It turns!!

Today I had a chat with a bloke who knows something about BMs. He suggested I needed to put power on to both the solenoid feed and the main power lead to the starter motor. Do you know what? He was right. The starter motor spun beautifully. I refitted the starter motor and hooked up the cables. I tested it again once fitted. Again it work and this time cranked the engine over (with the spark plugs out). It was fantastic to have the motor spinning under the starter.

I cleaned up the breather hoses and refitted them and finally and hopefully for the last time fitted the air cleaner. I slipped on the engine top cover which means I only have the front cover to fit, once the new alternator is fitted, to have the engine/gearbox complete. It is starting to look like a bike.

This flurry of activity only took an hour so I looked round for a small job. The choke lever assembly caught my eye. I took the assembly to bits making sure that little bits inside did not ping off in the dark recesses of the garage. Off came the cables too. I even took the cables apart. I dunked everything in a bath of WD40 and got the tooth brush busy. Having dried off the bits the worst bits were given the wire brush treatment and back round the WD40 route. The cables were pretty grimy but shooting WD down the sleeve and running the inner cable back and forth and another blast of WD soon had thing clean and running free. Then the tricky bit.... re-assembly. Just to make things interesting everything was covered in grease. Then the cables are fitted to their respective tooth drives. Each tooth drive is located in to its own tunnel. Then it just a matter of lining up the tooth drives equally and fitting the geared lever. Easy? Nope, an extra hand and X-ray vision would have been handy however half and hour later I managed to get everything positioned just long enough to get the circular springs fitted and locked together with the cover and set screw. Then it just has to be fitted to the bike. Guess where it goes? On the left side of the air filter housing. So off came the air filter housing again whilst the choke lever was fitted to it. Putting the housing back on was a bit of a faff. I had to loosen most of the cover bolts again and remove the top cover so that I could get the breather pipe in to position in the left air filter housing. Then put in all back together again...........again.

So here is a picture of where I am up to. Click on it for a big picture.



It is going to be a while before I can afford the major electrical components so I had a think about what to do next. H brought a brew in which was very timely. I few minutes of pondering led me to the carbs. They are bound to be a pain but there are two pairs of carbs in the box. I got them out and tried to figure out which pair was the best. The better looking of the pair had the screw end of the pilot jet snapped off. The other pair where very grimy but at least nothing is broken. I picked the grimy pairs as the ones for the bike and squirted WD40 all over the insides of the carbs and set them to one side. Time to let the WD do its thing. I have to figure out if I know anyone with a parts washer. Predictably, I do but will he be in at the weekend?

Whilst we are at it...

I have decided not to put the front forks back in to the new yokes. With the fork missing there is unrestricted access to the front panel area where lives the alternator, diode board and points. Since all the aforementioned items are being replaced I thought I would remove them. The alternator came off quite easily but not the stator, but I never thought it would. The manual [yes I do read the manual] said a 6mm rod, 40 to 50 mm long was needed to remove the stator. I just happened to have a 6 inch nail handy. I cut it to size and hay presto I have the stator removal tool. Having got the armature off I ran my eye over it. It is just as well I had decided to replace these parts since they where completely burned out. All I need is money to buy the all the electrics and we are in business.

I tested the starter motor and despite my best hopes I have to admit that it knackered. Something else for the parts list.

We are on a roll

Steering head complete and time still available I look to see what else I can do. The steering damper looks like a job I can do. I ratched the damper out of the box of bits and give it the wire brush treatment. I grease the innards and offere it up to the bike. The damper fits on the underside the bottom yoke. The dampers selector is a long pin with a toothed gear on the bottom that goes through the middle of the the steering column. It took about four goes to get the selector gear to engage in the damper so that he indicator at the rider ends properly represented the amount of damping. I did it in the end without much ado. I then had to route the wiring loom around the piston element of the damper and secure the fixed end of the damper piston the location lug on the frame. Another job sorted.

Whilst we are on a roll a thought I would fit the instrument panel to the top yoke. I had to put the top yoke on so that the steering damper could be fitted. The instruments or "clocks" fit to the top yoke. It was like aerobics. There are so many bushes, washers and nuts that one needs eight fingers on each hands. No room for more hands. After some buggering about and retrieving the said bushes, washers and nuts from the floor several times, the clocks were on. I put the handlebar risers on was well but more to make sure there was room for the risers and to make sure I had the necessary nuts and washers. It means there are less things in the box. Since the clocks were in situ I routed the wiring harness for the clocks around the head stock and up to the back of the clocks were the connector just slipped in. Getting the head stock done means I can start to rationalise the wiring around the head lamp shell. I have tied the left and right hand switch gear cables around the clocks so the head lamp shell is in more or less the right position.

Get the hammer out!

