BMW update

Ok, I admit, I'm guilty. I did take the BMW for a ride after all. Didn't want to just start the engine, I wanted it to get up to temperature. It was more than a bit tricky because of all the snow this winter they're running out of salt and that means that the snow hasn't been cleared. It still was fun though :)

Also changed the frame braces. I used exhaust clamps to clamp them onto the frame because it's illegal over here to make structural changes to the frame. But I decided to weld some brackets onto the frame and bolt the braces onto those. Didn't have the time to finish the job completely, but it already looks a lot better than the exhaust clamps in my opinion.

Smoking gun

The saying goes: When there's smoke, there's a fire. Problem was: the only fire there was, was in the right hand cylinder. Took cleaning of the left sparkplug to get the left cylinder to join in too. But she's alive again!

Had hoped to take it for a ride. I really need that after last weeks exams, but it has snowed. Again. I'm starting to really hate snow.

The exotic twins in Daytona

faculteit fysische geografie Universiteit Utrecht

I've got exams, so there's not going to be many build updates. Besides, it's snowing again and the forecasts aren't promising anyhting better.

During my breaks from studying I like to surf the net (much of the studying is on the computer. One of the exams will be in Excel. I HATE Excel). On one of my favorite fora ADVrider I came across a topic about Nimbus: A Danish motorcycle brand form the past, manly known for their very cool engine set up; inline engines.

One of the replies in this topics mentions a journey that two guys form Norway are making on their 1937(!!) Nimbus sidecars. No supporting 4wd's, no supporting doctors and twice the distance of Long Way Round. How cool is that?

This is their website and this is their blog.

 

I'm jealous.... Some day, I'll make a similar journey...

Moved the side stand

It's not in the way anymore now. Besides: I think it looks better this way and it's lighter.

Photo's are a little off, sorry, forgot to reset the lighting. :)

CBX 550 - Nuove modifiche

Mentre aspetto ancora la forcella rovesciata con le relative piastre,
mi è arrivata la ruota del cb 500
(o meglio il mozzo, che verrà raggiato con un cerchio diverso mantenendo le misure originali)
ed i dischi brembo da 320 di origine monster 696.
Prevedo di dover montare dei distanziali, tanto il tornio ce l'ho quindi non sarà un problema.
Nel frattempo ho preso anche una pompa freno assiale di un VTR e dei mezzi manubri adeguati, sempre sperando che la forcella in questione non si sia persa nei meandri postali.

Lo scopo è quello di aggiornare la ciclistica di almeno 15 anni, montando però ruote a raggi con le stesse misure del libretto, tipo la squirley's cb550 cafe racer.
L'unico principio-guida del progetto è:
"spendere poco"!

Finished the gear shifter

Pretty happy with the result. It's all working as it's supposed to work and all that for just a few euro's in materials. Still need to move the sidestand forward though, it's obstructing my downshifting :)

Made it uglier today

I had to... The bike needs a license plate. The smaller the bike, the uglier the license plate. I tried to 'hide' it as much as possible. This is the result:

Also started with a heel plate (is that the right name for it in English?). I used stainless steel that I gave a brushed look:

I like the brushed look, don't like the shape of the heel part though. I'll need to make a new one that looks better.

Forward controls

Over the years I've been getting a lot of questions about the forward controlles of our CX500 chopper. The gear lever is located in an unusual spot on a CX500 and is facing backwards. So the normal set up for forward controlles on other bikes won't work on a CX. I decided to make a quick drawing with google sketchup (free 3D drawing programme). If you're interested in the file so you can see see it in 3D, just mail me and I'll send it to you. I'm not very good with computers, so the drawing is very schematic, but I think it's pretty clear.



In green: The welded on pieces of threaded iron to bolt the forward controls onto the engine.

In red: The hinches.

In blue: The Schifter axle of the engine.

 

JJ Cobas BMW K 100R

Premesso che si possa correre e divertirsi con qualunque mezzo, ci sono alcune moto che sembrano quantomai inadatte per le competizioni.
Ne sono un esempio le pesanti 4 cilindri a sogliola prodotte dalla BMW negli anni '80.
Nononstante tale inadeguatezza, il più grosso concessionario bmw di Barcellona pensa proprio al propulsore della K100 (che da solo pesa 100kg..) per realizzare un moto da corsa,
e vincere nella 24h del Montjuich con innegabili effetti pubblicitari.

Dimostrando di voler far sul serio, la ciclistica viene commissionata a JJ Cobas (grazie anche allo sponsor Braun), tecnico rivoluzionario le cui geometrie e ripartizione dei pesi (con inclinazioni del cannotto di sterzo ridotte) trasferivano maggior carico sulla ruota anteriore sfruttando così il potenziale delle slick di nuova generazione: quì infatti il peso grava per il 53% sull'anteriore.
Monta quindi ruote marvic in magnesio da16" ant. e 18" post,
in linea con la tendenza del periodo.
Cobas è entusiasta, potendo lavorare su un motore che funge da parte stressata.
Due dischi ant. da 300 con sistema antiaffondamento (di una Suzuki GP 500) e forcella Kayaba da 40mm completano la ciclistica per un peso totale di 179kg.
Il motore però è fiacco e da solo 108cv a causa di una mappatura dell'iniezione che solo i tecnici bavaresi sanno modificare.

