Some good BMW news

No Lozzo, it hasn't caught fire...

Battery is pretty much dead, gave the same symptoms as a dying starter.
Otherwise the verdict from Him Who Knows BMWS Inside Out is that it
needed a bloody good service and the carbs were way out. But he thinks
it's a pretty decent one.

Finally should have it back tomorrow.

 

Are you really planning to haul it all the way over the pond?

 

If not, I might be interested....

 

Probably. Isn't going to make a big difference as we're talking
container anyway. Why?

 

To do what ?
Haul it to Chile ?

 

Hmm, I think your max ebay bid that you hinted at before might not be
able to cover it. Want to come down on the weekend and have a gander
even if it's not for sale? I think you'd like it.

 

Yeah, why not? If it's fine I'll bring the Street Trip and you can have
a blat on that.

 

Sounds like we have a plan then.

 

Do the Krauser heads call for a different jetting of the Bings, compared
to the standard set-up?

 

<Cough>
Some of us signified interest at the time Timo announced purchase.
Join the waiting list, the back of the line up is about two miles
behind me.
Given the problem it has suffered seems like the last thing it needs
is a battery muppet as an owner!
Mind given the noise of the valve gear ear plugs will be needed as
well.

Boxerboy

 

I'll try to find out when I pick up the bike tomorrow. The fitting
instructions I have don't mention anything about carbs...

According to Brian, these are normally combined with Dell'Ortos but for
some reason mine is still wearing Bings. Those being CV carbs they
should compensate for the increased airflow, at least partially.

 

A non-charitable view would be that the previous owner probably fell
into that category as well. IIRC it takes quite a lot to kill an
Odyssey.

SORRY? WHAT DID YOU SAY?

 

Yes, intuitively Dell'Ortos seems to match the concept. Which also would
have been suitable with the (still presumably) less dear petrol in the
States.

That said, the performance level of the various R100 models from '77 to
'81 seems to be reflected by slightly different sizes of jets & needles.

 

There is a reason for that. The OE R90 Dell's are basic and not particularly
good carbs and for a road bike the CV's are better, including for tuned
bikes. If you want a good non CV you have to cough up for something like
Kehin square slides. Expensive little beasts though.

 

Just seemed like a lot of hassle. It isn't as if the US is short of RS bikes
for sale.

I would be quite interested, though you seem to be surrounded by sharks.

 

They seem to be working fine with those heads after the carbs have been
stripped down and cleaned.

All in all I did take the long way home. It's still a reluctant starter
even with the new battery so chances are that I will have to pull said
starter, but the rest of the bike has been gone over with a magnifying
glass. There are a couple of other smaller issues (one of the lower
fairing panels has a damaged mount and is merrily vibrating around,
which potentially explains a small crack in one of the upper fairing
panels) but not that many issue that should keep me from riding is while
I fix those issues.

It does ride a lot better now, too - still doesn't feel that quick but
you do have to keep an eye on the speedo unless you have a fetish for
meeting people in uniform.

 

I'm now at my second attempt at cleaning out my carbs, in the hope of
getting a bit more predictable and consistent idling. It was scaring how
quickly I managed to get them off and apart a couple of days ago . . .

Could have been interesting to try it in comparison to the R80[1], but
then again the latter would probably seem gutless . . .

[1] if I can manage to get my carbs back from the US cleaning shop
withing reasonable time

 

*You are terminally ill
(You are terminally ill)

*You are cured!
(You are terminally ill)