One last project from John.

[ke7add]

A good friend of mine passed away a few months ago after a long battle with cancer. His K75C has been sitting in his driveway since he got to sick to ride it about 10 years ago and is in rough shape. His wife wanted me to have it as a last project from the old man as he would drop by my place with electronics projects for me to play with from time to time.

The battery has been disconnected at some point and has died so I don't know if the electronics are any good anymore, I do now that she shifts through the gears if I manipulate the ear wheel gently by hand. The front break is locked up and the front tire is very hard to turn. The rear wheel moves freely as long as the rear break pedal is not depressed.
Any clues as to where I should start would be appreciated. I figure i will try and get her running first then start in the front and fix my way to the back until I run out of things to fix.

[Laitch]

Downsize your photos to 8 inches width or so before you upload them; they'll load quicker on everybody's computer. This one came in at 36". :nono Delete it, resize it and upload it again.

I figure i will try and get her running first then start in the front and fix my way to the back until I run out of things to fix.

This is a rough one all right. You try to start this thing the way it is now you're likely to pump problems throughout its system and never run out of things to fix.

I think the very first thing you should do is remove the tank and the fuel pump assembly and clean them thoroughly. Replace all the fuel hoses, inspect all the air hoses. Pull the air box and clean it. There's a whole lot of electrical cleaning and inspecting to do before you start it. That's not costly at all and if you do it first, you won't spend time laboring your brain and then winding up doing it anyway. You don't want to run an engine with sludge in the cooling system either or you might wipe out the oil/coolant pump. Fresh battery, oil, filter. Maybe these neglected injectors with start it. You'll find out if you don't clean them.

There are at least two recent threads that relate to what you're approaching: this one and this one.

Quite a challenge here but you'll know sooner than later if it's feasible to make a fitting memorial of it.

[The Mighty Gryphon]

+1 on the Green Mountain Man's post.  Spend the winter doing a strip and clean, concentrating on the electrical, fuel and cooling systems.  It will be easier to do all the work with the bike disassembled and all the parts clean. 

Figure on replacing all the rubber parts.  The electrical system probably needs nothing more than having all the connectors cleaned with Deoxit.  Figure on replacing the rear brake master cylinder, and possibly the front calipers.  Water tends to go to the low points of the brake system and corrode the aluminum parts.  Lots of used calipers around for fairly cheap. 

All in all, looks like a good project and a tribute to your friend.  Have fun with it.

[The Dude]

+1 on the Green Mountain Man's post.

All in all, looks like a good project and a tribute to your friend.  Have fun with it.

+1
It's redeemable and worth the effort.Sad you came by her this way.

[TrueAce]

+++1
Fuel, Fluids, Fire..........leave brakes for later, (master cylinders,lines,calipers,pads). You can do it! :2thumbup:

[jakgieger]

Completely doable...Laitch has got it right.  Work slowly and you will be successful.  My bike had sat for over 14 years...covered and in a barn, but with lots of mice :nono (who by a quirk of diet deficiency had decided that they liked electrical wire :hehehe).  Bike is fully operational now.  Good luck

[ke7add]

   Laitch - Sorry for the picture size I must have uploaded he un-edited one by mistake. All better now!  :dunno2:

Thanks for the advice guys! It is good to know that I am not totally nuts starting this project.
BTW the library here is awesome! There is all sorts of stuff in there! Thanks to whom ever did all that work!

My plan Is thus so far.

