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Tall man, shaped like giraffe, looking for advice.

17K views 57 replies 8 participants last post by  TrialsRider 
#1 ·
Been reading through threads and figured someone (Geeto??) might be able to answer this question. I'm 6'6", 190lbs, 36" inseam. I have been searching for awhile (especially after reading the thread where a few members suggested larger bikes for another forum member), and wanted to ask - any thoughts on a BMW R100R or a Honda CX550? Would either suit someone tall or I am better off sticking to the list below that Geeto posted years ago? I love the look of the BMW tanks and boxer style airheads, but are they large enough for me? This was Geeto's list:


cb750/900/1100F (F model supersports only! no K,L or C bikes)
KZ900/1000/Z1R (again no LTDs or any other chopper looking crap)
GS750/1000/1100 (no G models - basically if it looks like a factory chopper stay away - you want bench seats)
Any tonti framed guzzi (lemans, T3, 1000s, etc)
860GT and GTS ducati
GPZ900/1100 (think top gun)
VF1000F or VF1000R (even the 750 is ok, no 500s though)
1986-87 ZX1000R ninja (750 is ok if you can find one)
1986-87 GSXR1100 (750 is ok if you can afford one)
 
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#7 ·
Used?
The K series is nice, a little more compact but better for high speed long distance travel, can be had second hand for reasonable $ and still have great reliability, best rider aerodynamics available. Down side is they are a little light on front brake, hard to source good tires and the speedometer probably has not worked in a decade.
 
#8 · (Edited)
It's not a comprehensive list by any means, It's just that I have personal experience with all the bikes on that list, and I am a taller guy at 6'5 and 34" inseam. I'll be honest, though, I've owned and ridden smaller bikes like Cj360T, cb450, vespa T5, multiple honda dream 305's, Nortons, etc... and I fit fine enough to ride them in stock trim but if I had to look at myself riding one I'm sure I'd feel like a bear riding a tricycle, in fact that is why I have bought 3 different dreams - I love they way they look and ride, but everytime I ride one into town I feel like I'm pushing a moped. Those smaller bikes though, once you put a small seat, rearsets, and clipons on them, they can get pretty uncomfortable, which is why if you want to ride a sporting bike, the list you found is a good starting place. I am surprised I don't have airhead bmw's on there, but it's probably because I didn't have one at the time and now I do - although to be fair I do hate my airhead's current riding position because it has a corbin seat on it and it's just too low without rearsets, if it had the stock seat I might feel different because I could slide back in the seat a little, but the corbin has me locked in a little too forward. I may try one of those vietnam flat seats just to see if it fits better when I can slide back.

Don't rule out new bikes too, I go to dealerships all the time and just sit on motorcycles to see how they fit. I love V7 guzzi's but they are almost a solo bike for me because of how far I have to sit back on the seat. I loved the SCR950 (the bolt based scrambler) but hate the bolt because of the low seat. Speaking of Yamaha, V-max is a can't go wrong muscle bike, but the XSR900 fits me like a glove - a little tight but the right kind of tight. I love the way the new sportster roadster looks but I can't even stand to sit on one on the showroom floor, yet the Sporty Seventy-Two fits pretty well, esp with forward controls. I love the new Z900RS and Z900RS cafe and they fit great, but I can't ride the new ZX10R because I get hip cramps right off the bat. Triumph's Thruxton R fits so great I am thinking about buying one to match my Ducati Sport 1000, and most of everything in their bonneville line is great but I literally can't ride the Bonneville bobber because it hurts my back and it's uncomfortable to turn the bars while sitting like a dog trying to shit on the carpet.

It helps to fill out your location, because if you were close to me in Cbus, I'd say meet me at Iron Pony and we would just go through and sit on a dozen or so bikes just to get a feel for what you like and should like. If this is your first bike, there is nothing wrong with financing a new or newish used bike and riding that. It sounds all badass and heroic to be "tinkering" and riding, but really I am most happy when my bikes work and I can ride them and less so when they are broken. For tall guys where motorcycling presents some limited options It's nice to get out on a bike that works and to discover what you like about the hobby. A lot of tall guys I know get into adventure touring because those are tall heavy bikes and they can kind of do it all (although not all well) which lets you take trips, do some light off roading, lean it over hard in a turn, and basically get a sample of what the hobby has to offer before diving into having a sport bike or chopper, or an old nail you are restoring.


