Sunday, January 18, 2015

A Day of Wrenching

Spent the morning beginning Brigitta, my '87 BMW R80 Airhead's 105,000 Mile service a bit early.  Basically trying to sync up the intervals with the readings on the new(used) odometer I recently put on her.

She's really not at 105,000 until the new(old) odometer reads 96,178 but I decided to start it at 95,648.  This way, I can resume the 4500-5000 mile service interval without having to keep reminders taped to the inside of the fairing.

All fluids were drained from the engine, transmission, final drive and adjoining drive shaft housing.  Spark plugs were checked and found to be of good color, the air filter was checked and blown clean and will be replaced at the 10K interval.

Valve clearances and carburetor sync are scheduled for tomorrow.

In the afternoon, we were relaxing around the family room and Martha spots a posting on the CZAR (Colorado Zidecar Adventure Riders) Facebook page.  A fellow Uralista, Scott M. was reporting being broken down in the town of Wellington, CO!

Some texts and phone calls later, we knew he needed a replacement donut and clutch release lever.  The donut coupler mates the output from the transmission to the main drive shaft going to the final drive; the clutch release lever activates the clutch when you pull the clutch lever in.

I called Tim L., who lives in Longmont and he immediately headed out with a replacement donut.  It took me a few minutes to hook up the trailer of shame (just in case it was needed) and soon I was on the road myself, driving Martha's X5 with the trailer in tow.

About an hour later, I pulled up to the guys who had things taken apart and yelled out the window:  "The Trailer of Shame is here!".  The guys both laughed.  I parked the car and we got to work.

This is what I saw when I showed up shortly after 3 PM.

 Broken Donut

Broken Clutch Release Lever

 Repairs went pretty smoothly, though the spare clutch release lever I had carried for
over a year and a half turned out to have troublesome threads.  It caused some thread
damage as Scott installed it, but it did the job.

Scott finishes "buttoning up" his rig in preparation for a test
ride and then a victory spin about the parking lot.



We said our goodbyes, Tim headed home to Longmont and I followed Scott and his rig for a while to make sure nothing else happened.  Everyone got home safe, a good day of wrenching!

Previously: Ride to Sleeper House and Westlands Park

5 comments:

RichardM said...

is a broken donut a common failure? Or is it related to off-road riding, lots of first gear running or something like that?

"Trailer of Shame". I need to look for one of those. I'm betting that it would be light enough for the Prius...

redlegsrides said...

It's an Aluma 638, just the right size and capacity for a Ural. Weight of trailer is 326# I think, load capacity 1000#

redlegsrides said...

RichardM, some guys....like Scott M. have had three fail on them. I've always carried a spare, no need for it...reverse juju? Easy enough to procure and carry....

Spat said...

Tough day for Scott I hope it was his way home and at least he got a good ride in. Good for you and Tim for coming to the rescue, misery loves company. Knowing Scott though I sure he was still in good spirits. As far as that doughnut he should have caught that oncoming failure a long time ago. I see no need to carry a spare as you can visually inspect that part for wear and feel it when it gets bad before it gets to that point. But maybe you need to experience it before you know how it feels funny. Clutch arm - tough luck there.
Now good for you keeping that pretty BMW in shape.

redlegsrides said...

Hi Spat, long time no see....will you and Cookie be coming along for the upcoming Elephant Ride? Scott did great both in spirit and deed in getting his rig back on the road!

The R80 is my nice weather motorcycle and we're having such a warm January....

Thanks for the visit, we must get together and ride soon.