1986 R65 Cafe Racer project 'Death Racer'

Hello to all ... About a year ago i was on a solo trip around Europe and i had the pleasure of visiting the BMW Welt museum in Munich which blew me away. I knew i had to get my self an airhead so shortly after i got back, i went on the hunt for one. A 86 mono shock r65.... I rode it around and enjoyed it while also adding a few things to it but i always had the intention of doing a full strip down and cafe style rebuild.


So here i am. The plan is to go for a black, very black, very lean, very minimal style bike while keeping the strong presence of BMW. I plan to run an "over the head, under the tail" exhaust system that will exit through the cowl aswell as getting my expert paint and panel guy to smooth over and paint the frame. It will also run with the same acewell digital dash i was using. I am considering leaving the engine "as is" because it felt so good for the 10 months or so i rode it. I will try my luck. I am not fussed about huge speed or big power, just an airhead i can take onto a nice twisty road and i can not stress enough that this will not be a classic, elegant style cafe build even though i love them i am not trying for that with this bike.

I am about a week away from placing a huge order from motor works uk and ordering a rear shock which i am still undecided about (wilbers, ohlins, ebay special?)

A few new things i will be getting (just off the top of my head):
brake pipe
SS brake line
EBC rotor
EBC pads
master cyl (still undecided on 14mm or not)
clutch cable
complete clutch kit including fly wheel and clutch bolts
bing overhaul kits
bell mouth intakes
Left and right handlebar switch gear
engine sump extension kit
rear main seal
swing arm/front wheel bearing
surefoot side stand
plenty plenty more.....

I have also purchased a set of Tarozzi rear sets and bettery relocation kit, frame brace and air box block off plate from boxer metal.

I am very hands on and love to tinker with my bike but thats not to say this will not be a huge learning curve for me. I have purchased a haynes manual aswell as a bmw style manual and have a bing rebuild book coming also... I am sure i will have plenty of questions along the way and i encourage a healthy discussion with you all :)

Here is the machine when i purchased it. Pretty original and with only 50,000km, it ran great.


This was one of the last pictures i took and also about a week before i took it off the road to start work.


The rebuild... or should i say strip down has started!










So the plan is to get the engine out next and get the bike out onto the street and give it a good scrub (it got pretty dirty after the last trip). From then on i can start to look at what tabs i want to remove and start to grind and file the frame.... The main thing for me is that anything that is not required must go in order to obtain the look i am after... Old footpegs will be gone so i will remove the mounting lug on the frame. I also plan to trim back the original exhaust hangers and mount the rear sets into where the pillion pegs would normally sit. If needed, i will get the brackets welded for extra strength.

Ok you have started with a great base for this project.

I had a 82 R65 Dual shock. Did BMW ever import the Mono shock R65 into the US???

Thanks mate... They seem to be a good bike to work on, in terms or fasteners and just overall quality.

I think the mono was sent to the US but was not a strong seller. I am in Australia and not sure if they were sold new here (I highly doubt it) although this bike was imported from Japan and comes with the owners manual also in Japanese text.

unusual looking shed mate.... mean looking commodore sharing space with a coffee machine

Great looking project, how did the bike run with no mufflers? I started mine like that (r100rs mono) but never ran it on the road. I had an exhaust place make up some stainless pipes so I could ditch that rear crossover, added a little bit of a nicer note.

I will be watching with interest, I'm currently doing a two up cafe conversion on mine.... but with no major mods so It can go back to an RS one day.

Hmmm, purple/blue VL commodore with big exhaust...a big heap of skid tyres, a coffee machine, iphone and an airhead? You are one unique bloke.

I had a good laugh at the last reply! Thank you gents... I think.

The blue Holden in the back ground is actually a VK and it is a fairly rare (1 of 50) Brock Commodore. The car is a family members and i was doing some work to it such as running brake and fuel lines, carpet/seats, brakes and a few bits and bobs.. The car is of huge sentimental value to the owner and it also has 600 horse power to boot. It will be leaving the shed shortly and i should have some more space for the air head.

As for the coffee machine... By "trade" i am an espresso technician. A fancy name for fixing coffee machine. I have spent about 6 years doing it in which 2 of them were in a small town north of florence. I am not a funky, hip barista but an expert in espresso delivery and machine set up. I make baristas look good pretty much. The machine you see is an old Boema which i came across as just a frame. Sourced parts, acid cleaned boilers. new pump, new motor. For home, it is a great machine but suffers if you were to use it for high volume.