TL;DR version: the point is to sit on as many bikes as possible to see what you like and how you feel. Also talk to other tall riders to see what they like. This way when you go to look at an old bike you can get a feel for how you are going to like it.
 
#12 ·
It's not a comprehensive list by any means, It's just that I have personal experience with all the bikes on that list, and I am a taller guy at 6'5 and 34" inseam. I'll be honest, though, I've owned and ridden smaller bikes like Cj360T, cb450, vespa T5, multiple honda dream 305's, Nortons, etc... and I fit fine enough to ride them in stock trim but if I had to look at myself riding one I'm sure I'd feel like a bear riding a tricycle, in fact that is why I have bought 3 different dreams - I love they way they look and ride, but everytime I ride one into town I feel like I'm pushing a moped. Those smaller bikes though, once you put a small seat, rearsets, and clipons on them, they can get pretty uncomfortable, which is why if you want to ride a sporting bike, the list you found is a good starting place. I am surprised I don't have airhead bmw's on there, but it's probably because I didn't have one at the time and now I do - although to be fair I do hate my airhead's current riding position because it has a corbin seat on it and it's just too low without rearsets, if it had the stock seat I might feel different because I could slide back in the seat a little, but the corbin has me locked in a little too forward. I may try one of those vietnam flat seats just to see if it fits better when I can slide back.

Don't rule out new bikes too, I go to dealerships all the time and just sit on motorcycles to see how they fit. I love V7 guzzi's but they are almost a solo bike for me because of how far I have to sit back on the seat. I loved the SCR950 (the bolt based scrambler) but hate the bolt because of the low seat. Speaking of Yamaha, V-max is a can't go wrong muscle bike, but the XSR900 fits me like a glove - a little tight but the right kind of tight. I love the way the new sportster roadster looks but I can't even stand to sit on one on the showroom floor, yet the Sporty Seventy-Two fits pretty well, esp with forward controls. I love the new Z900RS and Z900RS cafe and they fit great, but I can't ride the new ZX10R because I get hip cramps right off the bat. Triumph's Thruxton R fits so great I am thinking about buying one to match my Ducati Sport 1000, and most of everything in their bonneville line is great but I literally can't ride the Bonneville bobber because it hurts my back and it's uncomfortable to turn the bars while sitting like a dog trying to shit on the carpet.




It helps to fill out your location, because if you were close to me in Cbus, I'd say meet me at Iron Pony and we would just go through and sit on a dozen or so bikes just to get a feel for what you like and should like. If this is your first bike, there is nothing wrong with financing a new or newish used bike and riding that. It sounds all badass and heroic to be "tinkering" and riding, but really I am most happy when my bikes work and I can ride them and less so when they are broken. For tall guys where motorcycling presents some limited options It's nice to get out on a bike that works and to discover what you like about the hobby. A lot of tall guys I know get into adventure touring because those are tall heavy bikes and they can kind of do it all (although not all well) which lets you take trips, do some light off roading, lean it over hard in a turn, and basically get a sample of what the hobby has to offer before diving into having a sport bike or chopper, or an old nail you are restoring.


TL;DR version: the point is to sit on as many bikes as possible to see what you like and how you feel. Also talk to other tall riders to see what they like. This way when you go to look at an old bike you can get a feel for how you are going to like it.

Many thanks Geeto for all the info and taking the time to respond in that much detail. I have been looking hard for the past weeks and I think the BMW R100R (or R100RT) is really going to fit the bill. I have owned a few bikes, an SV 650, GSXR, and a few random others. I am not looking to slice and dice the bike to bits, but with that being said I am likely going to remove any of the fairings, nice flat long seat, and clean it up a bit for a "less is more" look. I love the look of the mono lever and I did see there is a nice little market of bolt on aftermarket cafe racer-esque parts that would allow me to do minor changes without a ton of time and expense. Along those lines, are there any differences between the R100R and the R100RT other than the large touring seat and the fairings/bags? I am assuming they both use the exact same tank, same frame, etc? Any thoughts here are appreciated - oh and I'm in Delaware, otherwise id be paying you a visit to pick your brain over a few Dogfish Head IPAs.
 
