SS50 twins

This weekend I went to a honda 4stroke meeting to run in the ss50 motorcycle, did about 250km and it performed better and better. It is now back at the workshop so I can do some maintenance, but when I switched it for my moped again, I made some pictures of the two of them together. The smallest one is the motorcycle.

BMW stripdown

Today is the start of my one week vacation, time to take apart the BMW and check everything before I start riding.


At the end of the day, even the front forks were taken out.

Went to the local BMW shop to get some small parts, where we also found some used fork rubbers, will make the bike a bit more sporty, and ready for a top-fairing that I would like to put on in the future.

Big sump my dad had laying around, will add to the caferacer looks.


A big difference to what I am used to, NOS SS50 alloy cylinder next to an R90 cylinder, and the R90 has two of them.

BMW

I have been looking for a larger motorcycle for a while now, for daily use, but a classic with caferacer potential, usefull around town but also on highways. As I grew up between BMW's and Honda's I was thinking about bikes as the CB750k, BMW R75 or larger.
My dad has been riding BMW's for most of his life, he advised me to get a BMW because of maintance, parts, resale value and usefulness.
The boxer engine always appealed to me, as it is different from everything else on the road. I remembered a cool BMW caferacer from the Joe-bar comics, the JBT-interceptor and decided I wanted to build something like that. To start with I was looking for a complete running bike with some key features;
-750cc+
-double disc brake with early calipers
-wire wheels
And not too expensive as my budget is limited and keeping in mind the changes into a caferacer, like a tophalf fairing, narrow fenders, sporty seat and maybe a 4LS front brake if I couldn't find anything with twin discs.

Last week I found a nice bike on the internet with potential, not completely original, but a real classic, an R90/6 from 1974. It had the alloy blinkers, twin discs, early calipers and had recently had new tyres and battery.
Today we went to have a look at it, and as we (read: my dad) were satisfied with the state of the bike and performance on the testride, I bought it.

At home we found the front axle wasn't clamped in the forklegs, and some other small points of attention, so before I will start riding, we will give it a full service to be safe. And maybe the first modifications, as I allready have a nice cafe-style front fender. But I now have my first real motorcycle.

glass blasting

Today's work; degreasing and glassbeadblasting the casings, to prevent glass from getting in the engine later, all the threaded holes are plugged with old bolts.
Before:

After:

Nice details from under the dirt.

Progress at the end of the day.

taking apart the 90 engine

Over the last few days I've been taking apart the S90 engine Ralph gave to me.

Piston is dirty and cilinder looks a bit shabby, but I won't be using those for this engine, will be cleaned and preserved as spare parts.

All taken apart, no real disturbing finds, just an old engine that has regular wear. I think the center casings had never before been taken apart as they were stuck together as if they were glued.

Only weird thing was a broken gear shift drum, the missing piece has not been found yet, a previous owner probably took it out.

mkII Golf lowrider

My daily transport for the longer trips is a 4wheeler, Not a Honda TRX, but a car and not even a Honda.
It was a present from my dad when I got my driving license about 2.5 years ago, he had this car in his backyard for a while before I got it.
It is a 1986 mkII Golf C, the most basic form there is, luckaly it is the 1.6L and not the 1.3L, so it has a little bit of power in it.
Since I had it, I have changed the wheels from 13" steel rims to 15" alloy BBS (original VW) and I found a rev-counter someday that has been mounted on top of the dashboard, as the Golf C doesn't have one as standard, it has a clock instead. Further changes are not significant, but were needed for the yearly technical inspections (APK). This years check was coming up so I had to change the rear shocks as that was a point of attention last year, and also because it was so completely rotten on the right rear that in winter water would get in and freeze, giving me absolutely no suspension.
Instead of just changing the rear shocks, I chose to get a full adjustable lowering kit, step one to making a cool looking Golf. Although I do like my Honda's more so I don't have a lot of plans for the Golf as I can only spend my money once.

Some picture's of today's work, with many thanks to C. de Vos, who is a racing-friend who ownes a garage. He did most of the work installing the lowering kit.
BEFORE:

Just about 22cm to the spoiler.

First try, the rear looks nice, but the front is a little low, we do have a lot of speedbumps here in Holland.

AFTER:

Just under 14cm to the spoiler.

Lowered almost 9cm.
Didn't think it would turn out that much, but I like it.
The rear is lowered almost 4cm, but that was compared to my old rotten shocks.
Handles like a go-kart now, lots of fun at the roundabouts, but most of the comfort has gone.