I’ve bumped into a fellow, Dave Porter, in town who owns a bycycle shop (Arvada Bicycle Company) and who also has a business selling used, new and NOS Triumph parts and does Triumph restorations. It turns out, his son and my son have been friends throughout their school years.
Dave gave me a couple of leads on folks in the Denver area (one in Arvada) who do paint work. Today, I pulled the rear fender, side covers and tank off the Silver Ghost in preparation for getting some painting estimates.
The first step was to remove the tail light bracket & turn signal bracket along with the license plate holder
Next, I removed the four bolts that attach the fender to the subframe and carefully rotated the fender toward the rear around the tire. I kept all the bolts and steel straps on the rear subframe so I don’t loose them. I’ll be removing the subframe and replacing with a used one since the original subframe has cracked and broken through.
Last, I removed the gas tank and drained the fuel into a gas can. Remember that each pet cock has a reserve setting, so you have to drain the reserve fuel from each side. Then, with all the gas out, remove the pet cocks from the tank. The nut next to the tank takes a 24mm open end and pet cock body takes a 17 mm open end.
Here’s the end result. Total time was about 45 mins.
First, a quick update on the frame straightening. I got the Ghost back in December after dropping it off on Halloween. I was in South Africa most of November. As the fork tubes were bent and on back order, it took a few more weeks to get them and complete the front end work. Replaced parts included the upper and lower triple clamps, but fortunately, I secured a used lower clamp at $250 which was a good savings over the $460 retail.
Today, my youngest son, Branden, came over and he took apart the the top end with some instructions from me. I’ll take the parts over to BMW of Denver so Clem can check them out. I suspect the valve seats will need replacing and the valves lapped. I’ll also install new ring sets.
Here’s the sequence of steps Branden followed to take apart the top end.
Remove Carbs & Plugs
This is pretty straight forward. Removing the cables and the air tubes securing the carbs is simple. Remove the air tubes then detach the throttle and choke cables from the body. Branden is holding the carberator showing where the throttle and choke cables attach to on the back side of the carberator.
When Branden pulled the plugs, it was clear the right side (top plug in the picture) was running pretty lean. We’ll be doing a carb rebuild and will balance the carbs when we reassemble the bike. I tagged the plugs with the side they came from so I can keep track of things like this.
As Branden removed parts, we put the parts we are keeping in the garage in one box, and the parts to take to BMW of Denver in a second box. It’s good to label parts for which side they were on and take pictures during disassembly. You don’t know how long it will be before you put things back together and you will forget small details. Labels and pictures save a lot of time and mistakes.
Here’s the bike when Branden got the carbs and plumbing removed.
Remove Exhaust
We used the BMW supplied wrench to remove the exhaust nuts securing the headers to the heads. Since these nuts are cast aluminum, banging on them with a mallet is a great way to break them. The wrench ensures this won’t happen. Be careful fitting it to the nut and make sure its inserted all the way or you can break a fin on the nut. You can use a cheater tube on the end of the wrench to get them loose, or you can use a mallet on the wrench handle to get the nuts to loosen up. Then, you can spin them off by hand. Branden used the mallet.
Next Branden removed the bolts securing the muffler to the right exhaust hanger. I had installed an after market Lueftmeister 2 into 1 exhaust back in 1980. You have to remove the pipes from the right and left hangers if you have the standard exhaust. I’ll be installing the stock muffler and exhaust pipes on this rebuild. The Lueftmeister has a crack. so I’ll like scrape it or sell the headers on Ebay.
There are steel rings inside the exhaust nut that seal the exhaust pipe to the head. These nest into each other to create a seal preventing exhaust gas from blowing by the exhaust pipe. The outer ring is solid with a square profile and curved inside radius. The other ring is split and has a beveled profile. These fit together as shown. I taped them together the way they are assembled so we won’t have to think about how they go together when we reassemble the exhaust.
Here’s the bike with carberator and exhaust plumbing removed. We found we had to also remove the rear brake peddle to allow Branden to remove the exhaust.
Remove Valve Covers
There is a chrome nut in the center of the cover and also two small nuts behind the valve cover near the intake and exhaust pipes. You can see the stud on the cover here.
It’s a good idea to put a pan under the cover as oil will drip out from the bottom of the valve covers when they are removed. You can see the oil stream as Branden pulls the cover off.
Remove Cylinder Heads
The cylinder studs extend through the head and are used to secure the rocker arm assemble of the valve train. These are torqued in a cross-wise pattern, so I like to loosen them in a cross-wise pattern and then remove them.
