BMW R75/5 Rebuild Planning | Brook's Airhead Garage

Before starting a project and spending money, I try to take an inventory of the bike’s condition and develop a plan and budget. Usually, for a bike this old, I can plan on replacing everything that’s rubber, all the control cables, and renew all the filters. Since my wife has owned this bike since 1978 when I bought it for her as a wedding present, I have a pretty good idea of how it has been maintained and any major problems. Overall, the bike is in good condition for its 40-year age and 97,500 miles.

I took a number of pictures to document the “before” condition and to help with an initial parts list for the project. I also removed the front fender, gas tank and seat to get a better look at the frame and chrome to better see the condition.

This is the high-level work plan I came up with.

Replace all rubber parts
Remove all cables, tachometer and speedometer cables
Remove fairing
Remove tank, side covers and fenders
Rebuild petcocks and polish
Remove front wheel
Clean and polish front wheel
Grease front wheel bearings
Inspect brake shoes, replace if necessary
Rebuild front forks
Replace steering head bearings
Remove carburetors
Rebuild carburetors, clean and polish
Remove heads and cylinders, exhaust
Clean and polish exhaust header
Replace mufflers and cross over pipe
Bead blast heads, cylinders, valve covers
Rebuild heads with valves, seats, seals and springs
Replace piston rings and hone cylinder
Remove rear wheel
Clean and polish rear wheel and hub
Grease rear wheel bearings
Inspect brake shoes, replace if needed
Remove shocks
Clean and polish shocks
Remove battery box
Remove turn signals
Clean and polish turn signals
Remove rear frame
Remove rear drive
Remove transmission and clean
Grease drive shaft splines
Remove engine and clean
Remove all electrics
Remove wiring harness
Strip paint from frame, rear frame, rear drive, battery box, fairing bracket, handlebar controls
Powder coat frame, rear frame, rear drive, battery box, fairing bracket, handle bar controls
Strip faring paint, repair dings and replace chrome edging and windscreen gasket and wiring harness plug
Strip paint from fenders, tank, side covers
Paint fenders, tank, side covers, fairing
Reassemble frame, wiring harness and electrics
Mount engine and transmission in frame
Reassemble rear frame
Reassemble swing arm
Reassemble shocks
Reassemble battery box
Reassemble cylinders and heads
Reassemble carburetors
Reassemble exhaust and mufflers
reassemble handlebars and controls
Replace all control cables, speedometer and tachometer cables
Mount new tires and tubes
Assemble fenders
Replace battery
Assemble wheels
Assemble tank on frame