BMW R45 Airhead Review

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The Old Gray Windpasser Test

3 жыл бұрын

The short story about renovating my R45 Airhead and a review

Пікірлер: 50

@FrankReis-kj7bg 11 ай бұрын

As a former BMW-mechanic myself I remember this Bike, espacially the 27 hp-version hier in Germany. Nobody liked this Bike in the shop because of the lack of power. To get fast you had to turn up the engine to higher revs than the other models on the airheads at this aera. While the R45 often used as a beginner-bike by younger people who couldn`t afford a 800 or 1000cc boxer and the restriction to 27 hp max in Germany the R45 often endured hard times with higher revs than bigger models of airheads which resulted into torn off output-valves on the (allways) right cylinder-head by following damage. Selling a used bike with warranty as a dealer without getting new valves on it looked like a lottery. The dealer I worked for learned the hard way and decided to change valves on any R45 and R65 bike he resaled used at his shop. You could never know how many ours on full throttle the second or third or more owner (often students) did on the Autobahn without checking the valve-gap regularly. Compared to the bigger models the valve-shaft is 1mm smaller in diameter on the R45 and R65 which results in faster elongation until it torns off. Good Rebuilders use the 8mm-versions for rebuild. As younger mechanics we made fun arround the R45 a lot. For a test ride we had an old sleeping bag we threw at the mechanic who had the burden to do it, because it could take longer to get arround town. And allways clean your taillight of the smashed insects who couldn`t slow down in time.

@theoldgraywindpassertest 11 ай бұрын

Frank, that's a fantastic story :) I really love the taillight cleaning .. so funny. Thank you :)

@francescosalvioli8073 3 ай бұрын

And always clean your taillight of the smashed insects who couldn`t slow down in time🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 this is amazing!!!!!!

@Darrendoccarter 3 жыл бұрын

Lovely job. Keep up the good work.

@theoldgraywindpassertest 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks fella :)

@bukkaker66 2 жыл бұрын

Hi there! i have another BMW R45, european version, 27 H.P. I call him " the tractor " for obvious reasons. No push, no brake....but lovely sound, feelings and hapiness while riding. I have newer bikes, too, but it is difficult to get these emotions and feelings you get riding classic bikes. I wanna go to UK for a ride soon. Cheers from Bilbao, north Spain

@theoldgraywindpassertest 2 жыл бұрын

Hi there Bilbao. Glad you love the R45 like I do. I'm thinking that I may just fit the 850cc kit in 2022. The bike is fantastic but perhaps a little slow so we'll see how it goes :) Shout if you come to the UK and have a Fantastic Christmas and New Year :D

@bukkaker66 2 жыл бұрын

@@theoldgraywindpassertest thanks mate,same to you.This 850 CC sounds killer....maybe todo much for slow country roads? ;-) Hope to ser you Sión.Cheers

@francescosalvioli8073 3 ай бұрын

Love this bike, if it was mine i'd add the tank adhesive stickers which helps in defining the tank shape...

@theoldgraywindpassertest 3 ай бұрын

It's now one of my previous bikes but I miss it... aside from the leaking oil 😁

@LeeW553 3 жыл бұрын

Great video David, not sure about the dead slug on the top lip. Your bike wasn't leaking oil, it was marking it's territory

@theoldgraywindpassertest 2 жыл бұрын

The slug has now been removed 😀 And thanks 😊

@CRAZYLEGSONABIKE 3 жыл бұрын

Great stuff nice bike pal 👍

@theoldgraywindpassertest 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you :)

@thomasspoerli4659 Жыл бұрын

Sadly, an underrated bike in BMW' s history. Have two or three brand new catalogues about this bike . Greetings from a swiss BMW fan.

@theoldgraywindpassertest Жыл бұрын

Great to hear from you Thomas 😀

@walterkiebart9728 Жыл бұрын

I also own a Youngtimer from bmw a 1999 r 850 r and enjoy riding soo much. Before I had a r 60/5 from 1971 and it was also a fantastic Motorcycle.

@theoldgraywindpassertest Жыл бұрын

Always like the r850r. Looks cool 😎

@walterkiebart9728 Жыл бұрын

@@theoldgraywindpassertest I love the 850 also very much, but I also ride my Moto guzzi v 7 quite often.

@Old.Dude_1969 Жыл бұрын

Beauty Old school Pure BMW ( Messerschmitt Bf 109)

@wolfgangalbrecht8474 Жыл бұрын

👍

@henrydegan6204 8 ай бұрын

Excellent video but please consider to work on the sound. I had to stop watching as the music was way to loud compared to some of your comments. Nice bike and many really interesting camera moves including a drone. Really good job but please try to normalize the sound mix (music / voice) better.

