Variations

BMW manufactured the R65LS from 1982 to 1984 in two colours, henna red and polaris silver, and two delivery markets, UK and US. There were a plethora of variations on these two themes some of which suggest that the bikes were completed from a spare parts bin.

Dashboard. Some bikes have "TURN" stamped in the centre of the green dashboard indicator lamps.

Decals. Usually the red bikes had a black and white decal and the silver bikes a blue decal. However, some red bikes had blue decals.

First Aid Kit The first aid kit was optional, but where fitted there was a red sticker on the LHS side cover indicating that it was under the seat. 

Fork Gaiters. The 1982 bikes had no gaiters. Subsequent bikes had a 14 rib gaiter. The current spare parts pairs a bulky 11 rib gaiter to this model, but the original is still listed for the R65GS and similar bikes. 

Front brake callipers. Most bikes had Brembo callipers, but some had ATE. Both had 36mm pistons. 

Front brake master cylinder.  The shop manual lists both 15mm and 16mm diameter. Both my bikes have 15mm. 

Fuel Tap. Most bikes have the delivery horizontal, but some bikes have the delivery straight down. I think that the latter fuel tap type is suited to tanks with a tap on both sides.

Ignition. US delivery bikes had the headlight always on, so the ignition had only 3 places not 5 as on other models. They also had a headlight relay setup so that the headlight would extinguish when the starter was being used, other bikes having no headlight relay.

Kick Starter. Some bikes had a kick starter. It seems that this was offered as an option on new bikes. 

Hazard lights. Some bikes had a hazard light switch in the centre of the dash.

Secondary Air System. Some US delivery bikes had hardware that reduced pollution by providing fresh air to the exhaust manifold. This system included a pipe from the airbox to the cylinder head, hoses from the vacuum port at the front of the carburettor to the airbox, and some valves inside the airbox.

Sidecovers. Most bikes have black side covers, but some are painted to match the tank colour.

Speedo. (Obviously) Kilometres for Europe and Australia, miles for UK and US.

Tappet Covers. Mostly unpainted (silver) but some bikes have black.

Wheels. These were painted white on red 1982 bikes and silver afterwards. All silver bikes had silver wheels. 

Do you know of any other variations?

Brake Lines

In March 2019 I replaced the original brake lines with Venhill braided lines from Motobins.

The original rubber lines were overdue for replacement. There were some irregularities (bumps) on the outside of the lines, and one of them released a bit of fluid when it was flexed.

Brake fluid on top one after flexing. Not also slight bulge in rubber casing. 

New, shiny lines. 

Needless to say the braking ability of the bike was substantially improved after this.