and then ... 1976 BMW R75/6

Don't even wait for that spot to grow cold. Time to get the next one on the lift.
Rebuild master cylinder, replace fork seals, dump the ATF out of the forks and put real fork oil in, replace the steering stem bearings, renew fluids, grease the final drive spline, for starters

Slimey Crud Run sighting

This was the first Slimey Crud Cafe Racer Run that I have ever attended. As soon as I pulled up in the parking lot at the Red Mouse in Pine Bluff WI this is the first bike that caught my eye!! bwahaha. The new owner drove over from Madison after fixing a defective starter relay.

Ship it out

Sold!! I had an offer from a guy in Madison that I really liked. He offered me cash plus his 1975 R60/6 in a box. I will elaborate on the R60 later but I thought that this was a really cool deal in that I had boxes of parts a couple of weeks ago and then I put it all together and now I have the cash that I need so badly and I have boxes of parts too! Well, my enthusiasm will be crushed later but today is a good day.

Wrap it up

Installing the instrument cluster, the headlight, adding fluids, adjusting things, double checking nuts and bolts, . . . . . finishing touches. I have video that is dated April 18 that is of the first start-up and alley test ride but I was still finishing things like wiring and such up until this day.

I had an issue with the shock absorbers; they would collapse as I was riding until the fender was into the tire. When I parked it they would slowly extend. This is not good. I swapped them out with a used pair that worked a little better.

Upgrade instrument cluster

This bike came without any speedo or tach; no instrument cluster at all. Way back when we located and won an eBay unit from Germany. This is a newer type with an electronic tach instead of the mechanical cable driven one. That is not a problem; it can be converted easily enough. What I didn't think about was the way that the indicating lights had been rearranged, both physically and electrically. At first I thought that I would just rewire it in the headlight shell. Nope, the plug from the instrument cluster goes straight into the main wiring harness. I cut the cable about a foot down from the plug and rewired it there by solder splicing them back together. That worked nicely.


Then I ran a separate wire the ended outside the cluster in an automotive connector. I hooked this up to a wire that I ran to the points wire on the coils. Now I have an electronic tach.

Initial start up

Off the stand

What is this? Competition??


It was really easy for me to put this frame on the stand all by myself but it is much heavier now. Had to use the hoist to lower it off the stand. I am such a wimp.

So now I can get the header, muffler and foot controls on.
Also, notice that Paul painted the "R75/6" badge on the starter cover. That made a big difference in blending the black to aluminum.