From 2 vehicles to none in 1 hour.

[AZRedhawk44]

AZ, Is the spoke nipple OEM weird or what? Can't you just get a replacement from Buchanans or some other wheel builder?

Aprilia's wheels on the Tuareg are tubeless spoked, with the nipples in the hub and the head of the spoke in the side of the rim.  I'm sure other builders use similar or the same components, but I didn't know where to source one other than the dealer and my immediate google-fu was insufficient to the task.

I happened to luck out and the dealership only took a week to get the parts. 

It may only be commuting to work, but the day is SO MUCH BETTER when I start it on 2 wheels instead of 4.  I loathe traffic so much, and the motorcycle makes it so much less painful.  Add the raw glory of an Arizona morning in April or May, and it's honestly just a great way to wake up.  I missed it quite a bit, and today felt wonderful.   

[AZRedhawk44]

If you have an air compressor,  and bleed brakes even semi regularly,  I highly recommend a pneumatic brake bleeder. $50 well spent.

So I bled my brakes this last weekend, using a hand pumped bleeding unit.  Wasn't too bad, but it's be nice to have a more automated solution.

I've been looking at a suggested pneumatic brake bleeder, but I'm confused how they actually work.  How does positive pressure from an air compressor turn into vacuum at the bleeder device?

[dogmush]

So I bled my brakes this last weekend, using a hand pumped bleeding unit.  Wasn't too bad, but it's be nice to have a more automated solution.

I've been looking at a suggested pneumatic brake bleeder, but I'm confused how they actually work.  How does positive pressure from an air compressor turn into vacuum at the bleeder device?

Venturi effect.

It blows compressed air across a venturi in the top of the large bucket, which creates low pressure inside the sealed bucket, and sucks fluid out the bleeder, down the hose, and into the bucket.  The bucket is big enough you can suck quite a bit of fluid before needing to empty it.

[Brad Johnson]

Venturi effect.

It blows compressed air across a venturi in the top of the large bucket, which creates low pressure inside the sealed bucket, and sucks fluid out the bleeder, down the hose, and into the bucket.  The bucket is big enough you can suck quite a bit of fluid before needing to empty it.

Depends on the unit. Some use a sealing cap and pressurize the fluid reservoir.

Brad

[dogmush]

Depends on the unit. Some use a sealing cap and pressurize the fluid reservoir.

Brad

Those suck.  Do not get one of those.

[AZRedhawk44]

Those suck.  Do not get one of those.

Sounds like they blow.  The ones you described suck.   

[dogmush]

Sounds like they blow.  The ones you described suck.   

    Indeed.

The issues with the pressure bleeder, is if they don't work right, you end up with brake fluid everywhere.  A vacuum bleeder, if it doesn't work, it just doesn't pull any fluid.

[K Frame]

Depends on the unit. Some use a sealing cap and pressurize the fluid reservoir.

Brad

In my experience those are really good if you want to cover your garage floor in a sheet of brake fluid.

For anything else?

No.


Am I the only one here who's nostalgic for the days when bleeding your brakes took two of your friends, plastic tubing, a mason jar, several bottles of brake fluid, and a case of beer?

[AZRedhawk44]

In my experience those are really good if you want to cover your garage floor in a sheet of brake fluid.

For anything else?

No.


Am I the only one here who's nostalgic for the days when bleeding your brakes took two of your friends, plastic tubing, a mason jar, several bottles of brake fluid, and a case of beer?

That's how I used to do it.  One person pumping the brake on command and the other opening/closing the bleeder valve.

[dogmush]

Am I the only one here who's nostalgic for the days when bleeding your brakes took two of your friends, plastic tubing, a mason jar, several bottles of brake fluid, and a case of beer?

Yes, you are. 

I like just hooking the tube up, opening the bleeding screw, turning the air, and scrolling Instagram until I get a solid line of lean fluid, then closing the bleeder.

[tokugawa]

On an old school bike? 10 minutes. Not even enough time for a beer.
On a modern anti lock system? Some seem easy, and some are a nightmare of hoses and pumps and odd fittings. Especially when the pump is the highest point in the system with no bleed point on it.

[AZRedhawk44]

Got back the cylinder head for the BMW today.

This weekend is looking tight to work on it though.  Commitments Saturday and Sunday are likely to preclude much wrenching on the bike.

[JTHunter]

Yes, you are. 

I like just hooking the tube up, opening the bleeding screw, turning the air, and scrolling Instagram until I get a solid line of lean fluid, then closing the bleeder.

No he isn't.  A friend and neighbor used to help me with that on my vehicles.  He even helped me drop the crankcase bottom when my block cracked on my Toyota 4WD p/u and to weld the cracked exhaust pipe when one of the 2 tubes right off the manifold cracked just above the flange.
He taught me how to use oxy-acetylene to weld.

[AZRedhawk44]

Got back the cylinder head for the BMW today.

This weekend is looking tight to work on it though.  Commitments Saturday and Sunday are likely to preclude much wrenching on the bike.

Good grief, it took forever to get the dang thing back together.  But it runs!

There are still plenty of problems to fix on this bike before it's ready to be a commute scooter while I take the Aprilia down for a 12k service... It's missing front turn signals and a horn, the chain and sprockets are shot and the tires might have 500 miles left on them if I'm being generous.  I have horn and turn signals ordered.  I have a chain for it but no sprockets yet.

