Rear Wheel Bearing

The rear wheel has away had a lot of play and I have put that down to worn out wheel bearing. I took off the rear mud guard. I had a couple reasons for that. First, the mud guard has to be painted. Second, I need to sort out the rear lights and wiring loom that feeds the rear light cluster is attached to the mud guard and lastly it makes getting wheel out easier. When I had the mud guard off I took off the rubber mud guard extender. That was a bit of a wrestle. Pinging off the wiring loom straps was easy.

Getting the wheel off was easy. I looked at he brake linings. They were a good condition. However the wheel bearing weren't. I pulled off the dust covers and spacers. They were completely caked in thick, sticky, oxidisied grease. I put the taper rollers, dust covers and spacers in a degreasing solution. Then I degreased the bearing surfaces inside the wheel's hub. I then turned my attention to the fit of the wheel to the drive spline. I offered the wheel up and it still felt like some was holding it off. I took that wheel out and replaced it with the new Ebay wheel. That wheel had a bit a play in it too. I put the new stainless steel spindle in and had a good look at it. I had a old steel spindle which I had to dig out of the bottom of the spares box. I compared the two spindles. The stainless item look wrong when compared with the original item. There was not much in it but then again the play is only small. The old spindle was a much better fit but it is a bit rusty.

The next job is to clean up the old spindle, repack the bearing with grease then refit the wheel and hope the play disappears.

Oil Leak

The right hand cylinder base has been pouring out oil during the recent hot running. I thought it was the oil pressure switch but I tracked it back to the cylinder base. The join does not have a gasket. It a machined face to face fit with rubber "O" ring. Whatever the oil tight mechanism it was not working. I dismantled the cylinder from the engine block and cleaned up all the oil. When it was all clean and oil free I squeezed on a liquid gasket and re-assembled the cylinder. As expect the oil rings where fiddly but I preserved and got them engaged. After that it was just a question of doing up all the nuts and bolts, refitting the carbs for the umpteenth time. However the tappets needed adjusting. I read the manual for the clearance but could I find it? I had to come in from the garage, get cleaned up and go on the Internet for the measurement. Having found the settings I went back to the garage and set the tappets clearances. When the engine is new the clearances should 0.05mm greater than for a run in engine. Since I had the right cylinder of it was easy to set the tappets. Having finished that side I went round to the other side, took of the rocker cover and reset the tappets which I considered too tight. I put the rocker cover back on and tidied up.

I drained the petrol off the old tank into the new tank and fitted the new tank to the bike for the first time. It fitted as you would expect. I still need a rubber for the front tank mount.

Whilst turning the engine over by hand spotted the back wheel was going round. I jacked the back wheel off the ground a jostled the gearbox into neutral. The tested the clutch and it disengaged. I had been concerned that the clutch was not disengaging. It is, that is good.

I had a look at the new "Ebay" wheels. I am not that impressed. The spokes need a good cleaning and a drive spline on the rear wheel is very worn. I should be able to fit the twin discs but the front wheel but they need to go as a pair. It is quite nice that the disc on the new wheel is a cast iron item. Cast iron discs work better than stainless steel discs as brakes but rust quicker and since the bike will probably sit around, stainless discs are probably the right choice.

It fitted the new seat and it fits properly. I took it off again again and stored it.

Another Tank

The ebay tank turned out to be a big disappointment. I went to local bike restorer to see what could be done with the tank. There was a lot of teeth sucking. He came back with a number and no promises of the fuel tight tank. I went back on the hunt for a petrol tank. It took a few weeks to locate another one. I did find one but it was a tense time to win the ebay auction. However I go the tank for a very reasonable price. The tank came with a key and tank cap as well two petrol taps which was just as well because the tank was half full of petrol.

I also bagged a seat. It was in good condition. I have fitted it to the bike but it will be coming off again the tidy up the seat base.

I have found where the oil is leaking from, right hand cylinder base. It is going to be a bit of a job to sort it. The clutch is permanently disengaged. I think this might be just the length of the cable. I have decided I am going to get a new oil pressure switch. On the up side I have started the bike a few times and it is fired up without any trouble.

The next big task is to find a painter. H and I have been looking at colour schemes of BMWs. We have decided on gloss black with a cream twin pin stripe in the style of a 75/6.