Puzzled: camshaft flange bolts before/after 9/75

[Duane Ausherman]

I too was somewhat surprised to not get asked any technical questions at the rally. However, since I had a guest, Gabi, it was nice to not bore her over such things.

In fact, she was quite impressed at the high quality of attendees. Ken took some time to explain how he builds guitars. She had no idea that it could be so complicated. Randy took her for a ride along the ridge on his BMW and she loved it. Later we stayed at his home in Austin and the two of them discussed music and such. For the next few days she kept commenting on various aspects of the people of the rally.

She was most impressed by Ingrid, Ken's neighbor, a very unusual woman, to say the least. I think that she is now Gabi's role model for a woman and probably for a person. I too was impressed.

Several people privately came up to me to comment about how impressed they were to meet Gabi. She went to the best high school in Warsaw and graduated at the top of her class, so she is no dummy. She is finding her way as she grows in independence. Gabi found that upon returning to Poland last fall, she has had to dump just about all but one friend. Only one girl friend from her past has the ability to work hard and is interested in learning about other cultures. She also wants to become a physician. While Gabi comes from an average family, her friend's parents are both doctors and they travel a lot.

One the way over the ridge to Ken's, we came across a snapping turtle, got out and Gabi took a few photos. It was slightly different than the ones from my childhood. On the way out, at about the same place, I saw a land turtle, so we got out and this one we could pick up and photograph.

It was a good rally for us. Thanks all.

[Deleted User 287]

Now Stephen, you know if I had ever SEEN a Type 247 camshaft I would have said something.

ADVrider is O.K., but it is like a non-stop convention compared to the small intimate party that is Boxerworks.

[chasbmw]

I think that the problem was that Fun just pissed off most of the people who liked to contribute and it's a great pity that since his demise few of those guys have come back.

He is doing very much the same on ADV, he will go for anyone who posts with any experience authority. He posts under the name Supershaft (boasting again). Check out various posts on the subject of camshafts.

Yet again it's a great pity as useful debate discussion gets squashed by various types of vitriol. Does anyone know who he is in the real world? It seems that he washed bikes for San Jose BMW for a number of years and claims to have some form of business mechanic ing airheads in the SF area, but how much of is is Fun dreaming I don't know.

I can't help on the camshaft issue, I would guess that threads would have stayed the same, bolt length might differ, so get something on the long side and trim to fit?

[Crunch]

Interesting how this thread took a serious turn from the original question, not that it was boring. Since no direct answer has been supplied may I presume that the original question is still open? If so, why not purchase a couple of machine screws of varying lengths, or better yet, use a micrometer to measure the depth? It shouldn't be that difficult to use a thread guage to determine the actual thread form/size.

For my part, I have a mad-on with your original supplier because they seem to be deficient in knowing airhead variances. For example, around September/October of 1975 BMW changed the neutral indicator switch from an 'innie' to an 'outie', or maybe it was the other way around. Either way, they don't ask the question, nor will they honor a return. But I digress....

So from the initial problem reported, it appears that BMW also made other subtle changes to their designs. Good to know about these things.

[chasbmw]

Crunch,

The 75 s can be a bit of a problem as there were a number of changes in spec, but they did not all happen at the beginning of the 76 model year production, so it's too easy to have a mixture of parts in your bike.

Let alone what changes previous owners might have made in the last 35 years...... Gear boxes get swapped out quite a bit and when Motorworks give you an exchange gearbox they will exchange 5 speed for 5 speed, but may not worry if it is a 75 or a 79?

[Ken in Oklahoma]

Interesting how this thread took a serious turn from the original question, not that it was boring . . .

Actually, Crunch, "thread degradation" as we have come to call it, has been going on for a very long time. You could almost call it "traditional", though that word would seem to imply traditionally good or traditionally bad. You pays yer money and takes yer choice. In the present case I'm the one who precipitated the degradation, though StephenB sort of inspired me by wondering something. . .

There are differences of olpinion as to whether thread degradation should be tolerated on a forum. (Not implying anything about your post, Crunch.) Those "fer" thread degradation suggest that thread degradation can keep a forum alive and interesting, that is a conversational like interchange that might happen in any social gathering, especially where alcohol might be served, I suppose. The "agin's" tend to think of a forum as sort of a business metting where the agenda needs to be paid attention to.

But elucidation of this topic isn't my main reason for making this particular post. Rather I thought it might be interesting to repost what has come to be called, "Major Softie's Manifesto", or something close to that. Back in the day one poster was highly incensed that his post had been degraded. The Major then wrote his tome, and here it is:


http://www.boxerworks.com/phorum/read.p ... 8&t=154548


Author: Major Softie (198.189.128.---)
Date: 05-08-06 23:27

Tom,

Zombie Master "explained" the special purpose comment, but perhaps his comment was too cryptic for you. It is an allusion to Steve Martin's "The Jerk." You may have misunderstood his comment and thought that he was calling me a jerk, and thereby must be in agreement with your opinions as you have now expressed them. He was not. He does like to leave the ambiguous possibility that his comment could be taken in more than one way, but at least the surface point was to identify the allusion to the movie.


Perhaps you didn't notice, but your original post that started this string had little if anything to do with Airheads. It did relate directly to this site and how it operates. I will now try to stick to that subject.


There are only a few rules on this board. If I miss any, I'm sure someone else will fill in the missing points.