#9 ·
any thoughts on a BMW R100R or a Honda CX550?
missed this part before.

R100R - you should look at. the more I learn about airheads, the more they look like the best riding of the aircooled bmws. Sure the aftermarket isn't there for custom stuff like it is for the earlier airheads, but the bike stock is just a way better bike overall. If you get one, don't do the hipster thing and cut it up to put a small seat and a seat hoop on it, ride it for a year and see how you like it stock. Also the thing I like about the 80's-90's airhead beemers is that they come pre-wired for neat stuff like heated grips, clocks, accessory ports, and 4 way flashers - and that stuff is fun to play with. If you have to have some "iron and air" twee machine, look for an earlier R80 or R100 monolever (1986-1988) - they have an aftermarket that sells bolt on subframes and seats (look at down and out's stuff in aus), There is some interchange with the old bikes esp in the seat area, and there are places like bmw cafe that sell vintage style fenders to make them look older.

CX500 - I despise these machines but it isn't because they are small and ill fitting. Stock they are fine, but cut down they are much smaller and ill fitting for taller riders. Why I don't like them is compared to the overwhelming number of aircooled machines out there, they come with some complex issues. And they aren't that fun to ride on top of it, at least not worth justifying the work involved in a triple bypass (seriously, look it up). yes they have a cult following, and they have become somewhat of a darling of the hipstergram "look at my unrideable art project" set, but they became that way because they were so dirt cheap at one point people would pay you to take them. Seriously, CB400Ts and CX500s were bikes I literally have owned for free because people wanted them out of their backyard. The frames are complex stressed member designs that some people have cut into without understanding the engineering that went into them, they were an experiment in stressed engineering for honda that mostly worked but removing things like fenders and such makes the bike ride worse fast, they have engines that are interesting on paper and less so in your right hand. The only thing going for them is that if you have a well maintained running one that bike will rack up reliable miles like it's a honda car. If you buy a nice stock running one, the best thing you can do it leave it alone and ride it till something actually wears out. If you let it sit for a while (say a year or more) you might as well throw it away. As for a custom one, if you held a gun to my head and told me I had to buy a custom cx500 or you would shoot me dead, I'm not saying that I would take that bullet but I sure would take a long time to answer.

If you really want a cx500 in the states...save your money and buy a nice, sorted running CX500 Turbo or CX650 Turbo. It's the only one worth having. If you feel like being mr different, you can go look for a eurosport cx500 or cx650 (basically a cx500 turbo chassis but without the turbo and the complex digital fuel injection) in a foreign country and then import it, but you wouldn't want to hipstergram mod it, just clean it up and ride it because it's a nice bike.
 
#11 · (Edited)
I had my greasy hands on a 1995(?) R100R mystic and let it slip through my fingers!!!
Damn, I would have chopped that thing up and made me a beauty of a bike! Hated the plastics

An aircooled R is an aircooled R from the 75 to 100's with small changes in geometry. The frame and basic engine shape were all the same from 70's to 90's.

As stated above the GS models would suit a tall guy well, but the oilhead GS were better bikes.
 
#13 ·
If you are going to remove the fairing anyway the RT series is not what you want to buy, the fairing and aerodynamics is one of the bikes strongest selling features. RS series BMW's were designed for optimum 1 up riding and RT series models are better suited to 2-up riding. Both models were designed in a wind tunnel with that as the major criteria. You take my BMW K100RS and remove the fairing and you will succeed in making it slower and less ridable at high speed.
 
#14 ·
Good advice and thanks for that but I am not going to be touring this bike, just basically using it for cruising around town. As long as the frame and tank are exactly the same on the R and RT, that's my only concern at this point as that will give me the correct starting point if I decide to build it up custom. Can you verify that they indeed share those same two attributes?
 