Hope this clears up a few things :)

Back on track.....

Engine out (harder than expected but easy once i took the gear box out ) I got the bike out on the street and gave it a good clean up to make it easier to work on... Inspection looks good so far, no dents, no cracks and nothing nasty.

Has anyone fitted the surefoot side stand? I would like some first hand records of peoples thoughts. Good, bad, briliant?? The one on now, even though was ok, average at best, just felt wrong.









From now, i will pull of the rear shock and front end to start working out exactly what i will be removing off the frame and start looking at rebuilding parts. Happy days!

So over the last few days I have been sorting out thing, cleaning things up and closely looking at the frame to see what will get smoothed out and what I will keep.

I also pulled the clutch apart for inspection and that was a little tough. 3 of the Allen head bolts felt like they were going to slip so I took evasive action.



I also had a go at rebuilding the brembo calliper. It went back together fine and will be re painted in black when I get closer to putting the bike back together.



The engine is out and somewhat cleaned up. I will be changing a few gaskets and adding the sump extension kit. The engine felt strong and had fairly low miles so it will be fine for now. Sadly it will not do the ton so ultimately I am just another poser.

You sir are a Loon! I like your style. I've just put an order thru to motobins to kick my R65 project a little more ahead.
Mine too is going to be black & lean with just a hint of 'devil may care'.

I love my bing book. Why are you going with the sump extension? looks?

I don't know how long that Brock Commodore would last in a garage over here. They were pretty sort after by thieves when I was a young fella. I spose now the bogans are more into lil jappa cars instead.

A loon???? Well, thank you for the fine compliment..

I think it would be a mix of looks and also for oil cooling/volume... If it was not for the super lean look then i would fit an oil cooler kit. I have seen the temp guage/dipsticks floating around on the net so i will pick one up and see how we go.

This website you speak of, is it any good mate? Also, any pictures or a link to your 65?

Yeah, i guess the Brock will always be a "wanted" car amongst scum. We ensure we kept it under cover most times and always keeping an eye out for any sus activity. The car will be leaving my place soon and going back to the owners house for completion...

Here's berlinas build. Don't expect to see any quality workmanship here.

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=794431

Good stuff mate! I will be keeping an eye in it!

I have some more updates...

I have gone over the frame and removed all of the bits I will not need and dummy mounted the rear sets to check the fit. In the end I pretty much removed everything including the old riders foot peg brackets, battery perch, seat lock and the bottom part of the engine mounting bracket that would normally locate the kick stand. Looking good!















* i will do a quick dry fit of the front and rear ends and then send the wheels away to be painted and new Pirelli Sport Demons to go on... Happy days!

subscribed, looking well.
What have you used for rearsets?

I'm fancying a R65 manx racer to go with superbeemer, but think i'll keep the frame and swingarm stock rather than all the chopping for the 2002 swingarm.

All the best

Cheers, man... I ended up buying the rear sets from "flat-racer" and the brand are Tarozzi. Finish seems great, light yet strong. All in all very good.

Yes, i have seen the super beemer and have spoken with Elliot over email a little bit. He is doing a great job with that bike and i do look forward to seeing the finished product. I contemplated doing the same style setup he did with the paralever rear and USD late model front but the cost would blow out and my budget is stretched to the limit already.

No matter what you do with the handling & styling it will only still have that 65 motor in it. If you want to start hotting that up you may as well get hold of a 1000 cc donk. Then of course you will want to start racing it & on it goes.

You have succeeded in fucking up a very nice original bike. Kinda like lots of people have done with Harleys. Its terrible.

Yeah I would like to be able to do the 1000cc but I think it is all my budget allows. I will be looking into it down the track for sure.

Thanks mate. You have indicated to me that you are extremely ignorant and stupid in your views.

How dare you compare my bike to a Harley and how dare you say I fucked it up. According to who your small, narrow minded, brick in the wall opinion? You are a no-body.... Just like me.

This is MY bike and I will do what ever i please to it because it is MY bike. If you like your bikes original, go to your shed, get your little tooth brush out and start cleaning your ride.

Don't come to my page and shit all over it with your silly comments.

Are we understood, sir?

Rims, spoilers and big mufflers do not a sports car make.



Motor, suspension, and brakes are far better things to waste money on.