1. If you misspell or typo something, It is quite likely that it will be pointed out and made fun of. If the error itself makes a joke (like my favorite: the man who had a problem in his carburetor bowels), then there is zero chance that it will go by without comment. If you are one of the people who participates in poking fun at such errors, you will be especially voraciously attacked if you make an error yourself. If you are defensive and/or easily insulted by having your typing critiqued, your visits here could be painful.

2. You get to start a string. You get to post anything you want in regards to another string. You do NOT get to decide what other people get to post in regards to your string, or any other. There is only one absolute exception to this rule: the damn spam that caused the change to a registration system. The other softer exception is that we prefer that completely off topic strings started for the express purpose of political/religious/whacko topics be kept on the "Motorcycling" board, as it has "General Rants" listed as one of the things that belong there.

3. There are boards that operate the way you seem to prefer. This is the worst place in the world to ask where they are. We are here because we don't want to be wherever they are.

4. Thread Degradation is a sin on some of those other boards. Here it is regarded as an art form. While we have great respect and love for those who can do it at the highest levels, we completely accept even the weakest examples. Frequently, we try not to degrade until after the question has been answered. We do not hold ourselves too tightly to this intention. Your post, on the other hand, asked no question at all. It was simply a statement of opinion. Thus, it was open for any comment whatsoever without the originator even having the claim that his question had not been addressed.

5. The "moderator" of this board is the community itself. We decide what the rules are, who is following them, and who is not. I say "we" because, although I am currently listing rules, I didn't make any of these rules. I am simply explaining them as best I have come to understand them in the years that I have been here. Some have been determined by long discussions of opinion on strings 50 to over 100 posts long. Others just seem to be magically agreed on without discussion, or absorbed through osmosis. If I miss any, others will fill them in. If I have stated anything that we don't all agree on, someone will be all over me about it.

6. Except for our love of BMW's, and an almost nauseating fascination with wandering off onto tangents that have nothing to do with the original post, this is an extraordinarily diverse group. We have little else in common, but have become a community so fond of one another that we are willing to ride thousands of miles, sometimes across international borders, in order to get together once or twice a year (some may think it's just for the beer, but the first rally was BYOB). We accept anyone - as long as they don't think they get to tell everyone else what they get to talk about.

7. The mere mention of Silicone will get you ribbed without you having the slightest idea what is going on unless you do some research with the site's "Search" feature.

8. Certain topics will immediately be labeled as dangerous/horrifying/unsolvable/to-be-avoided-at-all-costs. These include Oil, Tires, Synthetic Lubricants, Carb Synchronizers, and fights between Lonnie and myself. This doesn't mean that they are not allowed to go on, merely that they are subject to ridicule, being ignored by much of the community, and generally regarded as a waste of time. This list is neither complete, nor immune from being ammended at any time.

9. While the judgement was not absolutely 100%, there is general agreement that there is nothing wrong with boobs.

10. Never judge a Guru by his dress.


I hope you can find this environment one that you can actually enjoy. Others have arrived here and adjusted to our banter, even after finding it a bit too much at first. Admittedly, I don't remember any of the one's who HAVE adjusted beginning by making quite as noxious an attack at the very nature of this board. If you find our style too loose for you, there are other boards out there that you will probably find more to your tastes. Many of them are filled with very well informed BMW aficionados. Regardless, there is certainly no chance of the community bending itself to your preferences, at least not in the foreseeable future.

Kurt (Softie) Munger
South Lake Tahoe
R1100RS, K75, R50/2, Honda Ascot



Ken

[Steve in Golden]

7. The mere mention of Silicone will get you ribbed without you having the slightest idea what is going on unless you do some research with the site's "Search" feature.

For years I was in the dark on this inside joke, the search feature doesn't help due to the various board crashes over the years (many of the old posts are now in bit-heaven). I had to go to a Boxerworks rally to finally be let in on the secret. Which I can't divulge here - if I told ya I'd have to kill ya.

[StephenB]

Steve in Golden, I am typing this ... reluctantly. I limit myself to short bursts of text and am just waiting for the technology to follow. The iPads and -phones do have a sophisticated speech recognition so it is getting close.

As for my technical problem (just coming back to the original question, Crunch): I sourced all parts myself and have nobody else to blame. I seem to have acquired a 286deg R60/6 cam which had a thinner flange and is designed for single row cam gears. I however intend to use the dual-row camshaft gear with a single chain (doubles the life with no other ill-effect known to me). And there is the root of my problem: the double-row camshaft gear sits closer to the flange, A standard hex head or Allen will not clear it.
So this is how it is going to pan out: I have a low head Allen cap screw with a 5mm head height. I will have machined 2.5mm off to make the camshaft gear clear the flange screws as I have approx. 5mm clearance in total.
There is no torque value given for these M8x20 screws. They pick up shear forces only. I will use a wave washer and thread locker and torque them to 5ft/lbs which is correct for torquing steel M6 screws wet lubed in aluminum.

So I should be ok. Thoughts anybody?

Stephen

[Deleted User 287]

So I should be ok. Thoughts anybody?

Your worst effort would be so much better than my best effort, Stephen.

So from my POV, you should be fine!

[Major Softie]

So I should be ok. Thoughts anybody?

Your worst effort would be so much better than my best effort, Stephen.

So from my POV, you should be fine!

I'll bet he puts oil in it and everything.