Useful URL's and other references
Links to technical sources, people, websites, companies.  How to get special characters printed or sent from your computer.     German words you need to know

url.htm-78A

I'm putting this FIRST, because it is a constantly asked question!  Many of you have obtained a copy of BMW's parts CD (also known as the ETK disc).   The question often arises on how to install it into your computer....and then how to use it!   Here is a link to a PDF file with all the answers!::::
http://www.freewebs.com/azairheads/Tech%20Day/CD%20Installation%20Instructions.pdf

Below are Internet sites that, somewhat differently, and perhaps much easier for you to use than the ETK disc, give you part numbers, or allow you to look up part numbers, versus sketches; have prices, and so on.  Each of these websites does things differently...so if you need some sort of tech information on a part, you might want to try them all.

NOTE that when entering part numbers most sites do NOT want the hyphens nor spaces between the numbers groups.  

http://www.ascycles.com/illustrated_parts_catalog_main.aspx
The above URL will take a considerable amount of time to load up if you are on dial-up.

This next one, Chicago BMW, is a $ discounter.    NOTE that delivery times from Chicago BMW are often QUITE LONG. If you do not need it in a hurry, Chicago BMW Motorcycle can be a good choice if price is super important.   NOTE ALSO that this website demands you enter the part number, so you need to know that number first.
www.chicagobmwmotorcycles.com

Here is one more:
http://www.maxbmwmotorcycles.com/fiche/fiche.asp

Do NOT forget your local dealer, who may well offer a discount, if you are a good customer and you ask!    ALSO, one BMW independent service company that I highly recommend, Ted Porter's Beemershop, is very knowledgeable about parts and service, and STOCKS a huge amount of airhead parts!   It is OFTEN to your great advantage to speak to someone in a parts department that KNOWS airheads!!!
I can recommend this shop for quality and honest repair work of all types on your BMW bike.   See www.beemershop.com   Ted is located in California.

NOTE!   Scattered throughout my website are references not necessarily on this page you are presently looking at.  However, I have tried to keep those to a minimum.  In particular, e-mail addresses, ETC., for those doing specific repairs, and URL's for specific information are listed in this page you are looking at; and, the References page.  An example, where a specific article has information or links, might be the article on ignitions components, where special references are located. 

Note that there are articles on this website dealing specifically with resources....you are looking at #78A..there is also #78B; and, two more are in the sidecar articles.

The PRIMARY source for technical information, especially if you need it fast, is the Airheads Beemer Club mailing LIST, also called the Airlist.  Information on subscribing is at the top of my technical index page:   techindex.htm   yes, that is hyperlinked.    I say PRIMARY, because whilst my website is intended as a major reference source; the LIST covers everything, and you can get a personal reply usually quickly.  A lot of information is on Duane Ausherman's website, and Anton Largiader's website.

Whilst some of the 'guru's' on that Airlist tend to discourage direct inquiries (I do!... as they would benefit only one person), at least one does not:
Oak Okleshen:    AskOak@aol.com

Oak writes a technical article, published in the monthly Airheads Beemer Club magazine called AIRMAIL.    See joinclub.htm for information on joining the Club.   Oak has an index of past articles available.   He also does SUPERB repair work!  Oak was MY personal mentor/guru....or whatever you want to call the relationship.

My personal recommendations for repair work are OAK (Chicago area, and noted above); Ted Porter who is on the West Coast, and does business as www.beemershop.com and Bob Clement in Montana who does business as BMW Montana.

Tom Cutter is in the East Coast area, doing business as the Rubber Chicken Racing Garage.

 I am willing to offer my private thoughts on the above, and for anyone else, not necessarily listed, if I know enough to comment.

Electrics:   

A source for all sorts of electrical items for all BMW motorcycles; and some Guzzi and even Laverda!....is  http://www.Euromotoelectrics.com.    They are at 18195 Augusta Drive, in Monument, Colorado.  (719) 487-9397.  They carry an enormous stock of electric items, including ignition items, starters, alternators, parts to repair them, and so on.  They also repair these things...and also have the EnDuraLast Alternator (it is THEIR product); and, many items that are NOT available from BMW, such as internal diodes and regulators for the oilhead and K bike alternators.....and so on.   Compare their prices with BMW's on BMW-sold parts.    I don't have any financial stake here, this is just a hint.    I have NO financial stake or other interest in ANY company or product I recommend.

There are other sources for some types of electrics, such as Thunderchild, and Motorrad Elektrik (Rick is very helpful, and their alternator product is the Omega).  www.motoelekt.com

Here is a very good source:
Jim Davis, Owner, Eastern Beaver Company:
http://easternbeaver.com/ 
Motorcycle Relay Kits, Modulator Kits, Powerlet, Centech, Posi-Lock, Parts.   A knowledgeable guy, with a somewhat different viewpoint at times.  Quality products, some of which are VERY handy.