The weather today stopped me going to the allotment. This gave me space to deal with the welded on bottom steering head bearing. I got the work mate out along with the angle grinder and assorted hammer and chisels. I cut into the bearing with the grinder on a diagonal line so as not to hit the soft Aluminium yoke with the disc. The bearing was very hard material as you would expect. I tickled away at the cut for a couple of minutes checking all the time to make sure the yoke was not touched. When I judged I was half way through I put the yoke on the floor, selected a small and narrow cold chisel, positioned it carefully on the edge of the cut and after a few tentative swings gave it an almighty whack. Instantly I could tell something had given. I looked carefully and saw a hairline crack along the face of the bearing. Another gentle tap confirmed the bearing was broken and loose. It was an easy job the remove what was left of the bearing.


Next I had to clean up the yoke. It was stained with burned on grease an oil from when I tried the heat the bearing to release it. Fifteen minutes with the wire brush and wire wool brought the Aluminium up as bright as new. The next step is to get the new bottom bearing on the steering pin. I remembered to fit the dust seal first. I oiled the pin and inside face of the bearing and dropped the bearing over the pin. It just dropped down the bearing location for the top steering head bearing. It was not a push fit i had hoped for. I got the hammer out again and a flat drift. I gently tapped the bearing down the pin with and hammer and drift. I started tentatively but got progressively forceful. Just then the bearing was over the top bearing location and slipped down the pin to just above the bottom bearing location. More tapping with the hammer and drift brought the bearing home. Next off, a good dollop of grease onto the bearing and work it into the rollers. I got the top bearing and smothered that in grease too. Now I have two greased up bearings and fingers covered in grease. I push the bottom yoke the pin through the head stock Now then, there is nothing the hold the yoke into the steering head so one hand has to keep the upward pressure whist the other drops the drops the top bearing over the exposed top of the pin. Then cones the top dust cover then the securing nut. The top bearing does not want to push onto the seat so the nut has to be cranked down to push the bearing home. Not so bad if the nut was a conventional hexagonal nut. This "nut" is a disc that needs a "C" spanner. I have one but not of the correct radius. With some extra dexterity I get the bearing all the way home. As I said before too much force damages the bearing. I get away with it. The steering head is complete and it feels right. No slop and over free movement. Another job down.

At Last a Battery

I have been on holiday this week so had the time to go to Motoworks in Hudderfield to get a battery. The battery for the bike is a 30 amp hour, lead acid job. It would run a small car. In times past when money was short and I needed a battery for a BMW I would get one for the Reliant Robin. You would have to modify the battery rack a little but it was a small price to pay. The Reliant battery was about a third less in cost than the genuine BMW article and work just as well. 30 amp hour battery is the heavy duty version. The standard item is 25amp hour. The bike needs a good kick to spin the engine to start it and a hope to have some electrical "extras" on the bikes so a big battery is the order of the day. When I get the new alternator it too will be a high output job to go with the big battery.

I topped the battery up with the acid which was provided separate bottles. I put the battery in the frame and hooked the earth strap and main power feed. At the same in I fitted the fast connector for the battery charger. This means I can leave the charger plugged in keeping the battery in proper trim. When it comes to riding the bike I can just unplug the charger and be on my way [nothing like optimism, is there?]. The battery needs 24 to 30 hours to come up to full charge. Thereafter I can test the starter motor. I have taken the starter motor out of the bike so that I clean it up and repaint the unit. It should also help the testing process should all not go as planned.

Whilst at Motoworks I got a set of steering head bearings and the fuel line. The fuel line has been cut to size to go across the back of the air box. The steering head bearing has not been so simple a job. I needed the rubber mallet to get the steering stem and bottom yoke off the bike. That should have been a clue. The top tapered roller bearing came away without much ado. The bottom bearing was quite another story. So far the bearing has been destroyed leaving just the inner bearing face which seems to have cold welded itself the stem. I have broken one screwdriver and bent another trying to pry the bearing up the stem. So far no movement on the bearing front. Time to set it aside to calm down and regroup. Everything was going so well up to that point!

Memory for passwords

I have not posted on the blog because I lost my account name and passwords listing. I don't even try to remember all the account names and passwords I have to use. I counted up how many I need to know. 46 was the number!

As you see I have got back in. Nothing much has happen on the bike but as the night draw in the allotment slows down time becomes free for things mechanical. I am sending off for the big electrical items over the next few weeks so the charging and ignition circuits can be renewed. After that the wheel and steering head bearing. Taper rollers are a bugger to fit. A slight over tighten and it is all over. Go by some new ones, start again.

I have been keeping my eyes open for a petrol tank. The one that came with the bike is an old one with the First Aid kit box in the top of the tank. It looks awful. I am looking for a tank without the little box. I have seen them but they over £400 and need a paint job as well. The hunt continues.

Donington Park has released the plans of the circuit changes and new buildings click HERE for the master plan. It is a big PDF file so might take a minute or so to download. The website has detailed drawings of all the new building as well . Click HERE for the Donington Park website.