I'm a newbie to airheads

batman1

batman1

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As in the title, I'm new to airheads, but definitely not new to this site.

I acquired an R80 GS (Bumblebee) during the winter and I'm just starting to fettle it.

Carbs?
I've got them stripped cleaned and ready for reassembly, have checked up with moto-bins and they do a 'pattern' gasket kit with diaphragms and also an OEM which is a similar kit but double the price. Question… are the pattern kits fine for my machine.

Oil cooler?
My bike has a cooler fitted, but is it necessary in this country, I'm not taking my steed onto the road of bones. I'm just trying to clean up the look of the bike and if it's not required I'll take it off.
However is this likely to cause me (my bike) any mechanical grief?

That's it for now....ta
 
Thanks Mickey, very much appreciated!

Can I also ask what engine oil you run, 20-50 mineral or something more modern like a semi-synthetic?

Plugs too..as per handbook?
 
General question..

I really love the look of the GS 80 Basic and much prefer it to the look of my black bumblebee, so is the basic more or less my R80 GS in prettier colours?

Coming back to my earlier query about whether or not my oil cooler is unnecessary clutter for use in Britain, having scrutinised the thread with many photos of gorgeous GS Basics it looks as though very few Basics are fitted with oil filters.
Was the oil filter an optional extra or a standard fitment on the European bikes? My bike was a bike produced for the German market and later imported into the UK?
 
For years there have been debates about removing the oil cooler, mainly 'to prevent damage in the case of a spill'.

I've never been convinced that it really is in such a vulnerable position, and if I was properly worried, I'd cobble together some kind of short pipe link so that I could just shortcut it if it became damaged.
 
It appears to be almost a random fitment some bikes have it and some bikes don’t ......why is this?
 
batman1 said:
It appears to be almost a random fitment some bikes have it and some bikes don’t ......why is this?
Click to expand...

'cause most of the piping or the actual radiator have split...and replacements are an absolute fortune. I have taken a few off in the past, didn't make any difference ( proabably
initially installed for hotter countries etc ). If an oil cooler is fitted, leave it on ( you can buy a bye-pass link pipe should the oil cooler split ) if one isn't fitted, don't lose any sleep. :)

20/50 mineral oil is the correct oil - change twice a year etc.

I always fit OE parts on carbs and electrics etc but if Mikeyboy states the carb pattern parts are OK, then go with that !:thumb2

Basic is the collectors dream.......parts bin special etc., although be careful, once they are upgraded in anyway ( eg with 1000 barrels etc.,) they are no longer as collectible.
 
Hi Kenny,
Thanks for that, interesting that folk have not upgraded to sem-synthetic, clearly there is a good reason to carry on with the 20/50 mineral oil, and after all some of these motors have covered very considerable mileages with very few wear issues.
So if the the ‘Basic’ is a parts bin special how come they have become a collectors dream, I personally love the look of them but I think that is mainly due to the colour scheme. I suppose it would be fairly easy to make a ‘basic’ lookalike from a bumblebee by just changing the colours, but would that be a sacrilege thing to do to the bumblebee, and I would end up with a non original of either models, thus devaluing both bikes...probably not a good move!
 
The basic was the last Hurrah of the Airhead GS line, and supposedly therefore the best of the breed, with a couple of decades or so of development and thus better parts etc etc, and by the time it came out BMW were already producing the oilheads and the K bikes (inline 3 and 4 cyls) so they are desirable for that, and the fact that they were made in smaller numbers.

Your GS has a different rear subframe (the basic went back to a modified monolever type frame which is no longer available and is out of stock) so unless you do some metal modifying, which is possible I suppose, you wont get it 100% right, but who cares - its your bike do what you want with it - others on here have done Basic lookalikes (Mr Rob Farmer springs to mind, and he got the last Basic subframe on the planet i believe) and splendid they look to.

