Turn signal lens screw

[jagarra]

I was wondering what you did when you lost one of these screws. They are no longer available from BMW, their size is an oddity for the local hardware store. I figure it is a 3.5x.6x25 mm small head screw.

[Rob]

Breakers ?

[ME 109]

Google 'screws China' And you'll be sure to find one eventually.

I've used a bugle type screw in times of need. Well, once. Think softwood screws with coarse pitch.
Just the right gauge and length and it fits and won't crack and it won't come off while you search for another original screw because a wood screw is a bloody wood screw and I don't want to have any bloody wood screws on my bike.
I've got a few loose screws, as I constantly indicate.

[PAS]

MAX BMW shows them 90/6

07 11 9 907 643 FILLISTER HEAD SCREW - M3,5X25 $3.00




Lens head phillips screw AM3, 5x25mm zinc or cad plated steel. Fits nearly every airhead 1970-1995.

[jagarra]

Interesting that Max's has them. When I checked A&S they listed them as NLA on the fiche. Now I did find a supplier that had the correct size, pitch and length. Problem is that they are a standard diameter Phillips head, but they could be trimmed to the correct diameter on a lathe. The price per screw is very reasonable.
How many of you members need some replacements?

I don't understand why different dealers have different items available from the same BMW fiche, Max has the screws but says the lenses are NLA, A&S has the lens and says the screws are NLA. Isn't this the same factory fiche?

[Duane Ausherman]

This may not be important at this late date. I often had BMW parts that were NLA because I went to the original source that still had them, but not ordered by BMW. As a dealer, this caused me lots of grief from B&S.

BMW made almost nothing, they bought all of the parts from some contractor, or they preferred to have multiple sources to not lose the supply. I was able to discover who the original sources were. There was no Internet and it took a lot of digging to discover a source. In every case they were quite happy to sell to me, as a hoppy outlaw repair shop and later as a dealer.

Once, BMW had the European knee pad for the toaster tank and it wasn't offered here in the USA. B&S had just reamed me out for offering them on bikes where the buyer liked the small tank, but hated the chrome. My defense was that I was selling "their" bikes and outfitted them with what customers wanted. It was just too bad that my competition didn't know how to do that. They had their parts person call me to get the BMW part number so that they could order them for my competition. I finally relented and gave it to them.

I am just saying that each person in the parts business may know different sources. To rely on BMW is folly.

[Rob]

Vech shows them: http://www.benchmarkworks.com/onlinestore/partno.htm

[jagarra]

Rob,

thanks for that link, .50 cents isn't bad may get a complete set for all the signals at that price.

[Rob]

I seem to recall the screws had some sort of washer that captured the screw and kept it from falling out of its hole.

Am I suffering delusions again?