Head removal adventure

[AndyRR]

Finished the left side without incident. It was a good bit cleaner than the right. There were some bare patches on the piston, but there were also some very thick deposits in the valve cutouts. Here's one of the intake valves for comparison:



This was my first time doing a valve job. The valve compression tool (free) and this inexpensive tool (not sure what it's called - I found it in my garage) are the only specialty tools required for the job. You apply the valve grinding compound to the mating surfaces and attach this suction cup to the valve face and spin it like you are trying to start a fire with a stick. It cleans the seating surface and shows you exactly where the valve is mating with the seat. Simple and effective.



Total cost for this job was $90 for the two head gaskets and $40 for all the valve seals. If I hadn't F'd up with the seating of the throttle cable in it's ferrule, the total time would have been around 5-6 hours.

The results have been fantastic! Took it for a 200 mile test ride today. Before this repair I struggled to reach 100mph on flat ground. When I got there it pinged constantly and generally sounded like hell. Pretty much any acceleration under load would result in the nasty pinging. I had a Harley outrun me
Today I did everything that used to make it ping and couldn't get it to happen. Accelerated from 80 to 120mph in 6th gear going uphill without any bad noises. I could've gone faster, but I was nearing the top of the hill and couldn't see ahead. That was with both side cases and the top case all full of tools. I still haven't synced the TBs.

[CycleRob]

A few days ago I was PM'd by Andy with an interest to go for a ride, as he would be working near Atlanta for a few days. He rode his bike from Maryland to his Motel near Atlanta. That bike was his transportation. Well, we planned a Sunday ride to Topton NC and ride the great roads there and back, including the Tail-of-the-Dragon. A large pizza as payback for resolving the run-on-1-cylinder episode was in the plans. We met at the route 400 and 60 junction, then rode some excellent twisty mountain roads. Then when a car got between us, sometime later I noticed that Andy disappeared. I made a U-turn and there he was parked (in some nice old ladies driveway), bike on the side stand. He said something like "My splines just failed". Happened when he tried to pass that car. I was stunned, as we spoke about that problem just minutes ago. We then discussed plans A, B and C. All of them meant the ride was OVER, and Andy was about to take a big bit out of a poo sandwich. We were 46 miles from my house so picking it up with my truck was the cheapest, quickest solution. About 2.5 hours later it was where it is now, on my truck, in the garage. Andy took Ann & I out (in our car) for that long awaited pizza (2). He also stayed the night in our guest bedroom until the rent-a-car places open (closed Sunday). This Thursday, when his work tasks are over, we both go back to Maryland in my truck, bike in the back, hired very cheaply.

Oh yes, this is the SECOND input shaft on that bike!! It replaced a worn one that was about to fail. I have even more disgust for this unsupported failure that BMW is yet to rectify or acknowledge. Look for Andy's post after the dust settles.