Idiot v. Motorbikes, Round 4: Elsa

[melville]

People ask me for advice on buying collector and special interest vehicles as I've been driving and riding distinctive stuff for pretty much my whole adult life and my work is in accounting services. Once we get past the vehicle-specific question, like "Renault Le Car? Are you shittin' me?" the advice is consistent. "Buy the best example you can find. Unrestored original that's been well kept and stored sympathetically will always be the best."

But do I follow my own advice? NOOOOOOOOO! I have yet to buy a running moto, and about half my cages over the years were towed home. I'm just too damn cheap to seek out the best thing. I get stuff that falls into my lap, like this set:

On the left is a /6, in the middle is our subject 1979 R100RS Elsa, and on the right is Edgar, a 1978 R100/7. Elsa looks to have been parked in 1985. Edgar was last registered in 1988. I've spent the last year reviving Edgar and he's fit for use. Time to see about Elsa.

Here's the current state of things:

Elsa was modded BITD. SJ BMW fork brace:

SJ upper triple:

SJ braced swingarm:

There are also SJ BMW shocks, but they may not make the final build as the shafts are pitted after 30+ years in a coastal barn.

The goal here is to make the bike run, make the chassis and mechanical bits shiny, and possibly add some period chassis mods. If the motor has to come apart, there's a good shot of it going back together with a healthy helping of 7Rock bits. Thanks for following along!

 

[Simmons1]

Looks like you will be busy for awhile.

 

[melville]

In the bike pic in the first post you may have noticed the sump sitting off the bike.

The oil drained out good and black, with no obvious contaminants. I was surprised to find a solid filter and it was some cajoling to get it out without pulling the fairing:

I still have to get the o-ring out of the back of the canister. My bicycle spoke hook reaches in just fine, but it's adhering strongly on one spot.

The sump had sludge but no large or small bits o' metal:

The pickup and extension were in good shape, and all fasteners had been installed with loctite. The similar parts I pulled from Ernst had been hanging loosely.

I pulled the plugs and shot some oil down the holes and then, after pulling the front cover, turned it over from the alternator bolt and it moved quite freely. I'm encouraged. There may be a wee sticky spot where it sat for 37 years but it's something I can barely feel.

As money materializes I'll be buttoning the sump back up and filling it, rebuilding the carbs, and borrowing a battery to see if I can make it roar. From there, I'll be powdercoating the wheels and redoing the bearings and with some fresh tires and brake work, may take it out for some test rides.

 

[melville]

The sump cleaned up just fine. No grit in the sludge. I thought I had pickup gaskets on hand, but I didn't, elsewise it would be back together already. No worries, the parts are ordered and should be here next week. In those parts will be rebuild bits for the carburetors, which I disassembled today:

No surprises except for a nice fuel smell even after 37 years parked. Possibly even leaded fuel smell. It sure didn't smell like anything we get from the pump today. You might be wondering where the big pieces of the left carb went. They're in my cleaner:

I'll pull them tomorrow and put the right carb pieces in there. Notes are important--I've saved this info for a baseline:

Conveniently the throttle plates had markings on them so I don't have to analyze how they fit in the carburetor. I've had to make my own marks on the 32mm carbs I've dealt with.

It was hard to read the numbers on the pilot jet but it looks like the right item. Nearly all the settings match up with the info in the Haynes manual.

 

[melville]

Little updates today. Parts came in and I've remounted the extended oil pickup, the sump, and installed a new filter. Three quarts of break-in oil are now in the sump, hoping to revive the rings enough to see what else it needs.

Next up are new diode board mounts and finishing the carb rebuilds.

I did find out that Elsa also has a lightened flywheel. Maybe not as lightened as Edgar's, but there's definitely been metal removed. So part of the job will be to find TDC and make a mark as it's quite possible the OG flywheel marks have been milled away.

 

[melville]

Little bits today. I started by replacing the diode board mounts. Two had separated and one was missing hardware. I cleaned up the starter cavity and the starter itself and reinstalled.

I did find that the flywheel marks were all gone from the lightening except for F. So I worked the crank around with a chopstick in the plug hole to find TDC and made a mark on the flywheel. I'm glad I now own a dialback timing light.

Once I had TDC it was natural to check the valve adjustment. Both intakes were at a 'loose zero' which may or may not have been intentional. It's something I useta do with ACVW that had aftermarket CroMoly pushrods. One exhaust was at .007 and the other was at .018. Intakes now at .004 and exhausts at .008.

The right valve cover was well stuck to its gasket and took some mallet blows to come off. The left one, only the center nut was on, and not very tight. When I got it off, I was dismayed to find the small nuts and ONE of the washers INSIDE the thing. I think the other washer was lost, and didn't find its way down the PR tube as the clearance around the PR is pretty tight.

Things looked good inside:

I'm happy with that, considering how crusty things were on the outside.

 

[skibum69]

Looks good! I want an RS in my stable one day.

 

[melville]

The next step for Elsa was to spin the motor over and check for oil to the rockers. I had a guy say he might have a key in his collection, so I shipped the ignition lock to him to see about that. In the meantime, I went to the hardware store for a rocker switch for testing purposes:

I hooked up a battery with a good hot charge on it and was rewarded:

Then I tried hitting the button. Nothing. I cleaned up the contacts on the starter relay and bench tested it (seemed to do what was required), reinstalled and hit the button again. Nothing. Next up was jumping the contacts on the starter. Nothing.

I pulled the starter and bench tested the solenoid. Nothing. I'm just a couple years in this area and I'm still building my network of shops so I looked for auto electric shops and found one that seemed suitable. Last Monday I ran the starter to that shop. When I walked in, I was invited back into the work area. "So this is from a BMW, right?" He bench tested it, too, and pronounced the solenoid was needing service. Here's where he won my business: "I can sell you a new solenoid, but they're all from China. I have better luck rebuilding the original German ones."

