Photo Gallery of my Airhead project bike: a 1974 BMW R90/6
I inherited this bike from my late Father in January 2011. It is in good to excellent mechanical condition but a little rough aesthetically. My project strategy is to get it back to safe and reliable condition first and then focus on the aesthetics. The over all goal is to enjoy local rides in the Upstate SC. It will stay in the family and is not for sale.
Records I found indicate it had 4793 miles in 1991. When my Dad purchased it in 1997 for $2615 it had 53,800 miles. When I got it, the odometer showed 64,000+ miles. My Dad rode it locally in Greenwood SC and trailer-ed it to Daytona Beach and some BMW Motorcycle Rally's in the Southeast. I estimated he rode no more than 10,000 miles in the 14 years he owned it. As he aged he rode it less and less. He put one set of tires on it.
As with many of these classic BMW's, the instrument cluster was in rough condition (brittle plastic) and the odometer and trip meter do not work. During my rides, I observed the odometer actually running backwards! I replaced the instrument cluster with a reconditioned one I found at Recycle BMW Parts. http://www.re-psycle.com/
At one time in its history the bike was fitted with a large touring fairing and was used to tour the US between 1991 and 1997. The fairing had its own wiring and turn signals. My Dad removed the fairing and returned the wiring for the ignition switch and front lights to its original configurations. The ignition key does not match the fork lock or the seat lock, leading me to believe the ignition switch used with the fairing was not original. I have replaced the main wiring harness and the engine wiring harness. All wiring is currently sound.
I add pictures as progress is made.
The items I have completed thus far are:
Replace main wiring harness
Replace main engine harness
Replace air filer housing cover
Replace tool box
Change oil in front forks
Replace rear shocks
Replace instrument cluster
Replace front turn signals
Replace fork boots
Remove large clear fairing and install smaller clear fairing (helps with aerodynamics)
Clean gas tank, petcock filters and replace inline gas filters (2).
New tires
Replace Speedometer cable
Replace rubber cable caps throughout
Carbs cleaned and balanced
Valve adjustments checked and validated
Installed large volume Touring tank, purchased off of eBay.
Replace gas cap gasket
Installed San Jose Fork Brace, purchased from Brad Phillips in Greer, SC
Installed Corbin Canyon dual sport /6 seat.