I pulled the tank today and it is holy. Like in a bad way as you can see from the pictures.  That hole is about 1/2" long so some welding will be involved.  I am going to tear it down and sand blast it before I try and find someone locally that can maybe fix it. Any ideas on how to remove the heat shielding without destroying it? I would like to glue it back on after the tank is fixed and painted.
 I will pull the injectors and send them to MR. Injector for servicing. I assume the fuel pump is kaput and will need to be replaced but I will try and bring it back to life whilst the tank and injectors are out for servicing.
 I can then go about cleaning all of the connectors (man are there a lot of them), heating and draining the old oil, flushing the fuel rail, and flushing the cooling system while I wait for tank and injectors to come back. I can inspect the rubber bits and replace the old fuel line as I go.
I plan on just going ahead and doing the standard filters, plugs, and fluids as well while I wait for the bits to come back in.
Once that is all done and she fires and runs I thing a complete drive train inspection and bits replacement will be in order. Break pads, master cylinders, splines greased, etc.
I think I may do the Ford injector swap after she is running as well.

Once she is running and road worthy repaint the tank and faring.

I figure I will start at the front tire and work my way back from there. The throttle grip does not turn and the clutch cable is snapped so i have to figure those out before she gets to hum and sing again.  The rubber caps on the forks are kaput so I assume I will have to do a full tear down on the forks.

 I have a lot to go through but the info in the card catalog is very complete so I figure I can learn as I tackle.

 Starting with the fire box. :D

[The Dude]

Wow!
Heat shielding,that's cheap.The tank is rotten but.
Heating the oil before draining is not needed,just time.
Be worth putting into top gear and rotating the motor a little tiny bit with the back wheel to make sure it's free,after you've drained the oil & water,perhaps.If it is free then,Yehaaaa!
You're not totally nuts....imagine the sweetest machine and progress towards that eventual possibility.
All the best.

[TrueAce]

You sound more than capable for this project. Trash the insulation, there are substitute products. But dunno.about that aluminum tank being welded from the looks at the holes, maybe search for a new tank.

[Martin]

Soak the fuel pump in vinegar or methylated spirits for a week or two. Connect to twelve volts briefly, and alternate the connection trying to rock the motor back and forth. If it looks like it is trying to move you can try upping the voltage to 18v briefly and alternate the connections.
Regards Martin.

[Laitch]

Thanks for the update.

+1 on trashing the insulation. Reflectix is a product to use as the tank heatshield—available at building supply stores. That tank should have a TIG welding specialist look it over, but as the Dude indicates, it's likely to be too far gone. If it can be salvaged, photos of that process would be interesting.

Your restoration attempt will be instructive for everybody.

[Brad-Man]

I definitely would not sand blast aluminum.

Use glass beads if anything but don't get any inside the tank - damn hard to make sure they're all out.

[Scud]

Lots of good advice already. I agree with the idea to get the basic mechanicals done first - and do not try to start it before a thorough clean out. You can probably get a lot of what you want from forum members - try posting what you need before going to e-bay.

I have almost a complete motorcycle in parts from doing a 2 into 1 project. If you need a bunch of stuff, I would be happy to sell at below market prices to support a tribute project like this. For starters, I have a dented tank from a 1992 K75s. It holds fuel, but probably needs a clean-out. You can have it for the cost of shipping. It's blue.

[Scud]

I was just thinking a bit more about your project. It might be worth trying to find a donor bike. If you could find one that had been well-cared for - but then crashed... or tranny failure... or some other expensive problem that the owner doesn't want to fix - then you'll have yourself a veritable parts-store.

[jaxon]

It's a diamond in the rough.

Those tires need Tough Actin' Tinactin. I got something similar in Panama in '89.

[ke7add]

   Scud             I will happily take you up on your very generous offer at the end of the month when my paycheck clears! Thank you!  :clap:

   Martin           I didn't know that would work but I have some spirits here so I shall give that a try. Thanks for the idea!

   the Dude      I will try turning here over a bit maybe next week as you prescribe and let you know how it goes I'm hoping to drop the old oil and coolant out of her then.
 
   Laitch           I may ask around and see if anyone wants to tackle the project of welding it back together just to see if it can be done. If so I will try and chronicle the process.