He called back a couple days later and I got the starter back for a very reasonable charge. He replaced the solenoid with a German one from his stash because the original had failed in a way that defied repair:

Again in the bike, with a hot charge on the battery, and it was time to test. No love from the starter button, and I'm thinking there's some sort of interlock from the brake fluid level indicators, as they seem to be wired in to the neutral/clutch switch circuit through a diode. I can sort that out later. Presently there's no brake fluid on the bike. No master cylinder for the front brake, in fact.

So I got a big screwdriver and jumped the terminals on the starter and was rewarded with copious oil flow to all of them. Much more copious than I expected:

Cat litter was applied immediately. Seriously, it's a new floor and it's like an oil magnet. Stuff that doesn't leak elsewhere gets a drip as soon as it enters the shop.

Next up is finishing the carb rebuild and sorting the ignition. Once that's done Imma try to hear the thing roar. A little carb teaser:

 

[Shinyribs]

The sump cleaned up just fine. No grit in the sludge. I thought I had pickup gaskets on hand, but I didn't, elsewise it would be back together already. No worries, the parts are ordered and should be here next week. In those parts will be rebuild bits for the carburetors, which I disassembled today:

No surprises except for a nice fuel smell even after 37 years parked. Possibly even leaded fuel smell. It sure didn't smell like anything we get from the pump today. You might be wondering where the big pieces of the left carb went. They're in my cleaner:

I'll pull them tomorrow and put the right carb pieces in there. Notes are important--I've saved this info for a baseline:

Conveniently the throttle plates had markings on them so I don't have to analyze how they fit in the carburetor. I've had to make my own marks on the 32mm carbs I've dealt with.

It was hard to read the numbers on the pilot jet but it looks like the right item. Nearly all the settings match up with the info in the Haynes manual.

Curious about your carb cleaning juice. Looks like straight antifreeze but I'm sure it's not. Crockpot is a clever idea 👍

 

[melville]

Curious about your carb cleaning juice. Looks like straight antifreeze but I'm sure it's not. Crockpot is a clever idea 👍

It is straight antifreeze! The independent MC mechanic in Old melvilleville suggested it. A little water rinse and some time with the spray can of Berryman to clear the passages and then it's time to put it back together. Or polish it.

 

[XR650L_Dave]

It is straight antifreeze! The independent MC mechanic in Old melvilleville suggested it. A little water rinse and some time with the spray can of Berryman to clear the passages and then it's time to put it back together. Or polish it.

Older ethylene glycol stuff I presume? And, it really works?
Is heat a key factor?

 

[Shinyribs]

It is straight antifreeze! The independent MC mechanic in Old melvilleville suggested it. A little water rinse and some time with the spray can of Berryman to clear the passages and then it's time to put it back together. Or polish it.

I didn't expect that!

I wonder how it works? Interesting.

 

[melville]

I'm not sure it really does much as I haven't put any really grubby carbs in it. But it's fun to have a Crock Pot in the shop making carburetor stew.

 

[Chickenstrip]

Thanks for including us in your project ... lot of fun to watch.

 

[XR650L_Dave]

Did some searching-

Antifreeze looks to have started as a nitro-RC engine cleaning trick.

People also use lemon juice, vinegar, citric acid, muriatic acid, electrolysis along with some of those.

Vapor blasting the outside looks great, but using that on internals to me violates the rule of 'remove no metal'.

Mikuni BS38s used on yamahopper twins, and the 34mm that is just like a '38 used on the earlier XS750s (the bowl has the weird indentation) have some hella small passages.
A soda blaster seems to work great on those.

 

[melville]

Finished the polish on the carbs. I was a bit challenged by their crustiness and by the limits of how small Dremel makes buffing equipment:

Clearly I need some ball burnishing equipment. These will look good on the bike.

Next up is verifying spark and timing of same. Then hopefully we get to make some noise!

 

[XR650L_Dave]

Finished the polish on the carbs. I was a bit challenged by their crustiness and by the limits of how small Dremel makes buffing equipment:

Clearly I need some ball burnishing equipment. These will look good on the bike.

Next up is verifying spark and timing of same. Then hopefully we get to make some noise!

They have that flowing / sculpted look!

 

[melville]

They have that flowing / sculpted look!

Yeah, if you sand off the casting part lines it really does a lot. Also, the big seam was sanded with the dome mounted to the carb body so they match up. I'll be doing some more but the RS doesn't quite have as much to do as there is on a /6:

 

[melville]

Little bits. I took a couple days off with Edgar to get out of the smoke and into the warm water:

No clouds, no haze, no light pollution. Naked after 9 in the pools. It's an awesome view of the sky laying back in the warm water once the moon set. There's a bigger pool inside the structure, but why? Sunrise was awesome:

Work did try to interfere with my reverie. I had a client call from Singapore on my way back. My Sena will pick up my phone calls, but doesn't alert me to who they are. I let him know I was on my motorbike 200 miles from home and that the signal might be dodgy. "Hang on a sec, let me get it under 100." ;) I had a signal for the 10 miles the conversation took. Clearly I need to travel to more remote places.

Back in the shop I hooked up the battery and turned the ignition on and the points are pointing and it looks like static idle timing is a few degrees before my TDC mark. Definitely close enough for a start-up. I am feeling the need to open up the bean can to check the points gap and renew the grease on the sliding bit.

Carbs are mounted:

New rubber and the clamps got blingulated on the buffer. I have the clamshell bits, but not the air tubes and it looks like 40mm carbs take a different air tube than the 32s.

 

[Chickenstrip]

I don't know .... those carbs stand out like a sex worker on Main St. .... you're gonna have to buff that whole engine before you're done!