#19 · (Edited)
a 6-6 rider really is at a point where they simply need a larger motorcycle
that is in the ergonomics
sure you have extra tall racers in motogp and world supers etc
but race bikes have very high seats ,of course the main reason is the lean angle and the peg to seat distance must be reasonable and the lean angles dicrate very high mounted rider footpegs
my point in mentioniong that above is that having rider mounted higher up on a bike is not a bad thing ,in fact it is good in roadracing because the bike at speed in lean doesnt want to be leaning over it wants to stand up
a higher perched rider spends less energy keeping the machine in lean
a simple bit of modification on one of those airheads could make it fit the 6-6 rider
raise the tank and seat 2-3'' and back a bit
use a seat higher rider position in the foam
from there the readsets can be placed in accordance with fitting the rider
handlebar risers that move the base location forward are available

if done thoughtfully nobody will even notice the channge
its not rocket sciance
 
#21 ·
i am not trying to answer for gto but if you raise the rear you have to raise the front as well to maintain the overall balance of handling and weight distribution
bmw carefully has those pretty much ideal as stock
the bmw stanchion tubes are not adjustable like most bikes that leave some extra length
because the bmw top bridge/yoke is just a plate captured by the stanchion tube cap/top bolt
the r80 tank lends itself to blend in with a 4'' higher sreating from the images and without looking funky
thats where you need to go in my opinion
ideally you will want the bars forward a couple inches annd the pegs back 3-4''
and if a cafe style seat make sure it leaves room for you to be seated back a bit further than a rider 10'' shorter than you
 
#23 ·
the d&o subframe is taller but what a bunch of garbage in design
srsly you could not make a rear fender look and be more ill-fitting if you tried
and the seat is just following a brain dead retarded clown sheeple posse of moronic trends that simply makes me think of the olkd fable
the emperor has no clothes
 
#24 ·
Yeah it's not "super great" but it's sturdy enough and for people looking for a bolt on solution it's easy. The rear fender thing does piss me off a little but it still works as a fender so..... As a tall person haveing a flat seat to slide back on makes a world of difference - I took my R80 out for a spin yesterday to run errands and I was practically sitting on the hump between the rider and passenger cutout.
 
#31 · (Edited)
the more i look at that crapshit that d o pawns off the more i loose faith in you for promoting such pure garbage geetee zero
you are farking talking out both sides of your mouf and lout yer bunghole all at the same time
if they cant do any better than that bile activating fender curfunkel as a photo to promote themselves
how the fark do they get the holes lined up in the subframes ?
how do they get any shit on the paper
er when wiping there asses ?
man you need to suk it up and own it fer fucks sake you just get done telling the guy not to use the excuse its only going to be for short rides ,it doesnt matter
you turn right over and spew out ah it just a crooked fender no biggee that it is squished horribly out of shape in the most retarded manner
and the seat can be done right later after you pay these fuckers 3x the value cause it is scrap
c'mon farker you either have principles or you do not
and then you say the subframe is sketchy
wtf you sound like a skateboarder
why not explain that it is a cantilevered type structure ,his bikes seat frame,done purely for a look with zero regard for safety that is totally wrong for a motorcycle in the first place ,because the only way it can hold up and not constantly be flexing which even\tually leads to cracking and failure of tubes and or weldements
the only way it can be applied safely is if it is heavilly butressed at the join to the frame and if it is made of farking heavy ass tubing
heavy enough to not flex
this is just contrary to how motorbikes or any motor vehicle is built ,to bild something extremely more heavy just for a look
but trhere is the catch it is for sure not biuilt heavy enough to minimise flex
i dont believe for a minute that the seat frame in our new buddies bike is 25lbs of 1'' id 1/4'' wall steel tube and 3/16 gusset plates at the butress
because whoever built it is as stupid as the crooks at clown n drown
because all that seat frame needs (besides bewing about 4'' longer so that the upkicked hoop matches the tire curve at full bump and hence can provide a non moron looking fitment of a fender)is the tubes as you did correctly promote
and then it at the same time could be raised the 3-4'' that he needs
but that clown and pout shit that you have posted here ,i mean cmon its got to be a troll prank you are doing right ?
otherwise you owe us all a fucking apolgy or explanation why you would bring yourself down to the level of sxuch double speak and promoting a completely fraudulent outfit like clown n pound
 
#37 · (Edited)
We could write a russian trilogy novel as to the flexibility flaws of the BMW double cradle frame used for the airheads from 1971-1995. It has inspired many humorous nicknames like the rubber cow or gummikuh in german, the wobbly oil slick, the crashed airplane, the drunk penguin, the shin basher, etc... And there is a lot to be gleaned from looking at how outfits like krauser and butler and smith managed to get these horizontally opposed paint shakers to actually go around a corner. But, I've had this conversation with several friends now, several of whom are engineers, some who are also bmw-ophiles, one bmw airhead racer, and the general consensus is that when it comes to the subframe on a monolever - it's basically a chair and won't solve any of the flexibility ills inherent in the cradle frame itself. It needs to be as strong as a chair can be for that role which means holding up about 600lbs (twice the weight of 2 up riders). For those things many other outfits sell frame braces and other things to help with the frame flex.

