Louise is sick

[SteveHebert]

After the great Airhead Leaf Peepin ride I had with Bob, Tommy and Phillip a couple weeks ago, it was time to change the fluids. All was well until I drained the transmission and noticed a lot of build up on the drain plug and when I started wiping it off I discovered the plug to be loaded up with tiny little flakes of very shiny metal. The fluid had a bit of a shimmer to it as well. That means that she is grounded until I can pull the transmission and check it out. I will replace all of the bearing and seals while in there and might as well do a ring job to. Compression is low.

So I have another winter project ahead of me. Yeah!!!!

[beemererik]

When I did my 74 R90S I had the plate made that is used to setup the shim thicknesses in the transmission. If your bike uses the same setup, you are welcome to borrow it. Cycle works now sells one for around $75.00. When I had mine made I paid $450.00 for two (I donated one to the BMWVMCA tool loan program).

[jdubeemer]

Sorry to hear that Steve, she has a warm spot in my heart, I still have her picture with the Sputnic attached prominately displayed. I really admire you guys that are willing to jump in there and rebuild these old girls.

[R90srider]

Sorry to hear about your transmission. The good news is that you will have time to do the repair before good Spring riding weather.

[SteveHebert]

Thanks Erik. I will let you know if I need it. I am actually pretty anxious to do this. I helped (watched) the R100RS transmission rebuild by a guy in Atlanta named Dennis Kanderis. He was a master, in and out, reaasembled and all in a couple hours. Dudley has done a couple of the circlip jobs on the GS so I think that I will be doing it here with him. I just need to come up with a list of all the bearings and seals.

Jim, she is so smooth and confrotable and I had a great time sandwiched between 2 R90Ss on the ride. I have put about 10K miles on her since I picked her up from you.

[R90srider]

Hey Steve. I'm proud of you for tackling such a difficult task and look forward to hearing about your progress.

Your mentioning your beautiful /6, Louise, sandwiched between two R90Ss broungt back great memories of our leaf peeping classic bike ride in spite of IFR riding Tuesday. It is always fun to ride with fellow BMW riders, but it was extra special to go on a ride with fellow Alabeemers on our classic machines.

Here are some photos.

http://picasaweb.google.com/bsteberbtr/10292009?authkey=Gv1sRgCI6Ps8KP3ZGl7gE#5398038151466082274

[SteveHebert]

Thanks for the photos Bob. Mine are pretty much the same but you did manage to get one of the pinto plate that was delicious!

[beemererik]

Sounds good Steve. I have the rest of the tools to dismantle the tranny. If you guys are missing anything let me know. It is a piece of cake.

[SteveHebert]

Thanks Erik. Heck with all the tools up there, I might just put her on a trailer and drag her north one of these weekends if you have time. We could knock it out in a few hours and you could add more pictures to your awesome website.

I will see you Saturday at Blue Springs.

[SteveHebert]

Some good news for Louise. I just spoke with Rick Jones for quite some time and he is pretty comfortable with the transmisiosn being okay at this point. WIth no sizeable pieces of metal on the plug, that is pieces that you can actually feel, he says to go ride it and monitor it for now. So I will do just that and enjoy. He did recommend me doing a spline lube though to help the shifting issues.

Hopefully all is well with her.

If anyone remembers doing the service on here when I was in Afghanistan, it would help me to diagnoze this issue. I was not told that there was anything on the plug. Best case is that the plug ws not cleaned off then and that was a few years of accumulation.

Have a great weekend.

Steve

[R90srider]

Good news Steve.

Real glad to hear that Louise isn't sick.

[beemererik]

Steve,

That is good news.

But I like to take things apart...If you are looking for a winter project (which I always am) I might look for a spare tranny on ebay to rebuild. That way if yours goes south you have a drop in ready!

The KLR has been through the wringer this week. I stripped off all of the pollution gear (California model) and safety switch electricals (I have heard they could strand an unsuspecting person in the woods). I also replaced the cam chain tensioner (doohickey). Things are looking good and I am ready to get the bike out and do some riding now.

[jdubeemer]

Erik,
Glad to hear you are ready to rock with your KLR, maybe we can talk Gary Dubois into scheduleing a Waterloo campout in the Spring. I'm ready to go back up there for some fun in the dirt.

[SteveHebert]

Good deal Erik. Sounds like the KLR is coming together nicely for you. I Like the transmission idea and may just do that.

Unfortunately, Lousie is absolutely sick. I took her out for a short ride today
(3 miles) and I heard a howling sound from the tranny, especially when I backed off the throttle at low speeds. It was really noticeable when I down shifted to second before pulling in the driveway. I thought I heard that on the Classic Ride that we did a couple weeks ago, but when I opened my visor to have a listen, the sound would come and go as I moved my head so I though it was just the wisteling of the wind. It definetely is not. When I parked her, 4 or 5 drops of fluid was dripping from the boot and it was wet at the junction of the boot and tranny. I am guessing an output bearing/seal is bad.

I may just bring her up to Rick to fix and tune up for me so I know she is done right.

I will update as I go.

[R90srider]

Bummer Steve. Sorry to hear Louise is indeed sick.

Some of the roads on our classic ride must be a difficult test for /6 transmissions. Last year at the Chicken Rally, Tim McGee had to have his transmission rebuilt after our vintage/classic ride which was on Alabama 65 and Cr 27.

I can highly recommend Rick Jones for the job. He did excellent work on my R90s and R100GSPD trannys.