   Brad-Man     Thanks for the warning. I will have to have whatever tank I end up with as well as the fairing painted to match the original color so maybe the paint shop I take it to will have a bead blaster.

   jaxon            I think I will count the tires as a total loss maybe? ;)


Sadly a donor bike seems out of the question. I live out in the middle of no where and haven't even seen another BMW bike of any kind ride past here in a long time. I will call around and hunt criags list in any case.
On a bright note I came home today to see to leather riding jakets siting on the seat of my 82 Honda CB750 Nighthawk. Mine suckith so I was going to buy a new one but it seems someone beet me to it. One of them fit my wife so that made her happy. She is 7 months pregnant and has not been able to ride with me yet as I only recently got my motorcycle endorsement. Now we just have to find her a helmet.

Life is well.  :yes

[Revrdmark]

From my limited chemistry education in college aluminum doesn't rust, but it does corrode. Usually from some form of salt that starts a chemical reaction that is hard to stop. My fear would be that if the corrosion started from the inside it would continue around the fresh welds. I have used the fuel tank repair epoxy putty on cars on spots larger than you picture with great success. It's a tube of putty that you kneed to mix the two parts and it dries like a rock that is sandable. It's less than $10 at most auto part stores. It might be a inexpensive alternative to welding aluminum. I've never used it on aluminum so not sure how it will adhere though. Just an option to consider between paychecks :-)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TrueAce]

Test not your newly acquired motorcycling permit skills whilst transporting a woman seven months with child! :nono

[zipster68]

Ethanol attracts water. When the two get together, they create the perfect environment to grow a type of bacteria called acetobacter. After getting drunk on their EPA-sponsored kegger in your gas tank, the acetobacter excrete acetic acid. And acetic acid is very corrosive.

If you’re refilling your gas tank every week or two, acetobacter don’t have time to grow a sufficient size colony to damage metal parts in your fuel system. But if your fuel sits for longer periods of time these microorganisms continue to multiply until your gas tank contains damaging levels of acetic acid.

[jaxon]

Ethanol attracts water. When the two get together, they create the perfect environment to grow a type of bacteria called acetobacter. ....

I've heard Fuel Stabilizer inhibits the breakdown process. I only trust it with the lawnmower fuel. Yes, I have trust issues.

[The Mighty Gryphon]

After draining the moonshine fuel I always store my bricks(and every other piece of seasonal equipment) with a tankful of PURE NO CORN PREMIUM gasoline mixed with Stabil fuel stabilizer and Techron.  A few starts during the winter circulates the fuel through the system and helps the Techron flush any crap that may be in there.

[Martin]

Before you trash the insulation make a pattern of it. I spent yesterday replacing fuel lines and insulating my tank. Because I covered all of the bottom except for the tunnel, I had a bit of trouble pushing down the back of the tank to install the "C" clips. I found some thin adhesive aluminium tape at a discount store. I used this in the tunnel  and other places where it was hard to install the mat, I also used it to join the seams. I wish I had found your picture yesterday would of saved me a lot of pain.
Regards Martin.

[bocutter Ed]

Test not your newly acquired motorcycling permit skills whilst transporting a woman seven months with child! :nono

Agreed, please don't do that.  :nono  I may have spent a goodly chunk of my gestation period bouncing around on the back of a Vincent Black Shadow, but my dad wasn't a noob, and that's what was done in London in the '50s.

[ke7add]

Well I see that you have both missed the point.  :falldown:

She has not ridden with me BECAUSE she is 7 months pregnant.
Regardless of skill I would not put a pregnant woman on a bike....sorry its just not a good idea no matter how much you have ridden.  :nono

[ke7add]

No pictures but I finally found time to drain the old oil from the K75c project and check to see if the engine was locked up.
Old oil showed no signs of water or old fowl fuel and with the spark plugs removed I was able to rock the rear tire gently and get the transmission into 5th gear. The motor is free and turns by way of force on the rear tire with little effort.
 :yes

Going to pop the injectors out some time this week and get them sent off for cleaning ad get filters ordered, may even get some connectors clean.