mechanic info

[paul]

I have a 93 RT that needs work, push rod tubes leaking et cet.
I do routine maintenance but the work required is way over my current skill set.
Bike is located in the Gettysburg, Pa area which I am new to and I do not know of any good independent mechanics to take it to. The Nissley Motor Co in Bainbridge, PA was listed at a couple of bmw web sites as being an option.
Anyone out there know of this shop and their reputation for quality work?
Or can anyone recommend a good airhead mechanic w/in an hour or two of Gettysburg in southern central Pa? Trying to avoid dealerships if at all possible.

Many thanks
Paul

[Ken in Oklahoma]

Welcome to the forum Paul.

I'm not going to be able to help you to locate a mechanic. Hopefully someone will come along who can.

And I agree with staying away from the BMW dealerships--though there are a few who will work on airheads and have a mechanic with airhead experience. Big Twin (not a Harley shop) in Boise Idaho is such a dealer--at least if their airhead mechanic is still around.

You know, these airheads are generally fairly straightforward to work on. If you get hung up trying to find a mechanic you might consider giving it a shot yourself. Do you have any airhead repair manuals? Some are better than others, but going through any one of them will give you a heads up to what would be involved tackling it yourself.

If this idea interests you, you might try looking in the archives for some information on the subject. I don't know how easy it is to zero in on what you want to know about in the archives, but it might be significantly better than it has been.

Or, there are a lot of people who know this stuff and I'm sure some of them will chime in if you're interested in giving it a shot yourself.


Ken

[Kurt in S.A.]

For that part of the country, I can think of two:

Anton Largiader in Charlottesville, VA (about 3-1/2 hours away; http://www.largiader.com)
Tom Cutter in Yardley, PA (about 2-1/2 hours away; http://www.rubberchickenracinggarage.com)

Not within your parameters, but these are certainly the best in that region.

Another thing to put on your radar is the '93 transmission which is missing the circlip. A topic of discussion whether it should be there or not (your transmission won't have it), but BMW had one, eliminated it beginning in ~1985 and put it back in late 1994 or 1995. Kind of makes you think it should be there if BMW put it back in. Anton's site has quite a bit of discussion on the circlip.

Kurt in S.A.

[barndeadr80]

For what it is worth (considering the source, that would most likely be very little) I agree with the idea of tackling it yourself. It is tough to find folks to work on anything anymore with any level of competence. My past experiences with hiring work done have left me to the conclusion that I have a good chance of fixing the bike (or the tractor, car, etc) and if I screw it up, the cost is much less than having paid someone else to screw it up for me.

[paul]

Ken & Kurt

Thanks for the response. I do have the Clymers manual. I used it to remove the tranny and take it to Tom Cutter/
RubberChickenRacing for the circlip issue and general once over. I must say the experience with the Clymers left much to be desired. It gave directions for tranny removal that were time consuming and downright convoluted. I learned that as I spoke with Mr cutter about the procedure for tranny removal. He explained a procedure that would only have taken a fraction of the time spent doing it the Clymers way. But I do not know enough to question the manual and now it leaves me in doubt. I also have heard some of its torque specs come into question.
I can turn a wrench but I am no mechanic and my current situation has me living 5 hours from my bike with only occasional visits until I retire late March/early April. So I'm thinking of having the work done for me over the winter months to be ride ready come springtime. I can always make back the money I spend but once springtime passes it's gone forever. So much for Philosophy 101.
Thanks for the feedback guys.
Paul

[paul]

barndeadr80

You are so right and that is always a concern.
Craftsmanship is difficult to find.
But hope springs eternal.
Thanks
Paul

[Deleted User 61]

10 years ago, Bob Logue Motorsports in Williamsport had a factory-trained airhead mechanic, a left-over from when Williamsport had a BMW dealership. I don't remember his name, but they will be able to tell you if he is still there. He did a good job helping me, back in the pre-internet days.
It is about 2 1/2 hours from you. I'm sure there is someone closer.

[Garnet]

Paul, welcome to the nuthouse.

If you can remove and replace your gearbox and the bike still works, then pushrod tubes will be easy for you. All you need is a tourqe wrench and an exhaust nut wrench. If you removed the trans you probably removed the exhaust, and that is the single hardest part of doing tube seals.

We will be happy to make fun of you help you as you go.