Here are two URL's from Daniel Stern Lighting.   You can spend a lot of time looking around this website, going to the main index page and clicking various places.    While this website is primarily for automobiles, it contains a vast amount of very useful information about lamps/bulbs, wiring, relays, blue-white bulbs, myths debunked, technical information, etc.   Worth an hour+ of your time.
http://lighting.mbz.org/
http://lighting.mbz.org/tech/tech.html

Here is the URL for the Chicago Region BMW Club, the source for their various repair manuals.
http://www.crbmw.com/content/view/22/46/
 The Electrics manual is now priced at $30,  is simply THE best electrics manual for airheads, and Oak was primarily responsible for that manual.  HIGHLY recommended.
That website, shorten the URL, also has some information on the background of that Club, and the background on Oak, etc., and those various manuals.     There is my CRITIQUE of the electrics manual on this site:   chitechelmn.htm

Here is a URL for a website page that I suggest you IMMEDIATELY print:
An excellent schematic and discussion of the basic charging system.  It is so good, and so legible, that I SUGGEST you PRINT a copy and keep it in your reference material...as, who knows how long it will remain on-line.
www.buchanan1.net/charge.shtml
For another URL with just the schematic:  http://www.thunderchild-design.com/images/charg1.gif

***********

http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/KRADRIDER

http://www.bmbikes.co.uk/
This is Phil Hawksley's website.....lots of good information there.   You may want to use:
http://www.bmbikes.uk/information


http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/kbmw
Yeah, I know, a K bike group.  A good one.  I participate on that LIST

http://largiader.com
Website of Anton Largiader.  Lots of GOOD stuff.
You can also use:
http://www.largiader.com/tech/

http://www.beemergarage.com/bulletin.html
Has factory bulletins for the pre-/5 bikes.
http://www.beemergarage.com/literature.html  This URL for them has a LOT of literature, all sorts of
things, definitely worth a long look-see.  This one is NOT just for the pre-/5.


http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/slash2/

http://www.bmwbike.com/
This URL link will take you to the Mark Huggett BMW Mobile Tradition site.....a source and reference for, especially, OLD BMW parts, restorations, work, etc.

http://members.aol.com/vechbmw/index.html
That is Craig Vechorik's website for pre-/5 bikes, and lots of good stuff and information.  Vetch stocks a tremendous amount of parts for the old BMW's....and quite a few for the later bikes, including manuals and other literature.   Well worth your time to browse this site.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vintagebmwmotorcycles

For help on PRE-1970 BMW motorcycles:  http://vintagebmw.org

MODEL SPECIFIC SITES:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/5united/
http://www.slash5.net/
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/slash5-BS/
I am sure you can figure out what -BS means on the above

http://www.R65.org    That is for R45 and R65

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/R90SWORLDNET

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/R80STriders

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/kbmw

 Hyperlink to a full factory service manual for the early K bikes, through the K1100, although the link says K100RS:         http://bmw.k100rs.free.fr/files/repair_manuals/BMW%20K1100LT%20K1100RS%20-%20ENG.pdf



You can get a list of motorcycle makes, models, various groups, from the server at micapeak.com:
http://www.micapeak.com/mailman/listinfo

 Just one such group is:  http://www.micapeak.com/bmw/gs/
((and, that above URL has a lot more than just GS.  You will find good descriptions of all the various Monolever and Paralever bikes, including GS; G/S; ST.....

OTHER SITES:

http://www.bmw-z1.com/VIN/VINdecode-e.cgi
for serial numbers and general production dates, there are several sites, here is just one:
http://www.ibmwr.org/otech/chassis.html

There is a vin decoder of a different sort on my (this) site too....see the article IDnumbrs.htm

http://www.dynaonline.com/english/instruct/index.htm
that is for instruction sheets for Dyna ignition conversions, etc.

http://www.bmwmoa.org
That is the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America website.  Click on Country Store to get back issues.


Mike Hamende (Snowbum recommends Mike as a source for good used parts)
NOTE that he also has Oilhead and K bike salvaged parts.
Airhead Salvage and Sales near Austin, TX
(512) 332-2931
105 Moccasin Canyon
Cedar Creek, TX  78612
Mike@airheadsalvage.com
http://www.airheadsalvage.com
http://stores.ebay.com/Airhead-Motorcycle-Salvage-Sales

See my REFERENCES page for more salvage places, MORE sources for parts and sources for most everything else.

Koni no longer makes shocks for our airheads.  The Koni name and tooling was sold, and the new company DOES have products: http://www.ikonsuspension.com/index.html

Hagon Products Co.
7  Roebuck Road
Hainault Industrial Estate
Essex IG6 3JH
England
www.hagonshocks.co.uk
phone:   0208 0502 6222
fax:  0208 502 6274

NOTE:  Wilbers is a good aftermarket shock, available from sources that are Members of the Airheads Mailing List, of micapeak.com



http://www.motorrad-stemler.de    check it out for /2 parts sketches/etc.

