I realized I didn't have a write up on my 1983 BMW R80 and figured this might be a good place to put one! As a project, I have to admit I'm not sure if it'll ever be "finished" but here is the story of how it got from where it was to where it is now.
In 2017, right after tax season, I blew all of my return on this 1983 BMW R80. A little left over birthday money too if i'm going to be honest... Knowing nothing about motorcycles, my goal was to build a cafe racer.
The first thing I had to do was get rid of the awful faux-carbon stripe. Who ever had put it on had the paint applied around it. Leaving a small lip between the bare metal and paint. Nothing a little sanding couldn't fix though. After that, a small layer of black vinyl was laid down and cut to the contour of the tank itself to minimize it being noticed.
Next step was to tidy up the rear end.
The rear subframe, lights, rear shocks, and battery tray were the first to go. A new subframe was made and shaped to perfectly fit a seat made by Tuffside. The battery was relocated under the transmission. A pair of shorter satin black mufflers were slipped on. A single round LED taillight now sits at the end of the bike and two Koni shocks sit on both sides of the subframe. All done by my friend Jake over at Flying Dutchman Industries.
Moving on to the front end, I cut the headlight bracket to make room for a set of new Woodcraft clip ons and some Vans/Cult grips.
After cutting the headlight bracket, it lowered the headlight enough to make contact with the lower triple clamp and pointed it into the sky. Which isn't very ideal for safety or visually appealing.
To get a smaller headlight was my first thought but I soon realized the brains of the entire electrical system was nested in the old one. So... I decided to not only get a new headlight but to just to rewire the entire bike.
To start, I wanted to remove all of current wiring and just start from scratch.
I started with placing a MotoGadget M-Unit under the tank and routing the wires from there. At the same time, I installed an upgraded stator and a rectifier that allowed for lithium batteries.
During the rewire I also cleaned up the bars. All of the OEM components went to the trash but were replaced with their slimmer Magura counterpart which is who originally manufactured for the OEM parts for BMW. Since I removed the choke lever from the left handlebar, it was replaced by small individual choke pulls on each carb themselves. To hold the headlight in place I snagged a set of headlight brackets with the BMW Insignia made by Speed Moto Co. Last but not least, I got a set of billet top nuts to clean everything up just that much more.
Next was paint. My two requirements was it to be green and be an OEM color. I ended up with BMW's deep green metallic.
Since owning the bike, I always had a suspicion that the front brake lines were deteriorating and braking apart from the inside. At times one would get clogged and cause one of the calipers to not release. So I replaced the brake hose junction and all the lines. Replacing the rubber lines with steel braided ones
Immediately after I realized the front end had a couple eyesore surrounding the fresh brake lines. My faded calipers, bruised fork lowers, and battered lower triple. Without even riding it yet it all came back apart so they could be sand blasted and powder coated.
Though there is always more I'd like to do, that will be for another blog post. As for right now I think i'll just ride and enjoy it.