Letters & Technical Tips from our Visitors:

Simon From the UK Writes:

I am a BMW F650 owner in the UK. I bought the bike new in October 1995 and have carefully maintained and checked it. Over that period I have used the bike day in, day out, in sun, rain, snow and ice and covered about 50000 miles. I have just removed the engine due to a problem with second gear. At the same time I decided to replace the rear brake hose with a braided one. On removing the hose and pipe I found that the pipe was nearly worn through at one point due to the chain rubbing against it. I check the chain tension on a weekly basis and keep it within the recommended guidelines.
OK a failed rear brake is not a major problem except it would probably happen in an emergence due to increase pressure which could have fatal consequences. I contacted BMW (GB) who just told me to speak to a local dealer. I spoke to my local dealer who just said "You should get a new one.

Simon Rideout

From the garage of
Robert Hoffman:

Great site..hope to see more postings on technical stuff!
Maybe we've all heard that a clean bike runs better; as part of my winter
hibernation/renewal ( short Canadian riding season followed by a long time
of bad riding weather more commonly referred to as winter) I've found that
cleaning can be a real chore.
Two items that have proved invaluable are my old toothbrushes and a product
call CLR ( a bathroom rust and scale remover) - I've used this to remove
corrosion off the Allen bolts, manifold pipe clamps (they came up almost
new!) and even the return springs for the kickstands and rear brake levers
- I was quite surprised to discover they were chromed! Degrease the parts
with a detergent and rinse. Just pour some of the CLR into a tall thin
glass ( sized for the parts you want to clean), a tablespoon of water, and
then nuke it in the microwave for 30 seconds ( the hotter the solution-the
quicker the cleaning); remove the container using an oven mitt or dry
cloth, and immerse the parts! Scrubbing with a toothbrush will hasten the
process, but the solution is mildly corrosive to skin and eyes, so gloves
and glasses should be worn.
For badly corroded bolts these should be renewed, but for cleaning up any
surface rust, this works great - finish with a light coat of lithium grease
and the results will amaze ya!

John Swift Writes:

Recently I got involved with a friend having difficulty removing the transmission from a R60/5. Despite the fact that all fasteners where removed and reasonable efforts to disengage it from the clutch failed. It became apparent that there was no way to put enough pressure to push it rearward.
After a little discussion I decided that a hole large enough to release the clutch cover plate screws would be the only possible way without damaging the trans or engine cases. The hole was placed about 11:00 O'clock in the transmission housing and every other screw was removed first then the other
three in turn a little at a time until the cover was released and the transmission allowed to be moved rearward and out with clutch disc and cover. The disc was so stuck that it took a puller and some effort to remove it even
then. Once removed the splines appeared OK and a new disc, etc., where installed and properly lubricated. I hope this info will be helpful to others. The hole was plugged with a rubber grommet and then covered with the air cleaner housing making for an undetectable repair. Much better than
damage to the engine case or transmission case.

Seamus Bell writes:

I recently bought an R1100GS to find that the clutch does not disengage when applied and the bike jumps forward, this problem was reported to the dealer and returned to the dealer, the dealer had the bike for a month and returned it with the same problem, the legal aspect is being dealt with but the problem remains does anyone have any information that could possibly assist me to correct it, yours in anticipation.

Dennis Lines writes:

I'm looking for help finding a phone number for the company that made Luftmeister fairing. I went down last week and the windshield on my 1979 Luftmeister fairing snapped in two. Anyone out there know a way to contact this company so I can get a new windshield?

Ron writes:

Do you know of a stock oil filter for a car that will fit right on My 1985
BMW K100RT.   I would be appreciative.

Richard in Austin, Texas writes:

I've just discovered a solution for my long-standing problem of road tar on the exhaust canister on my K1200 RS, which has been immune to all chemical and physical attempts to remove it once its baked on. My wife was polishing a brass rail in the house with what looked like a common can of powered cleanser, yet it wasn't scratching the metal at all. It turns out she was using a product called "Bar Keepers Friend" which has an extremely fine grit. I tried it on the exhaust and within 3 minutes, all the tar was off with no adverse effects on the metal at all. To my surprise it only costs two bucks.

Thanks for the tip Richard!

I've found that "Bar Keepers Friend" works extremely well on the wheels of my new K1100LT. Brake dust, road tar, and stains left by dogs & cats attempting to mark their territory come right off with very little effort. Actually, it made my wheels & exhaust pipes look new again.
Rick Davis, cynhk.com

Bar Keepers Friend is offering a FREE Sample to anyone who Emails Lisa Neace.
Email and please tell Lisa you read about Bar Keepers Friend at www.cynhk.com and that you would like a Free Sample.