With respect to Down and Out, I found out about them when a guy at our local bike night showed up with a monolever with one of the subframes and I had a chance to inspect it. He had made is own fender so he didn't have their setup, but the subframe had pretty decent welds and looked to be a well made part. It was not thin wall tube, and the mounting brackets were not as thin as they appeared in pics. I would have preferred a boxed mount but the stock subframe just has pinched tube ends so...not really all that high tech. I talked to him at length about instillation and it went right on with no "adjustment". He claimed they were jig built but I have not verified that. I will agree that their photos are hipster and terrible, and that some of the bikes their stuff is showing up on is equally hipster and terrible, but that doesn't mean they didn't get something right.

With respect to Flatracer, another member on here has their parts on his bike and has spoken highly of them

Vonzetti and wimoto, eh....I saw twinshocks with those parts two years ago at mid ohio VMD (not as racers, street bikes). The vonzetti stuff was crude but not unsafe as far as I could tell, and the wimoto stuff was about the same. If all you need is a chair, they will do.

as to this

why not explain that it is a cantilevered type structure ,his bikes seat frame,done purely for a look with zero regard for safety that is totally wrong for a motorcycle in the first place ,because the only way it can hold up and not constantly be flexing which even\tually leads to cracking and failure of tubes and or weldements
the only way it can be applied safely is if it is heavilly butressed at the join to the frame and if it is made of farking heavy ass tubing
heavy enough to not flex
this is just contrary to how motorbikes or any motor vehicle is built ,to bild something extremely more heavy just for a look
you and I agree on this point and I have you to explain it in more detail. I will point out with respect to your statements on rear fenders stock bmw fenders are all plastic starting with the /5, non structural, and have these center line mounts that offer very little lateral support. In fact I had a throw over saddlebag bump into my rear fender last year on my R80 and it pushed the damn thing right into the wheel, leaving a black rub mark on the rim. the only job of a BMW rear fender is to keep the mud and crap flung off the rear tire from getting everywhere. as long as whatever replaces that does that same function - more power to it. There is so much clearance in the rear of the bike at full travel that I wouldn't worry about the rear wheel hitting the subframe - it's not like a japanese bike where the rear frame section sits much lower and the top of the tire passes it under normal suspension compression.

I have said from the beginning I am not expert on these things. I'm a guy doing his own research to modify his own bike. I'm def not an engineer, and I am sharing my opinions.
 
#33 · (Edited)
Wow, a lot to take in on this thread now for me. Yes, the subframe was handmade by the previous owner as I have confirmed, and I will be replacing it with a new one. I really like this one from Wimoto:



The one from Down and Out has the additional bracing on the sides, which I am sure makes for a more sturdy frame, although not quite as cool of a minimalist style as the one from Wimoto.



Anyone have any options, good or bad, on the Wimoto one?


Also saw this one from the Weld Yard:
 
#35 · (Edited)
... Anyone have any options, good or bad, on the Wimoto one?
Only that it is mounted to a bike that is very obviously incomplete and inoperable, so that suggests the saddle and mount is untested. It will also force you so far forward on the tank that your knees are going to be almost up to the tank badge :/ Remember when Geeto said the most comfortable position is when his bum is slid back all the way to or past the first hump behind the riders part of the saddle, I concur with that and we are both almost certainly shorter in the leg then you.

"minimalist style" my ass, these are incomplete chopped up relics of once nice ridable motorcycles. Where do you live, because none of those bikes would pass as street legal in a developed country & shite little tail lights and signals like that are going to get you killed. I was rear ended once and thankful that BMW did a good job on their rear end crash testing, had I been riding any of those assless chopper bobbers I would now be riding a wheel chair at best. Sorry to sound so negative but we old guys are just not seeing a lot to impress here so far unless the viewer knows zero about actually riding motorcycles, these are butt ugly back yard art projects but if that is what you really want to ride, go for it.

