New to Motobrick - heck new to biking, making a YT show about it - need help.

[RiDENTITY Matt]

Greetings Motobrickers.

Allow me to introduce myself. My names Matt and I'm a 40 year old expat Brit that's been living in CA for the last 13 years. I'm also a freelance videographer and I'm working on my first solo film/project/documentary series called: RiDENTITY - Learn to ride: Ride to learn (will be at www.ridentity.tv when it's up). I've attached the creative brief for anyone that's interested but in terms of this site and my brick - here's what you need to know.

1) I'm a brand new rider (yes I know I'm late - read the brief) - I just passed my test 4 weeks ago.
2) I'm starting my first documentary series about me learning to ride, riding to all 50 US states trying to figure out a sense of identity (again read the brief) but also as a means of picking up experience & skill (perhaps backing - I'm self funding the pilot but after that I'm chasing sponsors) as training towards an attempt reverse 'Long Way Round' from USA to London (where I'm from) in maybe 18-24 months time.
3) I lost my business, savings and whole career in the housing depression, meaning I'm on a budget of not very much at all - because of this a friend gave me his 1990 K75 (tragkorbs/screen/no fairing, not sure what suffix letter it is) with only 53k on the clock (he promptly replaced the hole in his Garage with a Thruxton R) but which hadn't turned over in 14 months.
4) I'm new to mechanics, but I'm a quick study and technically minded (I used to run tech journals about how computer chips are made) - so I've done a battery swap and oil/filter change, fired Kate up (I call her Kate because the chap that donated her is called Martin Moss) but the brake warning light is up. Swapped bulbs, changed all fuses to no avail. Neither brake switch operates the lamp.
5) I've read a few posts on the BMU issue and I'm happy to try and figure out the problem myself - but I don't know where to start and I've never taken a gas tank off a bike before.
6) Bottom line: I'm out of my depth here and need help because I'm SO damned green - step by step instructions if poss. There are bugger all mechanics in my 'hood and I don't have a means to easily get the bike to a shop and in any case, I really need to know how to fix her myself for when I'm in the cuds.

I was hoping to start short rides this weekend but this issue has stopped me cold (along with a million other niggles I've already worked through). Can anyone help? Are any of your in NorCal? Do any of you like the premise? Are you sick of stupid questions yet?

I'm going to try and stop past what I'm told is a friendly family owned Motorrad Dealer in Santa Rosa tomorrow (about 40 miles north of here) but I'm running out of options and I don't want to make a fatal error (already broke a bolt off changing the oil filter - that was fun getting it out, but not as fun as the 6 store search for some M6x20mm cap screws).

Help me Moto-wan-brickobi - you're my only hope.

[The Dude]

Hi Matt,
Welcome.Sounds like a plan.
Send us a photo or two of your bike,fill out your bikes details,milage,frame number and any history like what I got below my posts.

Mopeds do count!Road craft is best learnt on a crap,small bike because it teaches you what big bikes don't.How to make the most of your minimum power,crap handling but,essentially,light weight.
This translates into cornering speed,overtaking planning and general road craft analysis.A big bike circumvents this by just being able to whack open the throttle and blowing everything into the weeds....untill the next corner.Often,big bikers didn't learn how to go round these properly.If you don't do your due dilligence on a small bike,chances are you will kill yourself,or cut short your adventure.My biking is about getting there eventually and that's top of my mind continually.
Off road bikes teach you how to get a grip and loose it again much better than road bikes.
Your bike's reliability is potentially very very high and so it's about coping with shit happening like punctures and running out of fuel and maintenance and being in tune with it's idiosyncrasities...I'd just put some tape on my idiot brake monitoring light,for instance.Don't use biofuel ethanol,another,for instance.

All you have to do is research this site,everything has been covered from what I can tell.My Brick simply hasn't stopped,ever but my maintenace record is many pages long.
Good luck on you're adventures,anyway.

[furnimoto]

Hey Matt,
I live in Oakland, neighbor. Happy to get together for rides sometime if you're interested. I also have a few motorcycle buddies that work in your field(I used to work for Bot and Dolly) that are usually down to ride. I've been riding motorcycles since the 90s, but I just started making youtube videos chronicling my k1100rs project(see project apoKalypse in the project k-bike section) so maybe we can share share our respective experiences in a mutually beneficial way.

