R 60/2 – End @ 34,297 (1 mile)

Jinks rode the bike for one mile as a quick test ride after doing the tires.

Well … it was more than that.

I trailered the bike to Motoworks in Fredericksburg. Didn’t install the rebuilt speedo – figured it wouldn’t rain between here and there. It did, of course, but it wasn’t bad.

Stopped at Sheetz near home to grab some breakfast. An older guy in a pickup truck got my attention as I walked across the parking lot. “Hey is that for sale?” No, I told him, just taking it to go work on it. Got my food and came out, he was looking at it closely and had more questions. Told me about the 1936 Harley Panhead he rebuilt a while back that he just sold because he can’t really ride anymore anyway.

I had the speedo and two new nuts. Dude that rebuilt it sent me back the wrong nut somehow, but the Vintage Beemer Parts guy in Connecticut had them. They got here Friday night, luckily!

Arrived at Motoworks about 9; Brooke and Jinks were sufficiently impressed by the story of the R 60/2. When taking off the rear wheel, Jinks noticed (and Brooke confirmed) that the swing arm wasn’t properly centered; we made a note to adjust that before finishing.

The wheels are nice and true. Paint is peeling off the rims a little in places, but it’s not bad. No trouble getting the Metzeler Block C tires and heavy-duty Bridgestone tubes on. They have a tire machine like George’s, a little smaller maybe. Less intimidating.

We rocked the center stand onto a board and raised the front end to get at the front wheel. It was a bit fiddly to get off, but just because of the brake assembly.

Both brakes are clean and sufficient on the insides, though the linings will need to be replaced eventually. We spent a fair amount of time on the front brake; Jinks didn’t like its operation and showed me how one of the pivots was stuck. That meant what little braking power there would be with the 60-year-old double-leading-shoe system would be maybe half of what it should be. It took about 30 minutes to get that unstuck and the cable properly adjusted. Each “leading shoe” has a pivot, and the pivots have to move bam-bam, one right after the other instead of at the same time. I’ll definitely have to study up on how to properly adjust them; Jinks did it quick and easy but he does it all the time.  The brake cable might not be correct; it’s a bit too long and was improperly routed. The clutch cable appears to be a little too short and is also improperly routed. Easy enough to address.

They wanted to pull the front cover and look at the magneto and associated bits under there. I decided to go ahead and order all new components from EME through them and just redo the lot. The magneto itself – the coil, that is – is drying out and starting to leak some kind of goo. The spark plug wires were stiff – old no doubt – but that means some measure of electrical resistance in a system that relies on the wires having no resistance at all.

Took a while to get it started, no doubt at least partially because the son I bought it from ran the carbs dry when he started it for me. I didn’t really think about that until later. The kick start lever is oddly positioned, rotated about halfway through it’s stroke. I didn’t notice that when I bought it and the son must have had practice starting it like that.  It could be a simple adjustment or a major transmission problem. We’ll have to remove it and see if it will go back to where it belongs and still give the full stroke. Ideally it will – at least then I won’t have to pull the transmission.

The swing arm pivots are covered by big aluminum cap nuts – they were obviously painted in place and from above, so the bottoms were bare. That looked stupid, so I took the rest of the paint off with a spinning wire brush. Only barely hit one of my fingers – that spot was super clean and a little flat, so that was enough to get me to really pay close attention to what I was doing. I ordered the $210 kit of stainless steel fasteners from The Bolt Guy that Jinks recommended. It’ll look nice with the contrast to the black. SO MUCH BLACK!

Jinks said he feels like either the throttle cables are sticking a bit or the slides are. It could be either or both. The front brake cable is too long, needs replaced with the correct for the “high handlebar” and properly routed. Might as well do all the cables at that point.

When we were done, I trailered the bike over to Morton’s and left it. Next Saturday is their Vintage Day / my bikes’ birthday party.  I’ll be there to help out and give a talk on vintage bikes, then answer questions. Should be fun, even with the short notice.  I’ll have to go up Thursday or Friday to clean the bike really well. I might try to meet up with Kermit for breakfast.

Tuesday next, George will help me make a video of changing the swing arm boot. It’ll be nice doing a video with him again, plus I’ll be able to ride the bike after that! (and of course after I change all the oils)

Remind me to relate the story of gaining a 1975 R 90/6 in near showroom condition that I couldn’t afford to keep – nor do I have the space to keep it. Yeah. I know!