"$4k, has 27k miles on it." 4k american $ and 27k miles on not the original speedometer!
Holy, the price for my BMW just went up.
 
#39 ·
I'm pretty tall and this is the perfect bike for a tall guy. Half the money and the whole bike is still there. Even comes with soft luggage, bike cover and a matching Corbin backrest. :) Whats not to love. $2,400 CDN. That's like what? $1900 US. You'd have enough left to buy a cheaper chopped up not so good short rides only bike. Act now cuz it's goin fast hahaha. See what I did there? It is fast though...
Land vehicle Motorcycle Vehicle Motor vehicle Automotive tire
Land vehicle Motorcycle Vehicle Motor vehicle Automotive tire
 
#41 ·
I'm pretty tall and this is the perfect bike for a tall guy. Half the money and the whole bike is still there. Even comes with soft luggage, bike cover and a matching Corbin backrest. :) Whats not to love. $2,400 CDN. That's like what? $1900 US. You'd have enough left to buy a cheaper chopped up not so good short rides only bike. Act now cuz it's goin fast hahaha. See what I did there? It is fast though...
View attachment 97005 View attachment 97005
And has a real frame, suspension, brakes, tires...
 
#40 ·
I think he mentioned he had an SV650 or something. This was going to be his play bike.

I am not going to comment on the price, but if I knew he was going to buy THAT chopped up R80 I would have sold him mine for $1K cheaper than he paid - and trust me, mine's way nicer.
 
#49 · (Edited)
yeah the caliper was sticking so I took it off to rebuild and am waiting on another crossover tube to come in. The great part about the stock chained caliper brake system is that naked R80's came single disc stock (dual was an option on the naked bike but standard on the RT) so I'm not out of braking expectations, and the hard line means I can take the second caliper off and stick a bleeder valve in the hole where it attaches and still ride the bike. It will probably be back on by the end of the month.

weird, the pic appears right side up on my phone and home computer but upside down on my work computer.
 
#43 ·
Hahaha man you guys crack me up. I don’t even have the bike in my possession and you guys have already shit all over the bike, the seat, the subframe, the price I paid, why I should have paid $17.00 for a bone stock R80 instead, with fairings I would have to immediately remove and throw out anyway. What about the tires? Maybe the spark plugs? The grips?? I bet they are shit too.

I’ve never jumped into a bike build of this kind, so I am learning - hence the questions. For those of you that have offered some kind of helpful knowledge as a guide to what to potentially buy/upgrade first and constructive opinions and advice, many thanks.
 
#48 · (Edited)
Le'ts re-frame the discussion: Why are you here? is it to learn and ask questions and solicit advice? or is it to get faint praise that validate your decisions even if they aren't the best decisions to be making because you want motivation? I imagine it is the former, but for some they don't realize it is the latter until they are in it and take criticism personally or to heart. Have some faith that when you start to do things right, the negativity will stop, but yeah you are getting a lot of negative now because you are doing or saying some things which many here from experience feel is unwise or unsafe.

I feel like maybe you are missing some context that those of us who play with very old motorcycles (and cars) have that you may not. Why are "original" vehciles more valuable generally than customs? the short answer is previous owners. With an original bike, even if time and entropy have taken their toll and warn out stuff - at the very least you can rely on the thing still working as engineered, and if it isn't the repair will often be as simple as following the service manual on diagnosing and replacing the broken parts. It makes working on stuff fairly easy. When something is modified, esp when it is modified poorly, the amount of work, expense, and time increase exponentially. Or in other words - the more the PO has fucked with something the more time time you are going to spend unfucking it.

In the case of your bike - you see a "vision" based on aesthetics and potential to lean, but most of us who have been down that road see a lot of work, and a lot of potential tasks that could have you swearing, cussing, and throwing money at fixes to the point where it might hurt your view on the hobby. Also let's face it there is some patently unsafe shit on that bike too. Trust me, every single person here wants you to have a positive and long lasting experience with this hobby, but everyone here winced a little when they saw that bike because for all the basic things you can see, we know there are at least 10 hiding. the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Do I think you bought the right bike? well you wanted a project, and this certainly offered you one. The good news is that it runs so you can keep it running while you mod stuff (blowing a bike apart is a rookie mistake - the only reason you need to take a bike down to the frame is to paint the frame contrary to what bike shows on TV will tell you). the more important question is - are you happy with what you bought knowing that it is going to task you with a lot of things outside of your comfort zone. The answer should be yes. Personally you wanted a custom so yeah this is a pretty good starting place.

