Members from Bama Rides 1.0 may remember this old thread.
I have owned this poor old '1992 R100GS since 2000. The PO was an elderly guy (I guess I am now too :'( ) who only rode it on the street. I got it in a convoluted trade involving a VW bus, a Honda Accord and an Audi from his widow. It was at a friend's german auto repair shop, he was trying to fix a leaking oil pan gasket and was having no luck after two tries. I took a chance an got the bike, only to discover the leak was from the "$2000 o-ring", aka a o-ring that seals the oil filter housing. It was pinched, but no damage was done. As aquired, the bike had Metzler street ties front and rear, and was otherwise dead stock. It probably had an easy life till I got my hands on it with 20k miles on it.
Once I got it, I put knobbies on it, and proceeded to explore a bunch of the back roads and trails in western MD and WV.
Then I moved to AL in 2004 and used it to explore the south east.
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/BYOB-and-beyond/i-BF7x8xp/0/O/2005_0610byob0056.jpg)
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/BYOB-and-beyond/i-wqx3RQx/0/O/2005_0610byob0117.jpg)
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/BYOB-and-beyond/i-7XNwkjj/0/O/2005_0610byob0124.jpg)
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/DGIV/i-qc4GQPd/0/O/2005_0522dgiv0001.jpg)
On a trip up to WV in 2013 the speedo turned over;
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/RT-XXXI-Sept-2013/i-r5P9VFq/0/XL/IMGP4163-XL.jpg)
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/RT-XXXI-Sept-2013/i-VKD7zLc/0/XL/IMGP4164-XL.jpg)
Then, on a trip up to Huntsville for work, it made a horrible noise for a second, then went back to normal. I pulled over to check it out.
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/Ride-To-Wheeler-WMA-6-19-2014/i-bXb3fM3/0/XL/20140619_110918-XL.jpg)
Found a valve out of adjustment, other wise nothing unusual.
In the preceding months, when I had gone to adjust the valves, the exhausts where tight, so I decided to pull the heads when I got home and check things out.
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-9TLSBgP/0/XL/DSCF1361-XL.jpg)
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-QRwH82s/0/XL/DSCF1359-XL.jpg)
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-h9rcqcH/0/XL/DSCF1362-XL.jpg)
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-QMsWK57/0/XL/DSCF1367-XL.jpg)
The heads went off to Memphis Motor Works http://www.memphismotorwerks.com/shop for new valves, guides, seats, etc The machinist there is Leo Goff, one time holder of national drag racing records on a Norton, and an awesome blues bass player.
I got the heads back in 10 days.
Pistons were on backorder, took almost 6 weeks.
In the meantime, I replaced the timing chain and the tensioners.
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-Pcxkd22/0/XL/DSCF1378-XL.jpg)
I also pulled the driveshaft and sent it off to a guy in California to have the damper in the center replaced.
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-2rt954V/0/XL/GS%20Driveshaft%20002-XL.jpg)
Compare the triangular points, the orange one lines up, the black one is "out of phase". This causes a vibration and can also make the joints wear faster. The orange one is the new one, I had the joints replaced with rebuildable ones, and a new urethane damper. However, it took almost 4 months to get the work done.
yes, please keep going!
Finally, come September, I had the parts to do the top end,
New valves;
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-D9rQS3v/0/XL/DSCF1377-XL.jpg)
nice instructions on where the rings go;
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-L6M4fM9/0/XL/DSCF1749-XL.jpg)
I installed the pistons into the cylinders, then slipped the wrist pin in afterwards;
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-JjW7mbM/0/XL/DSCF1878-XL.jpg)
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-tLbQTGK/0/XL/DSCF1879-XL.jpg)
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-77xKfg5/0/XL/DSCF1880-XL.jpg)
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-xRh47n7/0/XL/DSCF1882-XL.jpg)
Nice jugs, baby !
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-zJNSdWT/0/XL/2015-05-06%20002%20003-XL.jpg)
I rode it around last spring a little, but really didn't get a lot of miles on it.
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/Mothers-Day-Ride-2015/i-R2W75Jv/0/X2/Mother%27s%20day%20ride%202015%20003-X2.jpg)
Come Memorial Day weekend, I rode up to Dunlap TN with Chitza and Argh Go to "The Chickenshit Rally". Actually, it was "the Great Chicken Rally" put on by the local BMW club, but mostly it reminded my why I don't spend much time with other BMW owners. But not for the reason I am about to relate.
