The r65 custom build project has come to an end, almost to the day a year after I started. I have only worked on this on weekends and lost a fair bit of time over the Australian winter when it was cold and dark in the garage.
I’ve ended up replacing or rebuilding most of the bike- the only parts that weren’t rebuild were the bottom end of the engine, gearbox, clutch and the final drive unit wasn’t refurbed.
Jobs completed for this project:
- Strip down and repaint of frame
- Refurb and repaint tank
- Complete rebuild of forks and steering head with new seals, bearings
- Complete rebuild of front brakes, new lines and calipers rebuilt
- Wheels refurbished and painted gloss black, wheel bearings replaced
- Top end rebuild, new gaskets, seals, new valves, new valve springs new piston rings and vapour blasting of the heads
- Complete rebuild of carbs with new jets and seals, new springs
- New brake, clutch and choke cables
- Refurbishment of levers, switches and controls
- New handlebars
- Headlight refurbished and painted matte black
- Airbox rebuilt, new breather hoses, new air filter
- New battery and battery box
- New fuel petcock and fuel lines
- Custom rear subframe, seat, shocks and mudguard from Down & Out Motorcyles
- Rear brake rebuilt and new shoes
- Clutch throwout bearings and actuator rebuilt with new bearings etc
- New swing-arm bearings
- Custom electrics with Acewell speedo, integrated LED indicators and keyless Motogadget M-Lock ignition.
This project has been a blast- I’ve learned a lot about working on airheads and I’m ready to tackle my next project- the rebuild of my ’73 r75/5. I have spent a lot of money on this bike and a future post will include a summary of the costs (scary!) as I have kept all receipts. I will also make a post with some before and after photos, but just for now here is a reminder of where this project started last year:
And finally, here is a video walkthrough of the finished bike. Next up.. first start!
