Progress in the winter

February has been quite the busy month and its not over yet.  I was able to ride the 1956 R50  out to the BIA's Cabin Fever party on the 2nd.  It was  a nice ride (20 degrees) and a good gathering, though the ride home was in the snow. The old bike was a little bit of a tough start that night as I'm still running 20w50 oil in it. 

A few things that have gone on since then; I got out to my friend Bud C. with the Suzuki project.  The new tank and seat sections came in and look stunning. Bud will be sending the frame off for paint soon but while there was a small bit of free time we took a few hours to play around with a few side cover designs.  

Our construction paper mock up worked well.  The final covers will most likely be made out of aluminum with a few tricks for accessing the inside area (battery and oil)

Around the the first of the month I was able to gather an Eazy Rizer lift that Adam S. was selling.  Its an interesting bit of kit.  Quite versatile as far as different ways to mount motorcycles.  With a little bit of thinking you can have a solid platform for support.  To get an idea as to some possibilities, I mounted one of the hotrod Projects onto it.  Perfect!

Having one of the hotrod frames all set on a stand without making it a rolling chassis, meant that I could get on with mocking up and modifying the Triumph gas tank.  The tank has a nice subtle line that could work well with BMW's frame and engine. To make the tank sit right the double down tubes and rear hoops need recesses cut into it.

 Also, have a few jobs going on with pre-69 BMWs.  Here are a set of pictures of R96S gearbox.  Almost all the components on the output shaft needed to be replaced.  Chip S. prepped the box before assembly and all the bearings were replaced as well.  A few more gearboxes are in waiting so much to be done yet.

Wagners Motorsports is holding technical seminars throughout the month of February on Saturdays. I figured to go to all the seminars. The N.E. snowstorm pushed the schedule back a week, but definitely a worth while wait.  This first session was on general maintenance of K1200 and 1300 models.  Some pretty cool  technical information on the new (to me) K model.  One of the cool things I learned about the 12 was that the clutch cover it held with Torque to yield aluminum bolts, pretty slick if you ask me. Though there are people that might think this not cool, the fact is that allows BMW to make the cases lighter (less boss material) and more oil tight.

Hats off to Technician Jeremy for his thoughts and explanations  of the inner workings of the K.