We stopped for gas just over the TN line, and when we went to leave, I couldn't get the bike in first gear. I hunted around for one, finally got it in second, then back to first. Took off, rode about 20 miles to Dunlap, and when I downshifted to turn, it went to second, and stayed there. The lever would move, but nothing was engaging. Fortunately, it was all second gear riding to the rally site, so I at least made it there.
Beauty of a bike!
Mud baths are good for the complexion ... or so I've heard. :D
Nice to see The Bumbee Bee back! Yup on the rally assessment too.
Thanks Guys. Actually, I generally consider it the world's most butt ugly bike, but it does do it's job well.
Back to the story...
So now it's Friday night and I am in Dunlap TN with a bike that is stuck in 2nd gear. I call my wife to see if she can hook up the trailer and come rescue my ass, while wondering what this gonna cost me ;)
She has plans in the morning, but will think about coming up Saturday afternoon.
While sitting around with a few beers in the evening, one of my kayaking and riding friends shows up trailering his F650GS and his kayak on the roof. He plans to ride the offroad ride the next day, then meet some friends to go kayaking Sunday and Monday. He offers to let me take his truck into town while he is riding if I need to go get beer or anything. After a couple minutes of thought, I ask if I could trailer my bike back home and return with another. I figure it will take me 6-7 hours round trip, he may not even be back from the ride by then. Rundell agrees and in the morning I take back the broken GS and return with my Ducati ST2, a full tank of gas in the truck, and a case of beer for Rundell.
Sunday I have a nice ride looping north into central TN and then back home.
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/The-Chickenshit-Rally-2015/i-4Qv2Rmn/0/XL/The%20Chicken%20Shit%20Rally%202015%20005-XL.jpg)
The bike gets shoved in the corner of the garage while other projects take priority, such as preparing 2 Nortons for the International Norton Owners Rally in Asheville NC in July (another future thread).
Then it's kayaking the Ocoee to whip my ass in shape to paddle the Gauley and Upper Yough rivers in September for 9 days straight of class V whitewater.
Finally, week before last I pulled the transmission out.
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-WHf8Fn6/0/XL/R100GS%20002-XL.jpg)
I was pretty sure it was a simple fix, probably a broken spring in the shifter mechanism.
Trans on the bench;
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-sLHjhj5/0/XL/R100GS%20005-XL.jpg)
Back cover off;
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-6XQr3pF/0/XL/R100GS%20006-XL.jpg)
(http://www.maxbmwmotorcycles.com/fiche/Diagrams/B0000522.png?v=07012015)
What broke was #7, the spring holds the shift pawl #8 up against the shift cam #9 and engages some pins to push it around and change gears.
Looks easy enough to get to .... ::)
I had already ordered gaskets and seals.
And I had another transmission in parts up in the attic.
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-FM6NpXb/0/XL/R100GS%20011-XL.jpg)
These two bolts hold the shifter mechanism in place;
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-xtJ6Skc/0/XL/R100GS%20009-XL.jpg)
And this is a whole assembly, rather than tear it apart, I just dropped it in;
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-4fMxTTX/0/XL/R100GS%20010-XL.jpg)
Trans back in, driveshaft in swing arm, everything is back togeather except for the most frustrating part, putting the four bolts in that attaches the driveshaft to the output flange on the back of the trans;
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-98qVb5M/0/XL/R100GS%20019-XL.jpg)
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-5GjMRjG/0/XL/R100GS%20020-XL.jpg)
Then a test ride;
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-wdQfWv3/0/XL/r100gs%20021-XL.jpg)
While it was apart, a friend up in KY sent me a new brake caliper. He machines the tabs to center the caliper on the rotor, provides a SS line, and new pads. Greatly increases braking power.
Old;
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-BQsLjnR/0/XL/R100GS%20015-XL.jpg)
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-VBCgWvs/0/XL/R100GS%20016-XL.jpg)
Lottsa work but well worth it. Great idea on brakes too. Now you can do stoppies! Ok, maybe not.
Maybe when I hit a concrete wall the rear wheel will come off the ground. :)
OK, never mind about the stoppies then. :-\
Quote from: Argh Oh on October 15, 2015, 06:54:07 AM
Lottsa work but well worth it. Great idea on brakes too. Now you can do stoppies! Ok, maybe not.
For sure, the coolness factor is well worth the effort.
Last weekend, I gave the poor GS another mud bath,
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Cheaha-Ride-April-17-2016/i-VmfnPPH/0/XL/Cheaha%20Ride%20April%2017%202016%20016-XL.jpg)
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Cheaha-Ride-April-17-2016/i-XZnbPMJ/0/XL/Cheaha%20Ride%20April%2017%202016%20015-XL.jpg)
Rundell and I rode over to Sylacaga and then rode the Skyline Road north to Cheaha. I managed to crash in one of the mother of all mud puddles.
