Wrench'n Ride'n

Here are some more photos of Helge's mates R100R Cafe. Kjartan this is an amazing looking machine. I bet with the four valve Krauser heads she flies.

I have asked Helge to tell us about his BM. Like most BM owners his is not standard. It has been modified to suit his riding needs....... They are hard to describe, since they are changing all the time Wilbers damper in rear end, together with re-furbished driveshaft from Hendersen (US) ( http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=130764&highlight=hendersen )Together with some better pivot bearings from Rubber Chicken Garage ( http://www.rubberchickenracinggarage.com/bushings.html ) This set up will cure any known paralever problem ever.. HPN 43 liter fuel tank together with frame enforcement ala HPN. Front end is rebuild with 50MM WP-Extreeme together with new triple clamps from Rick. I wanted to keep the original BM rim and therefore needed to shave of the hub 6 mm just to have space enough between the legs. Added a BM 1150 caliper just to mess with all the other Airhead riders, make them envious...lol. Right now I'm looking for the dash to choose, the KTM version or t...

Could it get any worse? Started with a stripped engine stud! Oh it got a whole lot worse. Motohansa have found out that someone had already put a helicoil into the offending stud. But it had not been done correctly. When I torqued the heads down I stripped the stud and helicoil out. I was shown the helicoil that came out and it had ripped a fair bit of casing thread out with it. Also damaged the thread on the stud. So Motohansa fitted a timesert thread. This did not take due to the stud hole now being bigger than it should be. When the cylinder was torqued down and the engine started up oil weeped out at the head gasket. They were not happy with this at all. The timesert could not hold the stud tight enough. Disaster! The stud hole can not be welded up and a new hole drilled and taped as there is an oil gallery right at the back the hole. If this oil gallery is damaged then even bigger disaster. So the crankcase can not be repaired. We are exploring fitting a new old engine. They hav...

Plenty Highway, Northern Territory. Hitting a kangaroo would have been a small problem for Helge. Well compared to hitting a wild camel. They that roam the outback in big numbers. They own this part of Australia. Again more great photos of Helge's trip down under.

Another one of BMW's great promo videos. This time for the R1200ST.

Bike goes into MotoHansa this week. Next week they will helicoil the offending stripped stud hole and helicoil the other three stud holes on that side of the engine. New push rod seals will be fitted and new base and head gaskets. I am not taking the pot off first. They have to transport the bike and I don't want the engine open like that while being transported. Nor do I want to risk the con rod banging around on the crankcase. 2 weeks and I will be back on the road.

The last thing anyone wants is to stripe a thread. You may have done it yourself. Tightened something up too far and felt the spanner go loose on the nut. Yep a stripped thread. Rant and raving normally then follows with spanners being thrown into the darkest corner of the garage. Well I have stripped thread. A nasty one it is too. A major one! The top left hand cylinder stud. First let’s roll back a day....... Saturday. I did an oil change. Went and bought some lovely 20w50 Penzoil. Came home and dunped the old oil. Drained the oil cooler. Refilled the engine. Primed the oil cooler as per the manual. Then off for a ride. I went up through Bobbin Head and through to Mt Colah. Got petrol and was heading for the Old Pac. As I was changing up a gear my foot slipped from under the gear pedal. Never had this happen before! So try again and same thing. Foot slips out from under the shift pedal. I look down and my left boot is covered in fresh oil. I pull over and see oil dripping from the...

Some more photos from Helge's Oz trip. He sent me a DvD full of photos. So expect to see lots more. Who said you need an OilHead GS to travel the outback here. Airheads are still more than up to the task.

Café Racers either look naff or they are stunning. This R90/6 owned by Two_Tone77 (from the ADV forums) has had the wonderful Café racer treatment. I would have loved to have seen the bike before the makeover. The paintwork has a deep mirror finish to it and the racing stripe sets the whole café racer theme off. The tank, seat and tail unit flow so nicely. This is something that all café racer builders strive for. The eye just follows that lovely curve from tank to tail. Modern suspension at the rear would help hold this baby to the tar as it is punted hard. This is an all-round top notch job. Well done mate. Thank you Two_Tone77 for allowing me to show this marvelous bike off here on my blog.