BMW F650 funduro

As is fairly common, I'm starting this before I even have the bike in my possession...

The bike in question is a 1997 BMW F650 funduro!  It has 32k on the clock, and supposedly has been sitting for close to 20 years!  It's in really nice shape from the pictures I received, and come with the original top case.  It has the pannier racks, but no mention of cases for them.  Luckily it has been stored all this time in a climate controlled garage, so rust shouldn't be an issue.  Obviously all rubber bits, and fluids will be replaced, hoping to only need to clean/rebuild the carbs.  Anything else I should really be looking for?

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In reply to ddavidv :

I've been told that a couple of times.  Between my SWM super dual X and not this bike, I may have to.

Congratulations! That's a single like the G650GS I was playing with, right?

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/budget-adventure-bike-2009-bmw-g650gs/192442/page1/

In reply to Tom Suddard :

Yes, I believe what you had was the newer version of it.  650CC thumper Rotax engine.  I couldn't help but laugh at the first description I found for this bike.  "A BMW built by Aprilia with an Austrian Rotax engine"

I guess I can throw these in here.  These are the pics I received that made me decide to buy it.

Well this ended quickly.  A couple days before I was supposed to pick up/pay for the bike, the price over doubled.  I had to respectfully decline.  I'll just keep an eye out for something else.

In reply to de80q :

You were already in discussion with the seller and they jacked up the price? Wow. I bet they got a ton of interest and I bet the bike doesn't sell and he's sitting on it next year.

In reply to gunner (Forum Supporter) :

Apparently the owner(father of who I was talking to, and in a home) wasn't happy with the price.  His "counter offer" took me by surprise.

Ok, so here is the short now.  Shortly after Thanksgiving, the owner of the bike passed away.  Shortly there after I got a call saying if I still wanted the bike, it was mine as soon as the paperwork was ready, for the original price.  So on Friday, I picked it up.  Did an oil change(that was nasty after 20 years) and hooked up a jump pack to get it cranking.  It took a while, but the oil light finally went off, and it seemed happy.  The throttle is stuck, so I'll have to take that all apart, and it wouldn't fire off of gas, or either.  Now to take the carbs off, and make them right.

Oh!  And as a surprise! 

A nice little upgrade, and found out that it is lowered.  After I get it back on the road, I may look into putting it back up to it proper height.  I thought it seemed a little short...  At least it was done properly!  Lowering links, shorter side and center stand, and front fork pushed up 50mm above the top clamp.  

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Carbs are rebuilt, and installed.  I managed to brake the plastic choke cable retainer, so I ordered and installed an aluminum one.  Put everything back together with a nice fresh battery and it started up very easily!  Cranked maybe 3 times before firing off and running very smoothly!  I'm quite excited now!  I ordered the fork reseal kit, and will be ordering tires and tubes shortly.

Any reason (other than maybe rust) I should be concerned about the 20+ year old brake pads?

de80q said:

Carbs are rebuilt, and installed.  I managed to brake the plastic choke cable retainer, so I ordered and installed an aluminum one.  Put everything back together with a nice fresh battery and it started up very easily!  Cranked maybe 3 times before firing off and running very smoothly!  I'm quite excited now!  I ordered the fork reseal kit, and will be ordering tires and tubes shortly.

 

Any reason (other than maybe rust) I should be concerned about the 20+ year old brake pads?

There's only one way to find out!  Ha. 

Nice bike, should treat you well for a long time! 

We will see how I like it.  I'm used to a much taller bike.  This bike normally sits about 4" lower than my other bike, and this being a factory lowered bike, I think it's closer to 6" lower.  When I get it back on the road, if I don't like it, I'm sure I can find someone who will.

As for the brakes, I'm trying to figure out if I should go with organic pads, or sinthered pads.  This will actually be the first time I've ever had to put brakes on!

Carbs all fixed up and installed.  Bike fires easily And runs smoothly.  Hopefully this weekend I'll have the coolant changed, brake fluid changed and forks rebuilt.  Then it's just the waiting game on the tires.  Unfortunately, the front tire I ordered was out of stock, and back ordered until the end of March.  Oh well, time to make sure everything is right I guess.

Forks rebuilt, coolant changed, brake fluid changed and brake pads inspected.  The pads look to be nearly new, so I'll run those for now.  Back to waiting on the tires to show up.  I cleaned everything up and made it at least look good for sitting in the garage haha.

Well, as per the norm, something had to go wrong.

That used to be oil.  Apparently it's pretty common for the water pump seals to go bad, and put coolant into the gear box side of the engine.  So that's the next fix I guess.

Oh no!  Hopefully it's a pretty quick and maybe even fun job.  

In reply to jfryjfry :

It is fairly quick,  but not fun.  All coolant and oil has to be drained, then the whole side of the engine/transmission has to come off.  A new shaft, a couple of seals, and a gasket later, I should be back in business.  Then it will be tires and inspection.  

Fresh tires and tubes showed up Saturday!  Still waiting on water pump parts 

Removed the tires today, and will mount the new tires either tonight, or over the weekend.  The front came off fairly easy, but the rear was a PITA!  The 20 year old Battlax did not want o flex at all to come off!

In other news, I'm now fully convinced this bike had recently had a major service done shortly before being put away.  New brakes front and rear, new rear wheel bearings, new kush drive insert, new chain and sprockets and new tires!  The Ohlins rear shock looks pretty new as well.  The PO must have really loved this bike.

My son sold his last year. Had the water pump issue, and then the radiator split mid ride a long way from home and I had to go pick him up. He had to get parts from Germany which meant long periods without the bike over two summers so he sold it and bought a Honda. Nice bike though while it ran.

In reply to bearmtnmartin (Forum Supporter) :

I'm honestly not sure how long I'll hold onto this bike.  I have an SWM superdualX for my off pavement adventures, and was more looking for a road bike.  This kind of popped up for a price I couldn't refuse.  Hopefully water pump parts show up this week, then it will get registered and inspected.  We will see how I feel about it after that.

Everything has been back together for over almost 2 weeks, and I only have 1 drip from under the frame tube(my fault I'm sure).  I made a new water pump shaft out of 4140 chromoly, so hopefully it holds up for a while.  All new seals in the clutch cover and a new gasket to seal everything back up.  I've flushed the oil system a couple times, and all new coolant.  I need to change the oil/filter 1 more time, and it's ready to get it registered and inspected.  I'll handle the paperwork side of things when I return from the power plant in a couple weeks.  Looking forward to riding this not just around the block!

After being out of town for 3 weeks, I finally got this bike registered and inspected!  Seems to ride pretty smooth.  I'm not used to needing to rev the engine so high to get off the line, so that is something I'll have to get used to.