.
Well, I figured out last night why I found an updated pushrod and cam follower on the right side intake. Here's the scoop....
In the last few days, I've tracked back through the history of this bike and found the previous three owners
The original owner answered the phone. Not sure I'm too thrilled with the answer, but here it is....
1979, he was "drag racing" a guy and missed a shift. He said he saw the tach go almost all the way around! Bent valve and pushrod and broken follower. Jeez.
Interesting conversation for sure. And, that wasn't the only drag racing story with that bike he told me about either.
The story about him going blind is true. He put the hack on and taught his wife how to ride so he could still enjoy his bike. Very cool.
I'm glad it's in my hands now. No more drag racing for this one!
Also, off topic, but, I'd love to organize a tech day. I've got a three bay shop with plenty of room to do it in, and I'm pretty close to the BRP! Leaves are starting to change and I'd love to meet some airhead riders.
It's good to have an experienced practitioner assess your parts if for nothing more than peace of mind. The only time I ever found a badly ovalled cylinder was on a '78 R100/7 with 170,000 miles on it. I'd be astounded if your cylinders were out of shape at 57,000 miles.
former Airmarshal, IL.
I just dropped all parts off with the machinest. With just a visual of the stuff I brought him, he thought it all looked ok. It does make me feel way more comfortable about it all have a professional order and size the rings and hone the cylinders. He's going to dismantle the heads and check valve guides as well as a thorough cleaning. I should be putting it back together next week I hope.
while I was there this morning. I did see one of the coolest bikes I'd seen in a while. He had a '56 R26 on the dyno. Putting out a whole 22 hp!
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