But I put 5 miles on it yesterday driving around the immediate neighborhood.  It warms up fine, no oil or water leaks anywhere.  Radiator fan turns on when it warms up, turns off when it stabilizes.  Redline is about 8000 RPM, I've taken it to 7500 and it seems fine.  Went to a gas station and back... the low fuel light was on (no fuel gauge, just a warning light) and I put a couple gallons in to see if that turned off the light.  Yup.

Clutch feels funky.  Probably a byproduct of water in the oil from the blown head gasket, with water soaking into the cork on the clutch plates.  As it cooks out the last of the moisture in the engine it should stabilize, I hope. 

Brakes feel off, too.  Front in particular.  Haven't looked into it, but it feels like a glazed pad or something.  Not spongey, more like insufficient contact or resistance when applying brake.  I haven't examined the rotor and pad yet.  It works, just not up to full snuff.

I definitely favor Japanese bike design over German.  This thing is not easily serviceable.  Too much variation in fastener type.  Torx, hex, phillips screws and bolts all over.  My travel tool roll for this bike is going to be a mess.

[Brad Johnson]

Brakes feel off, too.  Front in particular.  Haven't looked into it, but it feels like a glazed pad or something.  Not spongey, more like insufficient contact or resistance when applying brake.  I haven't examined the rotor and pad yet.  It works, just not up to full snuff.

Make sure the caliper sliders are free. If so, find a nice flat surface and deglaze your pads. Couple of passes over a sheet of 80 grit garnet, then a couple of finish passes with 400 grit garnet.

Better yet, do a full caliper clean, fluid flush, and pad replacement. Pads are cheap, even good ones. Are the calipers on your bike easy to service or are they some kind of doodadded-up nonsense that requires dealer intervention?

Brad

[AZRedhawk44]

Make sure the caliper sliders are free. If so, find a nice flat surface and deglaze your pads. Couple of passes over a sheet of 80 grit garnet, then a couple of finish passes with 400 grit garnet.

Better yet, do a full caliper clean, fluid flush, and pad replacement. Pads are cheap, even good ones. Are the calipers on your bike easy to service or are they some kind of doodadded-up nonsense that requires dealer intervention?

Brad

Haven't investigated beyond "does the front brake squeeze and stop the wheel?" before rolling out of the driveway.  I'll inspect later this week.  Probable solution is bleeding, cleaning, and replacing the pads.  But my attention to brakes has been almost nil at this point.  No idea how serviceable they are.

[AZRedhawk44]

Update on BMW:

Was driving it around the neighborhood as a final shakedown earlier this week... and the overheat warning lamp came on on the dash.  Ugh.  I was only half a mile from home so I rode it gently back and investigated a bit.  Radiator fan is working fine, temp sensor is working fine, no leaks in the coolant system anywhere.  Either it wasn't pumping water at all, or the T-stat valve was giving me grief.

Did some research on the T-stat valve for this bike and opted to investigate the water pump instead.  The water pump is on the left-bottom of the bike by the clutch, while the T-stat valve is housed inside the radiator.  Lots of people have stories of breaking plastics while trying to get to the T-stat valve and say don't do it unless you absolutely have to get to it.  Water pump looks fine.  Little driven gears are fine, impeller is fine, it moves when the piston moves.  I figured it was fine since I could see water circulating when I had the radiator cap off and had the bike running while cold.

So... the T-stat valve.  I start digging in...and the radiator has had its T-stat valve plundered and removed.

Radiator has left and right tanks.  Left tank has the fill cap, the outlet to the engine, and the inlet from the water pump.  Right tank is smooth.  It turns out that the T-stat valve blocks water flow from the bottom of the left tank to the top of the left tank when the T-stat valve opens.  Otherwise it allows for a short route for lower temperature coolant to recirculate in the engine until it reaches desired temperature.  Previous owner removed T-stat valve in an effort to keep bike rideable when overheating for some reason, not really knowing how the whole system works.  So I either need an overpriced BMW T-stat valve to put into this *expletive deleted*it radiator design, or I need a new radiator.

There are some aftermarket radiators for this bike that completely bypass the T-stat valve.  The left radiator tank is walled off with an internal solid baffle halfway up.  The pump inlet fills the bottom of left tank, the coolant is forced to travel across the lower half of the cooling fins into the right tank, then back across to the top half of the left tank and on into the engine outlet to repeat the path again.  I ordered one of those.  I'd rather err on the side of being too cool than too hot, especially with where I live.

Trying to decide if I'm going to replace the clutch plates and springs while I have the cover off that particular section of the engine.  Seems like I ought to.

[HeroHog]

MOST water cooled systems require a thermostat not just to let the engine get up to temp quicker, but to also act as a restriction to allow the water to stay in the radiator(s) longer to shed more heat before it returns to the engine. Even NASCAR engines have a restrictor in the thermostat housing with a crude "needle valve" on it allowing them to adjust the restriction/flow. MANY engines run HOTTER without a thermostat than they do with a Properly Working one.

Just food for thought/to start an argument. ;-)

[Brad Johnson]

There's also the possibility of air lock. European automotive engineers seem intent on designing cooling systems with ample places where air can collect unnoticed.

I'd do a full radiator flush first since it's (usually) relatively simple and easy.

Brad