Draining the Fork Oil

Following the steps to drain the fork oil is a very simple process, but does require a special tool to loosen loosen the drain plug nut while at the same time using an allen wrench to hold the center (see photo). The fork drain tool is available from Joe's Tools. Loosen the nuts, then look out!

Front Fork Removal

The front wheel and forks were the last items removed from the motorcycle. I kept them as one unit, upright, until I was ready to drain the oil from the forks. When I finally removed the front wheel, I placed the axle back into the forks to keep track of the parts and also hold the forks steady.

I still kept the forks at a slight angle so the oil wouldn't leak out of the top. Then, I removed the two white dust caps at the bottom of the forks and followed the steps in Duane Ausherman's article to drain the oil.

Magura Grip Wedges!

When taking apart the handlebar control assemblies, be VERY careful not to lose the Magura grip wedges. These are tiny, rectangular pieces with ridges that prevent the assembly from rotating on the handlebar when tightened. Note that the one pictured has been cleaned. When you first take these apart, they may be black from age and hard to see, and can easily get lost. New ones (32 72 2 072 223) run about ten bucks each!

Handlebar Control Bits

The control housings on the left and right handlebars were intact and not damaged, and really just needed to be painted. Since I had already sent the larger pieces out to be powder coated, I decided to prep and paint these small components myself. The body shop working on the pinstriping and painting suggested I clean the parts with a solvent and then paint them with multiple coats of trim black. I think several manufacturers make a trim black product. It's basically an aerosol used for painting exterior trim bits on cars and comes in a matte finish.

Steering Head Parts

These are the various clamps and rings that hold the top steering bearings in place, in the order they were removed. Taking photos like will save you a lot of time later on. Shop manuals like Clymer's are a must, but they cover lots of bikes in one book and many times parts varied enough to not resemble anything in the illustrations. Or maybe it's just me.

Upper Spring Retainer Nuts

The next step is to remove the two upper spring retainer nuts. For this job, you will need a 36mm socket. Careful, because once you remove these nuts, the tension from the springs inside the forks will push them upward as you loosen them. FYI, the 36mm socket was also used two steps prior to remove the center top fork cap, and can also be used to remove the bottom fork nuts (not usually necessary unless you're rebuilding the fork assemblies).

I don't think there's anything special about the 36mm socket needed, but since I needed a couple of other special tools, I bought one from Joe's Tools.

Front Fork Filler Caps

After removing the handlebars and top fork nut, the two filler caps can be removed. For this, you either need a special tool or you can use two drill bits or allen wrenches in the holes with a lever of some sort between them.

If you happen to have the original toolkit from the bike, you should have one of these wrenches. I ordered a fork cap pin wrench (71 11 1 237 858) from Hucky's. It wasn't very expensive, and it's the easiest way to get it back on tight when reassembling.

Front Fork Studs and Oil

Unless I find anything weird as I'm taking them apart, my intention with the front forks is simply to change the fork oil, clean everything and be done. A great reference for these steps is Duane Ausherman's article.

One interesting thing to note (see photo): as I was dismantling the brackets that hold the front fender in place, two out of the four threaded studs came out with the nuts I was loosening. Some of the stud mounting holes lead directly through to the inside of the fork tube, and when I removed them, oil leaked out. Kind of freaked me out and, in hindsight, I would put the studs back in, even if loosely for now. I ended up simply placing two coffee cans at the bottom of my propped up front fork/wheel assembly and letting some of the oil drain until I properly drained the bulk of it later.

Cleaning the Engine

I finally lifted the engine out of the frame. Looks even better off of the bike!

There are many discussion online about how best to clean engine and other parts. Here's my condensed version. I used an engine degreaser sparingly, and only toward the bottom of the engine case where I saw grease or oil. I tried Simple Green Max a bit because some people highly recommend it. It's supposed to stain metal easily, so unless it's summer and you have a way to easily rinse the parts off (and your careful not to get water where it shouldn't go), I'd probably avoid it. To clean between the cylinder fins, I used Luster Lace. It's a great product that comes in long strips, useful for cleaning hard to reach areas and especially for twisting around spokes and such. For broader areas of the engine block and other metal parts, I tend to use Nevr-Dull, a wadding available at many auto parts stores. And for the final polish on most any metal, you can't do better than German Monidur metal polish (available from Hucky's and elsewhere).