[RiDENTITY Matt]

Thanks for the responses.

I know there's a LOT of info on the site (it's how I found it while researching how to change the oil & battery) but my issue is I'm SO green I don't even know what to search for sometimes, I kinda need a mentor until I've gotten the hang of the terms you all use (took two google searches to figure out WTF a BMU was, again answer was on this site). The brake light issue (brae light not working BMU light on dash) is that the tail light works, brake light doesn't - front or rear, swapped both bulbs - silver bases - and all the fuses but to no avail).

I didn't mean to disparage mopeds, I actually really light more light weight, tossable stuff. I kinda fell for the CR200 I took my test on if I'm honest, I'd love to get a small bike to potter around Marin on, but my priority is getting on the road. I have a few friends that are tied to the project that are going to take me off roading on 125/250's when I've gotten some miles under my belt and I'll look to get a trail type bike of my own at some point soon(ish) but for now my main priority is getting on the road and shooting the pilot (a 4 day lap of NorCal followed by a 5-6 day lap of SoCal - edited by a boutique firm I'm friends with in LA (and of course myself) - that's as far as I can see right now.

Eventually I'll need to try and get a GS/Africa Twin/KTM/equiv to do the 'Wrong Way Round' part but as my initial plans were to start the project on my 40th Birthday (NYE - 2015) which all went to crapola due to getting a truck stuck hanging off a ravine at 5pm exactly a ton of miles from the middle of no-where (funny story about a three day effort to un-stick it is VERY in the vein of the setbacks that occurred on LWR - complete strangers saved my bacon).

Bottom line, I've been working on this for about 14 months and setbacks are just a way of life - but I really did want to try and get NorCal in the can before the passes close full time (may be too late already) and I've gotten to the point where I'm fast running out of ideas which is why I posted here for the first time, despite finding the site a while back. I really wanted to get the website up and ready before I posted on here (I doubt many of you think I'm serious) but to do that I need the bike running for the photoshoot I have planned up in the Marin headlands.

I really thought I'd found the perfect deal with a independent shop called Moto Marin (http://marinmotoworks.com/) but I was crushed to find out he closed earlier this year... other then that shop, it's slim pickin's here in Marin for bikers.

I want to basically learn all the maintenance myself as I intend on keeping her when I eventually move onto a more ADV type ride and I've fallen for her...

I'm dropping past Santa Rosa Motorrad at lunch - I shall post any joy and the engine/frame numbers (and pics) this eve when I'm back from today's shoot.

Thanks for the welcome, I figure I'm going to have to drain the tank and attempt to trace & check all the wiring - I'm just worried I'll bugger it up.

[furnimoto]

Here are a few good places for you to look into:

Moto guild is a community garage that used to be in SF, but is now on Treasure Island. They have a bunch of tools,lifts, used gear for sale, and offer all sorts of classes:
http://www.motoguild-sf.com/


The other place is Piston and Chain, another community motorcycle garage in SF. They have a resident airhead guru that may or may not know a whole bunch about bmw's in general. At piston and chain you can get a membership and gain access to lifts and tools. At any rate worth looking into:
https://pistonandchain.com/

[The Dude]

A workshop manual,downloaded will help enormously.It will give you some of the terminology for reference.All you need is confidence.Fiddle with the wiring,by all means but if it ain't broken you don't need to fix it.Get some basic mechanic's tools if you haven't already.
Bricks are easy to work on,Humans designed them.You will win!

[Filmcamera]

When you do start to take things apart use a few simple tips to help you get it back together again.

1. Take photos, LOTS of photos
2. Use ziplock bags with the names of where the bits came from written on them
3. Before undoing any wiring connections mark both sides with the same number or letter etc to help you know what connects where.
4. Take you time and try to understand what you are undoing and why it is there and what order it goes back together.

It is hugely fun and satisfying stripping a bike down to bits, but more of a challenge putting it all back so give yourself the best possible chance by documenting as much as possible of the strip down.

Have fun and best of luck.