Changing out Fiona's Oil Filter and some windy riding

Friday, December 13, 2019

A very windy day today.  Even on three wheels, you could feel the wind trying to push the rig around as I drove Patrick over to Pickens Technical College for his computer classes.

I'd done all the prep work involved with accessing Fiona's Beemer engine before taking Patrick to school this morning:  Separating the two upper and front lower sidecar mount points along with loosening but not disconnecting rear lower mount, removing the engine's front cover, removing the header pipes (better access to oil filter cover screws), removing the front engine mounting bolt and easing the engine down with gentle levering using a crow bar.  (90 minutes)

Some notes for the next time.

Yes, removing the front engine cover AFTER disconnecting the ground wire, makes things easier, but there's still some coaxing involving a crowbar to get the engine to dip down enough to access the top screw holding the oil filter cover.  (Its so much better using counter-sunk flat screws as modified by Richard Winter).

Putting the sidecar wheel on a small dolly helps a lot when it comes to swinging the sidecar away from the tug in order for the right jug to clear the sidecar frame mount point. (just don't try and lean your weight on the nose, it'll dip easily)

Jack stands under the rider pegs make sure the tug doesn't tip over; but remember to remove the right side jack stand when trying to align the sidecar upper mounts back onto the tug anchor points.

When replacing the oil filter cover, its much easier to put the o-ring on the cover instead of the engine case hole.  If you have to remove the cover again for whatever fitment reason, nudge the new oil filter in to ease the pressure on the cover.

A floor jack is quite handy to lift the sidecar wheel, tilt/lift the tug as needed to enable separation from the sidecar frame mounts and to ease the engine back up so you can reinstall the front support engine bolt.

The whole thing was pretty straightforward and painless and best of all, a solo operation not requiring one of the boys to help tilt/wrestle the tug around.

Took her out for a 12 mile test ride and all was well.  I think Fiona's the rig I'll take glamping next time as it is her turn.

I must be getting better at changing the oil filter on Fiona, the '99 Ural Patrol sidecar rig with the '84 R80 Beemer Engine; it only took me a total of about 135 minutes vice over three hours last time and 5000 kilometers ago.

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As I near the departure date for the next glamping trip, I went ahead and rode Brigitta, my '87 R80 Beemer for almost 30 miles of riding in the windy conditions.  She did just fine, and I was reminded how its really no fun to ride when there's strong winds blowing one's motorcycle around.

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Busy day today, and no negative effects from doing it all during a Friday the 13th!   There's a todo in my future involving the replacement of the rubber seals for the push rod tubes, the seepage is getting worse despite some half-assed efforts to reseat them tighter before today.