A tale scopo, dopo un ritiro proprio al Montjuich, la BMW invia due tecnici con l'attrezzatura necessaria ed il motore così arriva a fornire 122cv, sufficienti per aggiudicarsi 6 gare di fila e vincere il titolo '84 della F1 iberica con Cardus.
Partecipa l'anno dopo solo alla 24h di Barcellona, ma è costretta al ritiro dopo 2 cadute.
La casa bavarese aveva contattato la Bimota per produrre una serie limitata di telai "Cobas replica" e realizzare in serie limitata una versione stradale della K100 da corsa. Tuttavia il progetto venne abbandonato dopo la scomparsa di Pachernegg, incaricato dello studio per la messa in produzione.

Installed another part

See, it fit's. Didn't even take much work to make it fit. It's not very weatherproof though, so I de-installed it for the time being until the bike is finished.

Also found some mesh to finish the rear end of the bike with.

Fast Freddie - VF 750 F

While I'm at the subject of thanking people:

I think I haven't mentioned this on this blog before, but I've been looking for a long time to find a way to slide forks of the BMW up through the triple tree. Klaus-Peter (KPel8 on ADVrider) gave me this:

With a bit of machining it's possible to make this out of it:

(this is his bike).

Klaus-Peter: If you're reading this: Thanks again. I found someone who can machine this for me, it will be done somewhere in February.

He insisted that he didn't want me to pay for it. The only thing he wanted is to meet me sometime so I could see his BMW caferacer in real life and he could see mine. I hope we'll meet when the weather get's better.

And I hope I can someday repay people like Ron and Klaus-Peter. People like them show that the world isn't only about greed as it sometimes seems to be.

Here are dome photo's of Klaus-Peter's BMW:

Back to the Suzuki: I just made a bracket for the rearset on the left side. Now I just really need to get warm again....

Thank you Ron!

Why? For this:

He gave me two really nice looking rear shocks, a pipe and a bunch of stainless steel and only let me pay a little for the pipe. He also had to drive don to the train station twice for me since the dutch railway company f*cked up. Again. As usual. Sometimes I get the impression that don't even want to try to do something right. The NS are just lame...

And this is what the shocks look like on the bike:

Also fitted one of the rearsets. Don't worry about the sidestand, I'm going to move it forward. I'm in the process of shortening one set of forks, so the front will get just a little lower than this without having to slide the forks trough the triple tree.

Only spend a short while outside. It's an unusually cold and snowy winter so far. Not ideal for grinding and welding outside...

Sundance Golden Balls

I pomponi hanno un fascino ineguagliabile.
Probabilmente non c'è niente di più appagante che preparare un vecchio bicilindrico,
riuscendo magari a tener testa a qualche 4cilindri giapponese (vedi la Guzzi del Dr. John).
Shibazaki della Sundance, azienda Jap specializzata nelle moto di Milwakee, dopo aver preparato la Super XR-TT stradale e la Daytona Weapon (siamo a fine anni '90)
ha avanzato qualche pezzo, e si è messo ad allestirne un'altra.
Evidentemente quest'ultima andava così forte che era un peccato non farla correre,
così è nata la Golden Balls, sufficientemente veloce per vincere alcune gare bot in patria e competere anche negli Usa.

Equipaggiata con un 1200 evo sportser da quasi 110 cavalli
(potrebbero essere di più con un carburatore per cilindro al posto del singolo Keihin FCR da 41) montato su telaio sportser modificato, con inclinazione cannotto di 24° per un interasse di 1420.
Un vero trattore con un sacco di coppia che spinge sempre
qualsiasi marcia (a proposito il cambio a 5 marce
di derivazione stradale non sembra essere proprio adeguato)
ma che evidentemente dev'essere piuttosto agile nonostante un peso di 2 quintali.




da http://www.sundance.co.jp/

The BMW story part III

For part II see: http://bmwcafe.blogspot.com/

Temperatures outside have gone down, snow is falling and my body temperature is still over 37. So no bike building for me. Time enough to write some more about the BMW though.

After stripping all the unnecessarily parts of the bike it became obvious that the guy who had sold the bike to me hadn't been completely honoust about the shape the bike was in.....

Discovered more later during the build. It was a disappointment, but not entirely unexpected. I just fixed what needed fixing and continued building. The next thing I needed was a fuel tank. I preferred an aluminum tank, so I ordered a used one.

As you can see: not a big success. Luckily the shop where I bought it (great source for cafe parts in Holland: Rocket) let me send it back and gave me my money back. Including the shipping money!

So I had to look for a new tank. Found a great one at the swapmarket of Hardenberg. Also found an exhaust there and a saddle for the Virago. To get some ideas I tried that saddle and the seat of the CX cafe:

The CX seat didn't work for me. I liked the Virago saddle, but it wasn't what I wanted either. So I set out to make my own seat. Made a frame of an bicycle carrier I found in someone elses the waste. Yes, I have no shame.

Covered the frame with perforated aluminium.

Having a seat meant I could sit on the bike. That meant I could ride it. So time for the first test ride:

Loved it. 

More on the beemer next time!