[mattid7]

Yeah, cudos for that plan!
... but by looking at the pics and reading the posts I come to the conclusion:This Bumble Bee won't ever fly again.
Stop wasting time and money, sell the useful parts (or keep them) and get yourself a fresh one.

Tom, I'm retired and need a winter project! The Bee will Fly!

 

[mattid7]

Very interesting, How did the crank and cylinder bores hold up? I've know few vehicles that flooded and the bores were full of water for only a few weeks, and seriously corroded so much the needed boring +2 piston sizes. if someone has tried starting it then all sorted of damage would have happened. Did the transmission flood also?

The crank, cylinders and pistons are perfect, a few of the intake valve seats had some pitting so the heads are in the engine shop for resurfacing and I got all new intake valves they did not hold up well but exhaust valves are fine. As for the transmission I found like a teaspoon of water inside with no damage, I cleaned flushed and reassembled.

 

[gene_apodaca]

The game has gone into extra innings!! Woo Hoo!!!

 

[Sundodger]

(I got the cases to a good welder but the alloy will not accept a weld, new cases on order)

That piece of information will be really useful to another forum member who damaged a case very recently and was looking at a weld repair as one of a number of options to get his bike back on the road. I didn't chime in at the time about the viability of successfully weld repairing an aluminium alloy casting but I had my doubts that it would be successful based on my own experience some years ago with an XS750. I damaged a case through my own stupidity and attempted to get it weld repaired. The welders in the submarine workshop I took it to couldn't do anything with it despite trying a few techniques. They said it was down to the composition of the alloy used in the manufacture of the case.

 

[David37]

I respect you for taking on the challenge. My take away is that a salvaged flood bike or vehicle can have hidden damage that could be catastrophic and very expensive to repair.

 

[BlitzSchnell]

Well for the bike I paid approximately $3100 USD. The entire engine & main harness has been ultrasonic cleaned with cleaner designed for electronics and electrical devices (S1) also all connections have been treated with SuperCoreA ( $125 can) to prevent any more corrosion, we used this extensively in the Aviation field I worked in, this product is a life saver. View attachment 161294

Good ….. now it begins to make sense ….. @ $3.1K and you doing the work …. what do you figure you put in cash for “stuff” .. 5 to $8K ? That’s going to be a nice ride for around 10, and you’re going to know her inside and out …. Find project 🫡 ………………………………. Blitz

 

[Gene]

I admire you for taking on the challenge, I have some mechanical skills so this would be stretch for me. If I took something like this on it would be as a learning process. The value to you is what matters, not anyone else's perceived values.

 

[Box3rCup]

Hi all, so a few weeks ago I joined the NineT Owners forum and posted my first post with a picture and some minor description but now I need to give you all the back story on my new (.1 miles) 2021 R9T Urban 40th Anniversary G/S. First its a Flood bike (first strike) and I knew it was going to be a very intensive repair but this poor bike had a very bad time after the flood. After I got it home the first thing I needed to do was drain all the oils, so I took the engine drain plug out, No Oil. After further inspection I noticed cracked engine case (strike two) the salvage yard must have used a forklift to move the bike and cracked the engine cases. (I got the cases to a good welder but the alloy will not accept a weld, new cases on order) During the engine disassembly I found one of the cam-chains broken, (strike three) someone must of tried to start the bike after the flood! Can you believe that! I'm also not holding out much hope for the DME (we'll see when I power up) also the alternators voltage regulator is burnt out, so I will need at least a used one to salvage for parts. I've been working on this bike since late November 2022 and I have over 125 hrs into the bike, everything is cleaned and inspected and I'm waiting for parts to come in. For those wondering how far I tore down the bike, well it might be easier to tell you what I didn't take apart and that would be the front forks (their sealed) all else was disassembled, cleaned & inspected. I will add a few pictures now and I will update from time to time, I hope to get this bike up and going sometime this summer. Keep in touch. MattiD View attachment 161232 View attachment 161233 View attachment 161234 View attachment 161235

you are truly a masochist... good luck with this adventure

 

[14060M]

insane project but nice bike. keep us updated

 

[Dauphinais]

Good luck @mattid7

I'm of the school of thinking that everything can be fixed, and everything can be restored. We're all pulling for you.

