Weekend Wrenching

Finally, I was able to spend a couple of days in the garage. I spent the week rounding up parts and researching what needed to be done to the bike, aka, The Runt. I am assuming that the Runt has been sitting around for at least a few years. I am going to guess 5 years. I want to make sure that the mechanicals are all in good shape before I start customizing. One of my goals is to have a running project bike – I want to be able to throw a leg over her and go for a ride. There will be times when this won’t be possible, but I will need to exercise the GS aka, The Cow, from time to time too.

Maybe it is the Project Manager in me, I wanted to list everything that I possibly would want to do with Runt, break it up into sprints… I didn’t care. I do want to complete the project in a timely manner, but this is supposed to be fun and not feel like work! I digress.

I was a little surprised to see that many of the BMW service intervals were based on time and not mileage. I believed that I could get all of this done in one weekend, but with a 28 year old bike, you are going to run into problems. Add the fact that I want to clean parts while I have access to them, it all adds extra time.

Completed List:

• Fluids: Engine, Transmission, Final Drive, Shaft Drive
• Flush Front Brake System
• Replace Front Brake Pads
• Replace Front Tire
• Tune-up: Valves, Plugs, Wires, Air Filter
• Fix Dash Lights – why won’t the T/S light work?!
• Clean Headlight: Glass and reflector
• Troubleshoot Turnsignals
• Remove Luggage Mounts
• Replace Mirrors
• Replace Fuel Filters

There still is a sizable list left from the original list. Next on the list is the front suspension. I want to replace the fork oil and replace the springs. Parts are on the way – various seals, gaskets for the forks, and I am eager to get started. Hoping that it will mellow out the front-end a bit. Doesn’t feel like the oil in there now is doing much and there is a lot of dive under hard braking. On the rebound, I feel a hard ‘thunk’ – guessing that some of the parts in the fork are worn out and need to be replaced. Should be interesting, this is the first time I have taken apart a conventional fork.

Then again, I should probably finish the tune-up, sync the carbs, but new throttle cables are on the way with the fork parts, so it looks like another busy few nights in the garage.

Here are some more before photos:

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