Dont fret about changing colour - you can always change it back! (Just dont hipster it!!)
 
solidstate100 said:
The basic was the last Hurrah of the Airhead GS line, and supposedly therefore the best of the breed, with a couple of decades or so of development and thus better parts etc etc, and by the time it came out BMW were already producing the oilheads and the K bikes (inline 3 and 4 cyls) so they are desirable for that, and the fact that they were made in smaller numbers.

Your GS has a different rear subframe (the basic went back to a modified monolever type frame which is no longer available and is out of stock) so unless you do some metal modifying, which is possible I suppose, you wont get it 100% right, but who cares - its your bike do what you want with it - others on here have done Basic lookalikes (Mr Rob Farmer springs to mind, and he got the last Basic subframe on the planet i believe) and splendid they look to.

Dont fret about changing colour - you can always change it back! (Just dont hipster it!!)
Click to expand...

I believe BAMW.co.uk will do you the correct rear subframe.
 
That looks like some very nice kit indeed!

Solid state suggests that the basic went back to a mono lever rear subframe, any idea why bmw did this?

Am I correct in thinking that they were all built using the standard paralever rear suspension which would be identical to my bumblebee?
 
mikeyboy said:
Gary does sell the short subframe along with all associated parts:thumb
Click to expand...

Indeed he does, but I think (please correct me if im wrong) its a proprietary version of the Basic BMW one so is a bit different again - probably better! I was coming from an OEM angle, not sure why really............

batman1 said:
Solid state suggests that the basic went back to a mono lever rear subframe, any idea why bmw did this?

Am I correct in thinking that they were all built using the standard paralever rear suspension which would be identical to my bumblebee?
Click to expand...

From memory it was about making it stronger than the longer fracture prone GS frame, and also obviously the original monolever G/S (like mine :D) was a far superior motorcycle, hence them copying it. Incidentally the original G/S mono frame was even more fracture prone than the GS one, so it was beefed up quite a bit for the Basics architecture...

And pretty much the same para set up, the shock was different if I remember, White Power set up was it?
 
batman1 said:
That looks like some very nice kit indeed!

Solid state suggests that the basic went back to a mono lever rear subframe, any idea why bmw did this?

Am I correct in thinking that they were all built using the standard paralever rear suspension which would be identical to my bumblebee?
Click to expand...
Yes the basic has paralever like yours, you can tell by the rubber gaiter on the swing arm . I believe they used the shorter rear sub frame as they were stronger
 
The bikes with the oil cooler had the smallest sump ever fitted to an Airhead no matter what capacity, so it might be prudent to fit a larger sump if you intend removing the cooler, and plan on going further than Safeway's car park for a photo shoot.
I have an oil temp and pressure gauge and would never consider removing the cooler, but I do ride off road on hot days, often.
BMW has revised their oil recommendations for Airhead oil over the years - they have always advised that you use the best oil available at the time of the recommendation and have been advising that you use synthetic for the past 25 years.
Seems some have some catching up to do!
A 20/50 MA2 Synth or semi Synth motorcycle oil is the correct current product for most use - top line Turbo Diesel oil usually meets or exceeds MA standards too and is a is a favorite with folks who know something about oil.
So wont get any support with the cloth cap and braces brigade on this forum!
 
So Semi-synthetic then ????

Bods on here in U.K. seem to be suggesting mineral oil???

I believe that my bike may have a large sump, but I’m not sure how to tell the difference.

The temp in Aus is going to hit the engine oil much harder than in the U.K, even though we are having near Aussie temps here at the moment.

Thank you for your post. :thumb
 
Batman,
If you want to waste money on fancy pants oil that’s your choice,
These motors really don’t need it.they are an unstressed pushrod ,with a pretty good oil pump,
In my opinion they seem to be a fair bit quieter on a 20/50 classic.
You will soon know if the oil is getting too hot,:augie



Edit I appreciate what mr boff is saying,however if you consider that the 1200 Gs when first introduced also had a 20/50 mineral recommended,
Sometime later the spec was changed to a full synthetic,
So service costs went from £3.50 to £4.00 a litre to @£17.00 a litre it makes you question the reasoning.:rolleyes:
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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