New Throttle Cables

Need to sync carbs, now that new throttle cables are on.

Master Issue

This weekend, found a pool of brake fluid dripping down the side of the bike, and discovered it was coming from the back of the master cylinder. I pulled the assembly and found some rusting on the outside of the plunger, and decided to pull it apart to inpect.

The inards did not look too bad, pull all the parts, plunger, spring, rubber gaskets, etc. I pulled the top resivour off, and unscrewd the brake switch.

There was some rust on the inside, so I soaked in 100% vinegar for two hours. This cleaned it up nice, and I soaked with thin oil to keep it from rusting again.

Cleaned up all the parts and re-assembled, re-installed, and bam no brake pressure. I will buy a rebuild kit as air seems to be seeping through at this point.

Starting to color her up

Will publish finished bike, plan on doing fenders and then tank, with new BMW emblems to replace torn ones. Should look half decent, I will put clear coat on as best as I can, no pin strips for now.

Rustroleum Black Enamel, easy to find and half decent for a Rat Bike.

New Fuel Line

I have had 3 feet of braided fuel line and fuel filters for a while, the older fuel line and the original fuel filters I installed early in the summer will be kept for emergencies, but for now, new line and filters.

Rear Wheel Cleaning and Lube

Decided to clean the rim on the rear wheel with Mothers aluminum cleaner, and check out the rear brake wear and spline condition. As expected, looks like the lube is hard and dried out.

Give me a BRAKE

Today's plan, clean the rim on the front wheel. Well it always starts simple they say. Got a piece of 2x12 from a building site in the "hood" and propped the bike up on center side, this lifts it an additional inch or so off the ground, I find much easier to get front tire off.

Proceeded to pull front tire off, was just about to place a shim between the brake pads and I noticed how slim the pad looked. I placed the wheel to the side and took the brakes off for an inspection, OH BOY, the outer pad is almost down to the metal and the piston and dust ring have a crusty layer of grease and brake dust.



Now remember this bike came to be with an unknown history, so I'm glad I stopped to inspect. Part of the 10K service is to inspect the brake for wear, so this was on my list anyway for the summer, this and all the bearings.



I went ahead and pulled the caliper off, let the brake fluid drain, and decided to pull the piston to see if it was pitted and dirty, to my surprise the piston looks great, the inside of the caliper was pretty clean, I felt no grit around the o-ring when I pulled it out.

I cleaned up the caliper, removed brake dust, grease, and cleaned the inside well. I will set this aside until new brake pads and dust cover can be ordered. For now the bike will remain in the garage. I will get to cleaning that wheel at some point, but maybe it would be better to do the bearings while it is off.

Valves and Center Stud

After reading more on setting the valves, I decided to redo them. I did not take up the vertical slack on the rocker arms the first time, and each rocker arm had slack. I also reviewed the Owners manual which recommends setting the valves:

• Intake .15mm
• Exhaust .20mm
  

The BMW MOA July ON magazine Keep them Flying article had a article just on setting valves on airheads, and they do recommend the same valve settings.

I had .10/.20, and had vertical slack, so I felt it was worth redoing them.

I also installed the center stud on the right side head which had come loose. The threads seem ok, but I used blue loctite on the stud, I will hand tighten after 24 hours.