The rocker arm assembly has two square steel blocks, pillow blocks, on top and bottom of the rocker arm assembly. There is also a shaft that the rocker arm rotates on. Inside the rocker arm are needle bearings. Branden has his thumb on the rocker arm. The pillow blocks are visible with the slot cut through one side and the shaft the rocker arm rotates on can be seen at the center of the pillow blocks. The nuts on the cylinder head studs have been loosened.
To avoid dropping various parts, its a good idea to pinch the pillow blocks as you slide the rocker assemble off the cylinder head studs. Branden is squeezing the pillow blocks together as he slides it off the cylinder studs.
Next Branden pulled the push rod out and labeled the parts showing the side, and if the rocker was the intake or the exhaust so we can assemble them correctly. Note that my push rods are not the standard steel ones. They are titanium racing rods. See Part 1 about how those got there 🙂
Branden then removed the nut that is above the spark plug hole. There is a second one on the bottom of the cylinder head directly beneath the top one. Although I haven’t dropped one into the spark plug hole, be cautious when removing it. If you do drop it inside the engine, no worries because in another minute, the heads come off anyway so you can retrieve the nut.
It’s time to remove the heads. There is a head gasket and sometimes the head does not want to slide back right away. Working it back and forth will loosen it enough for it to slide back. Be careful you don’t pull too hard, or when it comes loose, you can end up on your butt or drop the head. Be patient. It took Branden a couple of wiggles to get it loose.
Remove Cylinders
I like to position the pistons at top dead center before removing the cylinders. This leaves the connecting rod extended as you pull the cylinder back. I don’t want the rod to fall onto the engine case when the piston comes out of the cylinder, so once enough of the connecting rod is exposed, I stuff some shop rags between the connecting rod and the engine housing to support it. The base gasket can also be a bit stubborn, so you may have to rock the cylinder a bit to break it loose. Branden didn’t have that problem on either cylinder.
Gently pull the cylinder back and catch the piston with one hand and gently let it rest on the cylinder studs. It is a good idea to wrap it in some shop rags so you don’t harm the rings. We’re going to replace them, so we didn’t worry about that.
Once the cylinder is off, you can remove the head gasket.
And you can remove the push rod tube boots. I knew they were leaking, so likely they were split. As you can see, that’s the case.
Remove Pistons
To remove the pistons, there is a C-clip on each side of the wrist pin that has to be removed. There is a slot at the top of the wrist pin hole in the piston. Use an awl in the slot to pry the C-clip loose.
Branden is using the awl to pry one of the C-clips loose.
Now, we have to remove the wrist pin. You need a drift to help tap the pin out. I use an appropriate sized socket with an extension as the drift. Be careful that the diameter isn’t too large or too small. The socket should rest on the shoulder of the wrist pin. Use a rubber/plastic mallet and tap gently increasing the force a bit until the pin starts to slide out the other side. The mallet ensures you don’t ding the piston or rings should you miss hitting the drift.
We labeled the pistons and wrist pins so we know which is from the right and left cylinders. Here’s a picture of the pistons, wrist pins and tools used to remove the wrist pin.
We completed the top end disassembly in about 2 and 1/2 hours working at a leisurely pace.
Here’s the heads and cylinders after removal.
Next week, I’ll take the box of top end parts to Clem at BMW of Denver to inspect them and we’ll see what needs to be worked on or replaced. In the meantime, I’ll be looking for more parts on eBay, inspecting the stock exhaust that I had stashed back in 1980 when I put the Luftmeister 2 into 1 on to see if I need to replace some of the components. I also am on the hunt for a good local motorcycle paint shop. I’ve finalized the color to be R90/S smoke silver similar to what is on the Ghost now. However, that paint job was not done correctly, so I’ll be looking to get this one right.
We decided to take this vacation because Rochelle bid on and won a Safari in South Africa in March. I’ve wanted to do a motorcycle tour in South Africa, so we planned the trip to combine both a motorcycle tour and the safari.
The flight over goes from Denver to Chicago to London then Johannesburg and finally Richard’s Bay where we rent a car and drive to the game lodge which is about an hour north of Richard’s Bay. In total, we are spending about 3 and 1/2 weeks in South Africa. We managed to pack pretty light, a skill developed over the years of taking motorcycle vacations.
