"Light me Up"

***UPDATE ****

In Feb I replaced the red LED below (position 3 from the top) for the generator bulb with a white incandescent, given the charging warnings, that bulb requires a small amount of current to pass through, which the LED would not always do, there is a bypass available from Motorrad Elektric but I decided since I do not have a voltage meter on the bike while it is running, I would stick with OEM bulb for now, and keep a spare in the tool tray.

http://www.motoelekt.com/genlightacc.htm

Original Article

I have decided to replace the indicator lamps with LEDs, mine are dim and two are burnt out.

SnowBums Article on replacement lights
http://bmwmotorcycletech.info/lamps.htm

There are 4 12V/3W Type 194 bulbs that need to be replaced.  The Generator light is the one you have to watch since it is tied to a failure.

http://autolumination.com/194.htm

There are four Type 74 or BA7S type wedge bulbs, 12V/1.2W that need to be replaced.

http://autolumination.com/74.htm

Here is what I got, a combination of colors even though the indicators have colored plastic.  I thought I would try blue background lighting for the fun it of it, I can always return for white ones if I do not like it.

Description	Unit price	Qty	Amount
T10 Wedge Item# Bobblehead , Color: Blue , Lens: 194	$3.99 USD	2	$7.98 USD
74 Item# Superstar Led , Color: Red , Lens: Forward	$2.99 USD	1	$2.99 USD
74 Item# Superstar Led , Color: Green , Lens: Forward	$2.99 USD	1	$2.99 USD
74 Item# Superstar Led , Color: Amber , Lens: Forward	$2.99 USD	1	$2.99 USD
74 Item# Superstar Led , Color: Blue , Lens: Forward	$2.99 USD	1	$2.99 USD
T10 Wedge Item# 4-Star , Color: Amber , Lens: 194	$3.99 USD	1	$3.99 USD
T10 Wedge Item# 4-Star , Color: Red , Lens: 194	$3.99 USD	1	$3.99 USD

Blue	Super White	Red	Amber	Green	UV

This is the current bulb pattern so I do not forget.

From 1976 BMW R75/6

Valve adjustment

Took advantage of the super cold weather, and did a valve adjustment. The rockers free play was not enough when examined.

Mileage is 66, 437, it was last done about 500 miles ago, so it did not really need it, but I'm glad I did because the free play was needed to be corrected.

New Old Brake Line

When I bought the bike last year, the previous owner had rigged up a stainless steel brake line with bango bolts that went from the MC slug directly to the the Caliper bottom input line. This arrangement seemed to always leak, and it was missing the steel down tube. I found online the original assembly from the caliper all the way back up to the MC, original ATE brake line and bracket. Now I do not know the age, but the rubber hose looks ok, and the brake stopping seems solid. I might get a new brake line at some point, but I wanted to put the original lines back on.

Happy New Year

Over the holiday I ordered some parts from a named Chris Telford off IBMWR.org, he maintains a listing of parts from beemers with nice photos and pictures

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4autobahn/

I got:

Extra set of cables, speedo, brake, tach, and speedo cables.

Got the full brake line assembly, original, steel tube, rubber line, etc.

6 Gallon Touring Tank Red with Knee Pads

Extra set of original coils

Front sport fender

Footpegs (good shape)

2009 Sumamry - 1976 R75/6

June-July 2009 / Mileage 65, 945 (10K Service)

Spark Plugs replaced (Boxers by Bruce)
Fork Oil Replaces (Boxers by Bruce)
Air Filter Replaced
Brake Fluid Replaced
Transmission Oil Replaced
Final Drive Oil Replaced
Drive Shaft Oil Replaced
Inline Fuel Filters
Lubed Swing arm
Engine Oil/Oil Filter/Oil Pan Gasket/Cleaned Screen and Pan
Adjusted Timing
Checked Valves
Sync Idle and Full Advance
Lubed Advance Mechanism
New Brake Pads, Caliper Dust Cover, Reused Oring-New Fluid
-------------------------------------------------
Oct 2009

New Braided Fuel Line/Filters

Installed new rubber seal around ignition/points area

Nov 2009

Cleaned Exhaust Fin Nuts (New Wrench)

Spline Lube being performed

Dec 2009

Swing arm repacked and put back on bike

Master Cylinder Rebuild Kit seems to fix MC issue, bought a MightyVac to assist in bleeding brakes, and redid E-pin.

Ride and Sync

I put the rear fender back on, and lights, rewired the brake and turn signals. I decided at 50 degrees I would go for a ride and see how the bike handles after spline lube, and swing arm bearings, etc.

The bike shifts very easy now, and tracks well. The older shocks I put on seem a bit more spongy but ridable.

When the weather turns nice again, I have decided to give the front fender, rear fender and tank another coat of paint. The Black Rustoleam is protective, but I'm thinking of putting a lacquer coat of Dupli-color on the "tins" to make a nicer look, gloss black.

I have not put the new BMW emblems back on yet since I'm not done painting. The bike looks rough, but runs nice.

After the ride I used the carbtune on the bike, to see where the new throttle cables were at. At idle adjusted the screws so they were even, right around 800-1000 rpms.

I also tried to sync the throttle cables at higher RPM, did the best I could do alone, it is very hard to do this quickly alone, need a helper next time to get it right.

Mighty Vac

Today after failed attempts to get the front brake bleed correctly, I broke down and bought a Mighty Vac. Since I will attempt to bleed the brakes in my RS after the winter I thought this would be a good investment, $39.99 at O Reily's.

After hooking it up I followed the instructions to bleed the brakes. The handling is better, but not quite there yet. I pulled the caliper off to tap any loose bubbles that might be in the piston area. I put everything back together with only slightly better results. I will try again after winter break. Not sure the bike is ready to ride, it stops, but probably not like it should.