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/SCT
this is for sidecars, SideCarTalk is the group name, sometimes referred to as SCT2
NOTE.....there is a sidecar section on my website, more than just one article...but....here is a link to one article, it has some sidecar specific URL's:  sidecarURL.htm

For a list of those LISTS that Micapeak.com handles:
http://www.micapeak.com/mailman/listinfo

Lots of references are on the Airheads Club website:
http://www.airheads.org 
That website has technical articles written by myself....and many others.  Click on that main page under Technical Tips.

Here is a very useful URL.  This is the Bing carburetor page that lets you easily scan down to your carburetor model, and then see what components it is made up of:
http://www.bingpower.com/english/service/einstellblaetter.html

Here is the name of a source for electrical sockets, plugs, cables, kits, far beyond what is in most autoparts stores or your BMW dealership.  High quality stuff here.     Powerlet Products.   You can do a Google on that, or try Whitehorse Press, they have a catalog that includes Powerlet Products.   Powerlet's website is the more comprehensive.

Speedometer work:   North Hollywood Speedometer     www.nhspeedometer.com
( I can no longer recommend P.A.S. for such work).

TOOLS:  clever BMW tools, videos, and help:    Ed Korn previously did business as Cycle Works, in Oregon (yes,
                 that is the town name in the State of Wisconsin). He did some machine work, had LOTS of tools (and some parts) for
                 everything from the Isetta cars, through the /2 era, until the Airheads stopped production in  the late 90's. He had a rather
                 extensive line of tools, some VERY cleverly designed, and he had instructions, videos, all sorts of stuff.    Doing a run-through
                 of his website is informative to many folks.  Ed sold the business to Cycle Works LLC, located at 5805 Haskins Street,
                 Shawnee, KS, 66216   (913) 871-6740.  Contact the new owner at:  Dan@cycleworks.net ((NOT .com!!)). The url is:
                 www.cycleworks.net   Some of his tools are rather clever in design. 

What German Words do you need to know?  click this line

Foreign characters; special punctuation marks; degree symbol, and many dozens are available from your computer.  There are TWO basic ways of getting them on screen.  ONE method in Windows systems is to find the Character Map (Start->Programs->Accessories->System Tools->Character map) and use it.  You might want to put a shortcut to the Character map on the desktop.   Using the Character map is a bit of a hassle, although not overly.   NOTE!!...>>Certain key strokes will put many of these types of characters on the screen.  Typically you press and hold the ALT key, and then, while still holding that key, enter a THREE OR FOUR digit number from the RIGHT SIDE keyboard pad.   Generally speaking, computer folks refer to these characters as ASCII characters.  Originally, there were combinations available for 256 of these.  That has been expanded.  Not all are supported.  If they show on screen, they USUALLY will display OK on other folks screens, except maybe the and symbol (&), might show a question mark...and a few other anomalies...on FOREIGN (NON-USA) computers........but graphics type symbols, in particular, often do not display correctly.   For a rather complete listing of all these characters (be prepared to print them):
http://www.umass.edu/langctr/altnum.htm

NOT all are available on your computer.  ALSO, there are many combinations NOT shown.   Example of some strange ones are CTRL + ALT + 8   which gives a  ¾  symbol.   There are a dozen or two of these types.  Examples of some of the characters...which may or may not show properly on your computer:
¾ ® © œ _{ü ä°Ø‰éߢ¼}

_{USUALLY the standard ASCII chart of 120 characters will display correctly on Western computers.}

Revisions: 
03/12/2006:  incorporated all prev. revisions, and updated URL's for parts and prices sources, re-arrange order of things for clarity.
05/22/2006:  add http://vintagebmw.org
07/19/2006:  update URL's, and information on a few companies
08/01/2006:  add R45/R65 URL; and r-arrange the entire page
01/13/2007:  update salvage yards
02/16/2007:  re-arrange for electrics stuff in one area; add latest contact info for Chitech; P.A.S. note
06/01/2007:  minor editing.   
06/02/2007:  more ASCII information; add Jim Davis' Eastern Beaver
08/06/2007:  Update Anton's website URL information
12/14/2007:  added more info on beemergarage
01/01/2008:  Fix Chicago BMW Club address
01/03/2008:  Add hyperlink for German words
01/06/2008:  move driveshaft information to References page
01/07/2008:  fix moa.org country store hyperlink problem
01/07/2008:  fix crbmw.org website url; remove "For the R80GS and R100GS, only, take a look at:   wendell/gs/node1.html  The
                     link and top domain is dead
01/18/2008:  remove F, OT, Z, S information to article 39
01/19/2008:  Update Cycleworks (tools)

Return to Technical Articles Index

Return to HomePage