Luggage for a Month
We left Tuesday, November 3 about 12:35 pm Denver time to catch a shuttle to the airport. Our departure was set for 3:45 pm. We arrived on time in Chicago, waited about 2 hours, and boarded the flight to London at 9:00 pm. “Are we there yet” was Rochelle’s question as we got to the departure gate for the London flight. When I told her no, but she would have the great pleasure of my company sitting right next to her for the next 36 hours, well, her face just lit right up 🙂
Are We There Yet?
Only 36 More Hours To Go !!
We left about an hour late due to 2 issues with the plane, but arrived on time in London at 11:00 am on Wednesday, November 4.
Our layover in London was 7 hours, boarding the South Africa Airways flight at 6:00 pm. Rochelle took advantage of the comfortable sofa in the bar to catch a nap. A gent heading to Ireland took a couple of photos for documentation. He then asked to borrow my boarding pass so he could buy duty free cigarettes leaving me his passport and wallet. When he came back about 10 mins later, he offered to buy me a scotch, a Bells, which I had not had before. A friendly and generous gent indeed. Afterwards, I wondered if I should have been more cautious …
Rochelle Snoozing in Heathrow
I wandered around a bit finding a currency exchange to get South African Rand (a Rand is about $0.14). I got screwed however. It seems that since I was in the UK, and used US dollars, they first converted US dollars to British pounds, then converted British pounds to Rand. So, I got hit by 2 currency exchange rates plus fees. Lesson learned. Get the currency exchanged at my bank in advance of the trip for the best deal.
After boarding our fight to Cape Town, we settled in for the duration. I tried sleeping, but was only able to dose off and on until our arrival in Johannesburg. We cleared customs quickly and headed to our gate for the flight to Richard’s Bay. Rochelle was pretty tired by this point and took another nap in the lounge before we boarded our flight to Richard’s Bay.
Johannesburg Airport
Rochelle’s Nap in Johannesburg
When we arrived in Richard’s Bay, the first sight was a fire truck at the airport. Was there a subtle message there? 🙂
Fire Truck, Richard’s Bay Airport
Our Plane to Richard’s Bay
Rochelle was past tired at this point unable to keep her eyes open. I rented the car, got the luggage loaded and then put her in the left seat to sleep.
Rental Car Welcome
I was off on the road to Zulu Nyala game lodge, reading maps, shifting a manual transmission with the left hand, and at every intersection repeating to myself, “Drive left, look right”. After about an hour of driving on the left side of the road (speeds were 100 to 120 kph or about 60 – 75 mph), the last 20 km on dirt and gravel roads, we arrived at the game lodge and checked in. Total transit time was about 40 hours, door to door.
Back Road to Zulu Nyala Reserve
Game Lodge Entrance
Rochelle went to the room and to bed. I stayed up and went out on the afternoon safari with our guide, Kyle, at 4:00 pm meeting the other friends of Rochelle’s from Denver who were joining us for the safari. I finally got to bed that night about 48 hours after leaving the house in Denver. I slept quite well 🙂
Saturday, I rode the Siilver Ghost to BMW of Denver to get the steering head and frame straightened and the fork tubes inspected. I’m pretty sure the tubes will get replaced. As I noted in the previous post, I had stripped the bike of the fairing, front fender and rear luggage rack.
The ride down caught my fancy and here is a write up. I hadn’t ridden the Ghost without the faring in a long time. I’ll look to get the Ghost back at the end of November.
Here’s the view in the driveway before we left.
“Naked”
103,322 Original Owner Miles
Rear – Clean Shaven
Dog’s Eye View
Crack repair in Luftmeister 2-into-1 pipe … Stock pipes going back on.
That got your attention, didn’t it. I suspect the visual of me getting nude on Halloween (or any time) sorta catches in your throat, don’t it?
Well, there were two getting nude on Halloween items today. The first was an article in the Saturday Wall Street Journal about Boulder’s Naked Pumpkin Run, and the Police Chief ‘s decision to halt it this year.
Image By Wall Street Journal – Naked Pumpkin Runner Costume
Seems the Chief believes this kind of event, which attracted about 150 hardy souls last year, threatens the law in the city of Boulder. A local lawyer summed up the reaction from those who for the past 10 years put this in the “just a Boulder thing” category, “It kind of reminds me of what’s happening in Tehran”. Even for me, who lives near by, but hasn’t actually applied for citizenship in the Peoples Republic of Boulder, the Police Chief’s action strikes a discordant note. Boulder was known as a city of free spirits, all things Bohemian, and a certain “let it all hang out” attitude, if you will. What happened?
