BMW airhead snowblower

[marsattacks]

Sitting here in SWPa "mountains" with 18+ inches of snow. Thought I'd refresh this--if you like it there are two more installments @ibmwr.org in the technical articles section.

Hi all. Since we know the Penton association with BMWs is strong and due to the amazing 10 straight days of snow we have had here in SW Pa (with sympathy to those of you enduring worse), here is a project for the weekend to think about.  This was written by a gentleman from Dayton, OH named Tom Keen. I do not know him but seems lile a very nice and also funny person. Now, I might have a 400cc KTM engine I can liberate from a machine to make a Penton equivalent!! This is from the ibmwr.org site and I am hoping they don't mind the post here best, John
             - ---------------------
            Subject: BMW: R100-Snowblower
             *************************************************            
             
             Some of you may be interested in the R100 - Snowblower conversion I
             just completed. The "R-Blower"
             
             Last week all the unusually heavy snow, middle age, no riding time
             and a general psychosis inspired me to pull out the tool box and come
             up with a great solution to snow removal.  I don't suggest this
             project to everyone but if you can do basic mechanical work on your
             bike and have some time, give it a whirl.
             
             I noticed on the news that there was an unusually heavy demand for
             new snow blowers here in Ohio.  We dont get much snow and the 15
             inches of the white stuff that has fallen here in the last week was
             causing folks to dip into their savings and buy snowblowers.  I'm
             cheap and have teenagers and never felt the need for a snowblower,
             but after couple of hours shoveling the stuff and I was ready to
             take the plunge also.
             
             I shopped around but all the snowblowers in southern Ohio had been
             sold.  I finally found a dealer who had an old one that had been
             traded in, and he was willing to let me have it, "for a song."  $50
             later, I was home with a industrial type snowblower - 36" bucket and
             with a blown Briggs and Stratton engine.  I got the dead engine off it
             and was just about to start making a few calls to find a new engine
             when I notice my old motorcycle, sitting in the corner of the garage.
             
             That wonderfull engine was just sitting there on the bike.  Two jugs,
             air cooled, almost indestructible ... a great piece of engineering.
             It seemed, at the time, perfectly reasonable, to take the engine off
             the bike and put in on the snow blower.
             
             It took about an hour to get the R engine out of the bike. I bolted
             the transmission back on and set in on top of the snow blower and
             amazingly, it looked good.  And it fit, if if mounted horizontally.
             
             I drilled out new holes for engine mounts and cut pieces of angle iron
             that were bolted onto the blower's . I cut a larger hole for the oil pan
             of the engine to drop into and let the engine rest on top to the blower.
             A trip to the car parts store and I had a heavy duty pulley which
             I machined out to fit over the output shaft on the transimission.
             
             It was a matter of trial and error but I found a belt that fit,
             connecting the new pulley to the snow blower. Standing back from my
             creation and admiring my work, I realized that all I had to do now
             was move the battery, fuses etc and rig up something to hold a little
             gas and I was ready to blow the snow off Knecht Dr. and into the next
             county.
             
             I used duct tape and fastened a plastic, one gallon milk container to
             the blower and ran a piece of fuel line down to the carbs. Then, I
             removed the hand controls from the bike and stuck them on the new
             snowblower, running the cables to the clutch and carbs.  I fabricated
             little clamps to secure them to the handle bars and at various points
             on the deck of the machine...  The last step was putting the battery
             and various electric components to the snowblower.  I used a mesh,
             potato sack, mini jumper cables, and duct tape to accomplish this.
             And it was Done!  (Ive left out a few details here, wiring harness etc
             so as not to burden you with details)
             
             It looked really good to me. All that engine on top of that big old
             snowblower ...  I could always come back and install  a more
             attractive alternative to the duct tape and the milk jug fuel tank.
             
             With the help of a couple of neighbors, I pushed the new R-Blower to
             the edge of the drive, pulled in on the clutch, flipped the choke
             open and hit the starter button. "VRAAAAMMMAMMM" went the engine. I
             had forgotten how loud these things could be without an exhaust
             system.  Snow instantly evaporated on the side of the machine where
             the exhaust ports were pointed. Dog howled; cats and small children
             ran for their lives. But it ran... god I love these engines!
             
             I manually pushed the shift lever down and slowly
             let out the clutch. The blower's auger begin to spin, really fast. I
             pushed the blower's gear lever into the lowest setting and at idle we
             lurched forward. The Rblower slammed into the first 4 foot drift
             across the drive and "VVRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMM"
             "SHWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH" ... it inhaled that drift
             and shot a blast of snow towards my neighbors house that had to be at
             least 50 feet high.
             
             I had the driveway clear in about 30 mins. The noise attracted folks
             from a 5 block area, two TV crews showed up and the R-Blower was an
             instant sucess. In the course of that day.  I cleared almost all the
             driveways and most of the streets in my neighborhood. My pockets were
             stuffed with $10 and $20 bills from grateful folks.(I donated this
             money to charity, lest anyone think me a ungenerous). And the R-Blower
             and I were on the evening news.
             
             Last night we got 5 more inches of snow and as soon as it's light, I
             will fire up the beast and do it again.
             
             I would be happy to provide anyone interested in this conversion a
             list of parts and specifications.  During the down time this summer I
             intend to mount a real fuel tank and battery holder, and get a decent
             paint job (Im thinking, classic black with hand pinstripping)
             
             Praying for more snow, in Dayton, Ohio.
             Tom Keen
             
             ********************************
             Tom Keen - Dayton, Ohio USA
                    BMWMOA, IBMWR
             ********************************

Mars Attacks!

[David Laite]

Great story Thanks for sharing.

1973 Penton Jackpiner
1982 Yamaha XT200
1982 Yamaha XJ650J Maxim
1987 Yamaha YZ490
2005 Honda CRF450R

[tofriedel]

How about a photo or two??

Tony

[marsattacks]

Tony, the BMW story is Tom Keen's (as above), not mine and is a few years old. For those interested, there are parts II through IV posted on the ibmwr.org site in the airhead technical section. Mr. Keen answers some questions, provides updates and discusses running mods, but no pix.