@theoldgraywindpassertest 8 ай бұрын

Thank you for your constructive feedback 😊

@gntdriver2840 11 ай бұрын

When the R45 was introduced along with the R65 the motorcycle magazines criticised it for having no more power than a japanese 4 stroke 250 I dont think BMW sold many in the UK when you could buy a japenese 750 for the same money My mate owned one for a while in the 80's and when the engine dropped a valve and self destructed he was glad of the chance to replace the engine with an R65 unit of twice the bhp

@theoldgraywindpassertest 11 ай бұрын

Before I fitted the upgrade kit, my was so slow overtaking that I had to plan so far ahead I'd send everyone a recorded delivery letter to let them know 😁

@jochenwagner5170 2 жыл бұрын

I got the same old bitch, but very special style… Thank U for this nice production and greets from Kassel to you 🖤

@theoldgraywindpassertest 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you and greetings to you too 😊

@jochenwagner5170 2 жыл бұрын

@@theoldgraywindpassertest where do you produced this? I.o.M.? Greeez tuh U🤩🐶

@theoldgraywindpassertest 2 жыл бұрын

@@jochenwagner5170 Hi. I produced this in the UK near Sheffield.

@jochenwagner5170 2 жыл бұрын

@@theoldgraywindpassertest very fine! Next time I will go there. Is this your homeside? Kind regards Dude.

@theoldgraywindpassertest 2 жыл бұрын

@@jochenwagner5170 Not far from me 😀

@timmit3579 2 жыл бұрын

I like your bike! Comparing it to the G310R (I prefer the airhead twin myself) ; Is there equality in performance, or that a matter of personal likes or dislikes between the bikes? I wish that they could have revived the R45; Instead of carbs; How about fuel injectors? An R45; updated, but still the same style overall...What do you say?

@theoldgraywindpassertest 2 жыл бұрын

Hi Tim. Thanks for your comments. To me the G310 has so much more tech and modern design there is really not that much we can compare. The R45 is based on a very old basic design but to me has quite a lot of endearing features. I too thought about injection. These days we can use Speeduno DIY Efi and then add electronic ignition. I think it's maybe a lot of time and effort for very little gain in power though. Instead, I think I'm going to go for a 850cc upgrade kit that basically changes just the barrels and pistons. It's not that much of an upgrade but I believe the performance is greatly improved. A winter project :D

@EPeltzer Жыл бұрын

Trying to think of any other bike where you can nearly double the displacement and power output in a few hours just by changing a couple of barrels and pistons. Also there's got to be guys with an R65 who've done the 860 upgrade that have the 650cc barrels and pistons just lying in a box somewhere . . . The 650 makes 50hp and 105mph. (With 32mm carbs ...)

@jochenwagner5170 Жыл бұрын

Now I noticed. Double brake system!🍀

@theoldgraywindpassertest Жыл бұрын

Oddly it had 2 discks but only one caliper when I rescued it. I just added a second caliper and it made the world of difference. Well spotted! 😀

@jochenwagner5170 Жыл бұрын

@@theoldgraywindpassertest 😵‍💫

@alloomis1635 Жыл бұрын

650 is the right size for a bmw, but if blinding acceleration intimidates you, 450 acceptable.

@theoldgraywindpassertest Жыл бұрын

Occasionally when I take a pillion I have them help push it away from traffic lights 🤣

@georgekay372 Жыл бұрын

I’m looking to buy a new bike, one of these is an option. I love the idea of it, but I have the mechanical ability of an upside down turtle. Should I stay away from this?

@theoldgraywindpassertest Жыл бұрын

Hi George, the BMW airheads are great bikes but they do need a certain amount of regular maintenance. They are however a great bike to work on and there is a huge pool of resources to tap into. If you are wanting to learn that's great but you will need to be on the tools every so often 😉

@georgekay372 Жыл бұрын

@@theoldgraywindpassertest sounds like it would be a great second bike to learn how bikes work while I’ve got another bike to commute with! I’ll see what I can find!

@franktechmaniac7488 Жыл бұрын

Sorry mate but over here in its homeland we even had a 35 HP version of the R45. Only the R45 N had 27 HP to allow beginners with a limited license to ride a brand new BMW. Later BMW also made the R65 Monolever with 27 HP for those customers. Otherwise nice bike and nice attitude.

@theoldgraywindpassertest Жыл бұрын

Now that's interesting, I always thought that DE got the 27hp one as the carbs were 2mm smaller. Thanks :) Was the N version the one with the nose fairing? Always liked that little nose cone. David

@franktechmaniac7488 Жыл бұрын

@@theoldgraywindpassertest I really don't know if the fairing had been dedicated to one or the other version of the R45. The 35 HP version is very rare over here since you needed to have the unlimited drivers license which would even allow you to ride any other BMW. That's why only very few people would go for it. Moreover the R45 engine is infamous for dropping an outlet valve if you're hard on the throttle. Maybe not on a UK motorways but on the bloody autobahn.

@theoldgraywindpassertest Жыл бұрын

@@franktechmaniac7488 I can't imagine a standard R45 to be anything but worrying on an autobahn :) I had mine on a motorway and it would just about cruse at 70mph on a flat motorway but screaming at about 5500 revs. Since fitting the 860 upgrade kit that's now not a problem. I have just bought a R100 final drive to suit. :) What bike do you have Frank?