I told my wife that I’ve felt the change in the Boulder culture over the years. I can’t put my finger on it exactly, but the immigrant population from the west coast that invaded in the 1980s and 90s, increased the BMW car population by 1000%, drove housing prices to astronomical levels, and brought a certain “Its all about me” mind set. I think they also brought a certain “fear and loathing” of all things different from their ideas of “normal”. Fear destroys a sense of humor and the ability to just shrug your shoulders and move on when confronted by “not my thing” behavior. As the DA put it, “A lot of times, ‘he says with a sigh’, these people are just being idiots.” (I think he is a native, and that was a legal shoulder shrug of dismissal). The local head of the Boulder ACLU office said, “…(the naked pumpkin run) seems somewhat quixotic, but our Bill of Rights does not judge the content of free expression.”
So, if the Chief, or one of the 40 officers and two SWAT teams he has assigned to be on patrol near the traditional 4 block site of the run at 11:00 pm, arrests a Naked Pumpkin runner, they will end up being registered as a sex offender. Does it strike anyone else that’s an excessive reaction to stupid college student tricks? Convincing evidence of being a moron maybe, but not something that requires being a registered sex offender.
Now, the second “going naked” event on Halloween involved me riding naked from my house to BMW of Denver on the Grey Ghost, my 1975 R75/6. I mean I did have my bright yellow Big Bird Aerostich riding suit on, (I believe in ATGATT- All The Gear, All The Time) so it wasn’t a Lady Godiva (or Sir Godiva in my case) sorta ride. In fact, I had all my clothes on underneath my riding suit as well. It wasn’t me who was naked, you see, it was the Grey Ghost. I was taking it to get the steering head and frame straightened as part of the restoration project, so no faring, no front fender, no bags, no luggage rack, the Ghost was totally naked. (Do the statutes for registered sex offenders extend to motocycles?)
Silver Ghost – 1975 BMW R75/6 Buck Naked
I haven’t ridden the Ghost naked since I put a fairing on it the first winter I rode it in Denver. Prior to the Ghost, I always rode naked. Putting the faring on it was a bit frightening. I wasn’t used to looking down and not seeing the front wheel and the street flowing by. It was spooky. But, riding around in Denver all winter, it was a lot warmer and I got used to the “barn door dashboard” in front of me.
As I wheeled it out into the driveway to take some pictures, it looked very small and vulnerable, almost scooter like. As I rode up the hill heading out to the main drag and ultimately the 20 mile ride on Interstate highways to the dealer, I noticed the differences.
First, there is nothing between my eye balls and the road in front. No barrier other than the shield on the full face helmet I’m wearing. I can’t see anything that is motorcycle. I can hear it and feel it, but visually, it isn’t there. I flash back to the teenager feelings of riding naked. You get the sensation that you are flying 3 feet off the ground on a magic carpet which does your bidding. It’s kind of a giddy feeling.
The next thing I notice is the sound. The wind is whistling around the face shield and the exhaust note is more muffled. The valve sounds are playing percussion to the piccolo notes of the wind. Cool. A full symphony of sound.
I also feel the force of my speed. You don’t get any wind with a faring between you and the air, but riding a naked bike, you not only sense your speed by the sound of the exhaust, the twist of your right wrist and the increased rush of the scenery going by, you feel the increassed force of an unseen hand pushing on your chest, arms and head, the force of your speed.
And then there’s the water. It snowed, a lot, two days ago. We got about 24 inches. Today it’s in the 40’s and the snow is melting everywhere creating little rivers, puddles and occasional ponds in the road. As I cross these, I can feel the watery mist coming in through the vents around the face shield and on my neck. The face shield gets coated in mist and mud. I remember I have a rubber wiper on the left thumb of my glove which I rarely use. It’s purpose is now very clear. It’s an essential component for seeing on a naked bike even on a sunny day like today.
As I get up on the interstate and accelerate, the rhythmic booming of the exhaust mixes with wood wind notes of the face shield. It’s a different sound and a more intense sense of velocity than I get with a fairing. Now at 75 MPH the sense of flying as a bird does takes over. I can swoop and dive like any bird, if only in two dimensions. It’s very liberating. It’s like the dreams we have where we suddenly realize we can fly. We swoop and dive, in and out, over towns, down streets, with total freedom. The grey ghost , unseen but felt and heard, lets me fly above the freeway. What a gas.
Running down the street at 11:00 pm, in the dark, with a pumpkin on your head buck naked is … not my cup of tea. But, flying on top of the buck naked Grey Ghost at 11:00 am doing 75 MPH down the freeway dodging water puddles and ponds is. To each their own bit of Bohemia revelry. Live and let live.
