Thread: BMW motorcycle
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Old Posted: 15-01-2009 , 12:12 PM #16
Costellon
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Galway
Posts: 107
Default Bmw

Thanks to all of you yet again for your kind words. In answer to Marathon man, the previous owner pretty much gave it to me and I don't really think that he thought that I would do anything with it. He threw it against the hedge when the gearbox "went" on it and time raced by and eventually it became part of the hedge. The problem turned out to be gearbox output shaft bearings (€24 not including my labour) and the engine was barely run in at only 34k miles. I knew it was a perfect engine when I fired it up within an hour of de-hedging it and six weeks later I drove up to his place of work to give him a spin, which he duly enjoyed in total disbelief (checking the engine and frame numbers). This was my fifth BMW restoration and so I had already fabricated many specialized tools, knew the bike inside out and already had some spares to cut down on the overall cost of the project. Unfortunately I had to sell it recently to free up some money (broke my heart) and made about €200 profit in total (not including labour, 6 weeks !) but a project such as this is not about profit, it's the rewards bestowed upon you both aesthetically and in the many sensory treats ensued therein (sound of the engine running beautifully, feel of the machine on the road (ride quality) and of course the general experience of thundering through the Connemeara mountains on a machine that would otherwise have surely been scrapped and made into paperclips or coke tins - that is now ready to circle the globe for the next twenty years or so, solely due to your own blood sweat and tears). This was my 53rd restoration project and i'm hungry for more.

Thanks again to you all - any other hidden classic "wheeled" treasures out there in need of TLC ???????????

Re-use when possible, recycle when necessary and always re-invent !

To quote Antoine de Saint-Exupery, "A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral."
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