 

[gene_apodaca]

I'm of the school of thinking that everything can be fixed, and everything can be restored. We're all pulling for you.

I'm with you on that idea. When I was a kid, my elders straightened and reused nails remembering shortages from WW2. I try to cobble things back together until there's no material left.

 

[mattid7]

Update! The engine build has started, I'm waiting for some valve shims (coming tomorrow) and then the heads can go on, I will do the cam timing later (just found a kit through MaxBMW for $266 that has all the special tools (In stock) for cam timing, tensioner w/ratchet, sleeve & cam lock plate). I will probably start the bike build in the next couple of weeks.

 

[Kowalski]

nice job! just fyi you are leaking your adress (i assume) on the second picture

 

[mattid7]

nice job! just fyi you are leaking your adress (i assume) on the second picture

Thanks I didn't see that!

 

[14060M]

Love it and can't wait for more

 

[mattid7]

Sorry it has taken me so long to give you all an update but I have been very busy building the bike, the engine has been done for a few weeks and I have taken it and the rest of the bike out of the basement to start the build. First I need to post pictures of the special tools need to set the cam/crank timing, I purchased them from MAX for a reasonable price of $266, they come in a kit, check it out!

 

[mattid7]

Now here's some pics of the build!

I did a first power up since the flood the other day and all I got was the headlight, taillight and the heated grips, I quickly traced the problem to the Main power relay (first thing I suspected) it's actually call the "Waterproof Main Relay" which was full of water, I inspected it during the rebuild but because it was sealed I couldn't do anything with it, all else (harness, etc) was ultrasonic cleaned and preserved with SuperCoreA. I new relay is on order and I should have a complete power up this weekend with possibly an engine start!
PS: I jumped the connections at the relay and I was able to check everything electrical, all works! blinkers, horn, etc!

 

[Benkos]

Now here's some pics of the build! View attachment 162634 View attachment 162635 View attachment 162636 View attachment 162637 View attachment 162639

I did a first power up since the flood the other day and all I got was the headlight, taillight and the heated grips, I quickly traced the problem to the Main power relay (first thing I suspected) it's actually call the "Waterproof Main Relay" which was full of water, I inspected it during the rebuild but because it was sealed I couldn't do anything with it, all else (harness, etc) was ultrasonic cleaned and preserved with SuperCoreA. I new relay is on order and I should have a complete power up this weekend with possibly an engine start!
PS: I jumped the connections at the relay and I was able to check everything electrical, all works! blinkers, horn, etc!

Your pics somehow make the whole bike look remarkably simple. Very impressive!

 

[DaveSnowPros]

That piece of information will be really useful to another forum member who damaged a case very recently and was looking at a weld repair as one of a number of options to get his bike back on the road. I didn't chime in at the time about the viability of successfully weld repairing an aluminium alloy casting but I had my doubts that it would be successful based on my own experience some years ago with an XS750. I damaged a case through my own stupidity and attempted to get it weld repaired. The welders in the submarine workshop I took it to couldn't do anything with it despite trying a few techniques. They said it was down to the composition of the alloy used in the manufacture of the case.

Hence the reason I didn't go with the weld repair in the end. To do that would have been actually more expensive than just putting a new engine in.

 

[mattid7]

Your pics somehow make the whole bike look remarkably simple. Very impressive!

Thanks Tim, it was a good thing that I took a lot of pictures, I had to refer to them many times for routing of lines & cables but even with the pictures it was difficult to see the routing because of the dirt from the flood, I'll attach a pic so you can see what I'm talking about.

PS: BMW stuffed 10lbs of crap into a 5lb bag on this bike, my F650GS was much easier to assemble.