Replace Wear Items
Once you have joined the Heinkel Club Deutschland (or at least have mailed your application), you should evaluate your machine.
It is very likely that your Tourist has sat around for a while and one or more things might require attention and/or replacement. Listed below are the tasks I pursue immediately upon purchase of an old Tourist.
You can take my advice, or not.
- Tires. Tires on any old scooter must be replaced. Even if the tread is thick, it is likely the rubber is hard and will not perform as designed. Most Tourists use 4"x10" tires. Choose a tire that is rated for 700lbs. Some Tourists implement four lug nut/single piece rims. These can use tubeless tires. If you choose tubeless, you must buy valve stems for each tire. I like the screw in variety that can be found at BMW motorcycle shops. Tires are approximately $75 each and valve stems are approximately $5 each.
- Battery. The battery is a critical element to the Tourist. Most Tourists implement an electric starter. This starter will not work with a weak battery. Original documentation states use of two 6-volt batteries wired in series. The batteries are the 6N11A-1B variety found at most scooter shops. Alternatively, you can use a single 12-volt 11-amp (or 12) battery that has the same dimensions (2.5" x 5" x 5") as one of the 6-volt batteries. I have had mediocre luck with a single battery. I think the pair of 6-volt batteries work better.
- Wiring. Inspect the wiring. Recently running scooters will require less attention than a "barn fresh" scooter. Mice can do plenty of damage!
- Fluids. Change the fluids in your Tourist. The rear drive requires SAE 40 oil. The engine requires SAE 40 during Summer operation and SAE 30 during the winter. The forks also use SAE 40.
- Spark plug. Buy 2 new plugs, one for use and one for reserve. Tourists run well with NGK B7HS with a gap of 0.20" - 0.24".
- Fork bearings. Dry fork bearings will affect handling. If you take on this job, be prepared to buy a new set of 5mm ball bearings. The Tourist requires 66 of these little fellas.
- Mushroom seal. The mushroom seal is made of rubber. An old mushroom seal will fail. Replace it.
- Rocker arm bushings. The rocker arms can be found underneath the valve cover. The rocker arms have two brass bushings, one on each end, that hold the rocker to the slip pin. You can see both bushings and the slip pin in the rocker arm cutaway. This cutaway enables lubrication of the pin. I've seen many of these bushings move to the center preventing proper lubrication of the pin. Check yours. This condition will likely cause engine seizure. If you remove the valve cover, be sure NOT to drop anything into the pushrod hole. If you make the mistake of losing something in this hole, good luck retrieving it. Otherwise, you have an engine teardown in your future.
- Valve adjustments. Adjust the valves according to the Workshop manual.
- Points adjustments. Adjust the points according to the Workshop manual.
- Clean carburetor. If your Tourist has a Bing carburetor, buy a gasket kit from the Bing Agency in Kansas. If you have a Pallas carburetor, you will likely need to create your own gaskets.
- Replace cables. It is likely that your cables are original and might be old, dry and fraying. The gear cables on the Tourist are very different from most other scooters. It is unlikely that you can find these at a local scooter shop. The other cables might be replaceable with cables found at a typical scooter shop. The Heinkel Club Deutschland sells complete cables sets.
- Fuel tap. It is likely that your old fuel tap is nasty and leaks. A replacement fuel tap is cheap ($18) and will help keep your garage floor clean. While you are at it, replace your fuel line too.
For just a few hundred dollars you can get your scooter back into moderate running order!