But what about the price? again are you happy with it? I know I wouldn't be in my market, but I don't know your market. I can tell you in ohio that bike is at best a $2500 motorcycle, but if we were back in Brooklyn I could see someone paying $4K like you did just out of convenience of it being there. his is somewhat of a Pandora's box: do you want to learn the lesson that you might have overpaid for a motorcycle and let your enthusiasm get the better of you? or do you want to just stay positive and soldier forward and chalk it up as the cost of an education? the choice is yours, the people here commenting want you to learn that lesson for 2 reasons: 1) because it lets them feel saavy about their own motorcycle buying while discouraging people to drive the prices up of bikes that aren't worth it; and 2) they genuinely do want you to learn something and motorcycle values, esp the volatility of old custom motorcycle values, are a hard lesson to learn. Some people are big fans of tough love (I know I am sometimes), take all this with a grain of salt and keep the forward path in view and it will be fine. Remember you learn more from a negative than positive, so even the shittiest joke has something to teach you.

I think I gave you some pretty sound advice on this stuff, and it has spurred some interesting conversations. But this shouldn't be your only echo chamber for what to do. ADVrider forum is a good forum for airheads, and while some of us are there as well, you'll find a whole host of other people who can help you as well with different experiences. The BMW MOA site and the airheads owners club have always helped me as well. You are going to take some shit from people who would encourage your to put the bike back to stock, that comes with the territory - just keep in the back of your mind: it's not personal and they think they are helping you, so why not try and understand why they are thinking they are helping you because that is the fruit of knowledge in the rind of bitter commentary.

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Forums | Vintage BMW Motorcycle Owners
 
#44 ·
Perhaps money is not an issue to you. For most of us cost needs to be sensible, throwing out fairings is not, selling and using the money in the project is. You bought someones hack job and paid whole bike price. The seat, the sub frame are definitely an issue, at least for someone who does things properly. The price you paid is either the result of not knowing what you were buying or just wanting it and not giving a shit about the price. Either way it's about double what I see sitting there, worse if none of the original parts come with it or if the wiring harness is a rats nest. Tires may be alright, have you checked the date? How about the grips are they worn, sticky, crumbling? I always put in new plugs when I refurbish something.

You "jumped" into this and are learning and some of the things you'll learn will not be what you want to hear.
 
#45 ·
OP, don't take it personal and bear with us for a moment to put yourself in the mind set of somebody who grew up in an era when 'building' a race inspired motorcycle did not involve hacking off as many major frame components as possible and need a flea-bay account to computer mail-order skate board seat LED bling lights that didn't even exist. Then maybe you can understand where some of the negativity is coming from.

Site probably needs a Chopper/Bobber area for the fenderless generation to post in :| Then we can all sit on the curb and wax poetic about powder coat paint and fat ass firestones punctuated by open triangles highlighting imaginary bone lines, without getting so many toes run over by the passing motorcycle racers.
 
#52 · (Edited)
You can't control the internet. The best you can hope for is to ask your question and sift through the flood and resultant wreckage of information that comes back. If you try to exert control, it slaps you.

I am a jeep guy too, and I have restored cars as well. I can tell you restoring and modifying an old bike is nothing like a car because cars move in 2 dimensions and bikes move in three. Things that are normal and an improvement on a car like lowering or lifting are twice as complex on a bike because it doesn't just change the stance, it changes the dynamics and stability. An unstable car, well you may spin out it may vibrate, it will scare you a little, but you are in a car. raising or lowering a bike where you start to get into unsafe trail numbers? eh that's your ass sliding down the street. With any change in ride height you are going to want to recalculate the rake and trail numbers to make sure you aren't going somewhere unsafe.

some other things that change in a bike that don't in a car:

- gear ratio changes when you lean the bike over because the tire diameter decreases.
- your wheelbase increases as the suspension compresses
- your suspension will actually become more rigid since bike suspension only works up and down, and at a 45 degree angle any bump is being deflected rather than absorbed. This is why some bikes have engineered flex in them while others just rely on sheer tire grip to settle after a bump mid turn.

best of luck
 
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