Of course, you don't have to use all of these products together or in this order, or at all, just whatever works best for you.

Electrical Components 2

Here is the view of the right side showing more parts, including one of the two original Bosch ignition coils (left) and the regulator (right). As far as I know, these components (as well as the starter relay in the last post) are all functioning well, so they will just be removed and their contacts and surfaces cleaned.

Electrical Components 1

I took many pictures of the electrical components hanging on the frame below the fuel tank. In this view of the left side, you can see the starter relay, parts of the frame wiring harness and the engine harness entering the top of the engine.

I have decided to replace most rubber parts and wiring harnesses on the bike due to age or wear. In this shot, those include the rubber tank support (16 11 1 230 030), frame wiring harness (61 11 1 354 674) and engine harness (61 11 1 350 636). The harnesses come with some rubber grommets in place, such as the one seen at the top of the engine block. Some components, such as the air intake hood seen at lower right, will clean up nicely and do not need to be replaced.

I Fought the Lock and the Lock Won

The fork lock is one of several items you'll need to remove from the frame before it can be powder coated. This is what mine looked like before I attempted to remove it...pretty harmless, huh? The problem, of course, is that I didn't have the key. If you're in the same boat, do yourself a big favor and read Duane Ausherman's article on fork steering lock removal. I didn't know about this article until it was too late, and I'm too ashamed to post the photos of what the lock looked like two days and three drill bits later. It wasn't pretty.

Taillight Assembly

Here's a view of the taillight assembly as I was removing it from the bike. This is typical of the photos I've taken for all electrical components. If you need to, you can also make a diagram of the connections for easier reassembly.

Electrical Harness Straps

Important to note or photograph during disassembly are all the locations that electrical harnesses (as well as any other cables, etc.) are strapped to the chassis. Remember, there's a reason they're strapped where they are!

Front Stud and Pushrod Seals

Like the rear engine stud, the front stud on my bike also has a dual function. It is the mounting point for two of the crash bar clamps, as you can see in the lower left of the photo.

As I was disassembling the bike, I also noticed another problem...the two leaking pushrod tube seals above. An inspection showed the same problem on the other side. That's what happens with seals that are almost 40 years old!

Rear Engine Mount Stud

There are two engine mount studs holding the engine in the frame. The longer of the two is the rear stud, the end of which is also the mounting point for the driver's footpegs and exhaust clamps.

Starting to Strip the Bike

The first things that I removed from the bike were the carbs, fuel petcocks and the gas tank. Then came the fenders, crash bars, mufflers, rear shocks and taillight components.

At this stage I also removed the battery holder brackets and removed the top two screws holding the sub-frame on. The sub-frame is resting on the back tire until I remove the wiring harness that runs through it.

Headlamp Bucket Mess

Here's a close-up of the mangled headlamp bucket. I'll keep this totally intact, leaving all wiring harnesses, etc. attached. I have found a replacement bucket on ebay, which will be repainted along with several other components. Plus, I plan on replacing all of the wiring harnesses as I do the restoration, so the old bucket shall remain intact for now.

Bing Carburetors

When I bought the motorcycle, I knew right away that the two Bing carburetors would need some work. The float bowl on the left carb was being held in place with a piece of string. It wasn't even tied with a proper square knot. I made the decision to send the carbs to Bing for restoration rather than try to clean them myself. The next day I took a box smelling like gasoline to the post office and hoped they wouldn't be too suspicious.

If you're going to send carbs to Bing, do it early in the restoration process. They can take 4-6 weeks before you get them back!

Restoring a 1973 BMW R75/5 Toaster

In April of 2008 I bought my first BMW airhead bike, a 1973 R75/5 short wheel base toaster. I decided to do a full restoration of the motorcycle, hopefully not having to do too much with the engine. With the odometer at about 59,000 miles, it ran a little rough, but alright. My goal was to disassemble, refinish, replace or repair, put it back together and go from there...

Here it is in the garage, with the seat and carbs already removed. As you can see, a previous owner had done a fine hack job on the headlamp bucket, probably to install a fairing. The headlamp and front turn signals were missing.

On that note, let the restoration begin...