Last fall, we took a newbie rider, Larry, on his first off road ride. When we got to this puddle, I went down the center and only got wet up to the rims. Larry didn't do as well trying to go around;
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Ride-To-Cheaha-w-Larry-and/i-fXzXKBb/0/XL/Cheaha%20ride%20Oct%2017%202015%20005-XL.jpg)
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Ride-To-Cheaha-w-Larry-and/i-dsRMbXQ/0/XL/Cheaha%20ride%20Oct%2017%202015%20006-XL.jpg)
This time I got cocky, and tried the same thing. Well...after a winter of 4x4s going through there, the water was a little deeper. I got mid way through, the front wheel slid off the center to the left, and the rear wheel slid to the right, and I high sided bigger than s*%t! The bike ended up straddling the center berm, and the wheel tracks were now 3 feet deep. I was standing in the hole up to my waist trying to get the bike upright.
Rundel waded in and almost fell. As it was, he ended up with water going into the tops of his boots.
Once we got the bike upright and pushed out, I pulled the float bowls and dumped out all the water. The bike fired right up, but the right turn signal wouldn't turn off, and the headlight wouldn't turn on. We finished the ride and when I got home I pulled all the oil drain plugs. Only the final drive oil looked milky.
Later in the week, I started to investigate the electrical issues.
I couldn't get a decent picture, but the headlight was half full of water.
This is what happens when cold water hits a hot halagon bulb;
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Cheaha-Ride-April-17-2016/i-ttcSmVV/0/XL/norton%20tire%20an%20bmw%20damage%20004-XL.jpg)
And this is what the inside of the flasher relay looks like with mud in it;
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Cheaha-Ride-April-17-2016/i-SZM5xnV/0/XL/norton%20tire%20an%20bmw%20damage%20001-XL.jpg)
Here's the water in the headlight;
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Cheaha-Ride-April-17-2016/i-v7BBSq5/0/XL/GS%20water%20damage%20002-XL.jpg)
After I removed the bulb, I hooked up a piece of hose to my wet/dry shop vac with some duct tape and sucked it out though the hole;
(https://norton73.smugmug.com/Cheaha-Ride-April-17-2016/i-4zn3z6k/0/XL/GS%20water%20damage%20004-XL.jpg)
Worked pretty good. 8)
Been a while since I updated this.
While I had the bike apart from the crash, I decided to add a GPS mount, running lights, and a few other electric add one.
Rather than have a hundred wires running to the battery, I decided to add a fuse box.
First issue was where to put it. Looking under the tank, there's a tab with just a couple relays and just enough room.
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Cheaha-Ride-April-17-2016/i-HK3CsKM/0/09c071cf/X4/XT350%20and%20GS%20work%20Dec%202016%202016-12-26%20004-X4.jpg)
I made a bracket to hold the fuse box and relocate the wires.
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Cheaha-Ride-April-17-2016/i-nQQBPfQ/0/5e6445d1/X4/XT350%20and%20GS%20work%20Dec%202016%202016-12-26%20005-X4.jpg)
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Cheaha-Ride-April-17-2016/i-bN64vNw/0/e1329f54/X4/XT350%20and%20GS%20work%20Dec%202016%202016-12-26%20007-X4.jpg)
Running lights installed;
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-MVbttt3/0/791430b1/XL/R100GS%202017-04-09%20003-XL.jpg)
You can see the old SS brake line was too long, I ordered and installed a shorter one;
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-5Gbb2dZ/0/93c9d785/XL/R100GS%202017-04-09%20004-XL.jpg)
Steering head bearings were feeling a little notchy, time for new ones, also one of the fork seals was leaking;
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-LRcMX26/0/3fe136da/XL/R100GS%202017-04-09%20002-XL.jpg)
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-sDbTjs6/0/0f38b4e1/XL/R100GS%202017-04-08%20003-XL.jpg)
Protecting the instruments while the front end is apart;
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-2vSx6Cx/0/288d76bc/XL/R100GS%202017-04-08%20002-XL.jpg)
And while the wheel was off, I measured the brake rotor and discovered it was very close to minimum thickness;
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-stfXmnw/0/8c22acff/XL/R100GS%202017-04-09%20001-XL.jpg)
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/GS-Fender/i-7WbtHF9/0/ea91a46f/XL/R100GS%202017-04-08%20001-XL.jpg)