'88 BMW R100RT. Updated with Pics

[Jarvicious]

Has anyone had any experience with these beasts?  The guy only wants 3k for it, which I feel seems too much at first for a 20 year old bike with 11x odd miles on it.  Then again it was ridden by the shop owner/manager/maintenance supervisor for 9 years and a close friend of his for the remaining, all the while he did the work.  Among the fresh work done:

Corbin seat with gell pads added and professionally reupholstered
New fork seals and bushings
New front tire
Valve adjustment and valveguides redone
Tore down the gearbox and replaced any iffy gears

There's tons more, I just don't know THAT much about engine work.  He said he would ride it to California and back (from MO) set up the way it is and I believe him.  It's a god awful ugly bike but it would be a great sport tourer to add to the stable (on a budget).  If the finances are in order, I think I may pull the trigger but I wanted to see if anyone else has anything to say about them.  Plus, the bike is named Captain Kirk. 

[the_Journeyman]

11,000 miles is pretty low for a 20-year-old BMW.  I've seen similar ones locally for a similar price with 30,000-50,000 miles ~

JM

[raulduke]

Cannot say I know too much but I just bought a 1977 R100S.  R100RT is a great bike though the price seems a little high.  The R100S is getting pretty desireable (comparatively) and I only paid $4100 for mine with rebuilt forks, new rear boingers, new carb seals, rebuilt gauge cluster, new clock and 85% tires. (bought it in St. Louis, MO)

That said, if the gear box work is done the price isn't so bad (that's expensive work).  The old airheads will run forever and if you like the way they ride...and I do...they are a great bike.  Easy to fix, superb parts availability and all day comfortable.

I say if your good with the price, buy it!  Three years from now you won't remember what you paid but you will STILL love the bike.

[Jarvicious]

Sorry, I meant 11x,000.  It's got a lot of miles but 85% of them are highway.  Plus, in additon to the gear box he's had the heads off and the pistons out and redid anything he could see that needed to be redone.  As far as the pricing goes, it seems close to what other people are wanting for theirs.  From what I've found, most of the newer models '92+ are going for around 5k, give or take a grand so I figure 3k plus all the work he's done on it is  probably a good deal.  I was gonna spend some money making the monster more slab-worthy, but this seems like this would make my life a bit more cooshy . 

Cannot say I know too much but I just bought a 1977 R100S. 

I like the S's a lot as well, it's just a different kind of bike than I'm looking for.  Do they run the same motor, give or take? 

[ozmanyyy]

I've had some newer beemers in the past and a number of friends who have R100's. All I can say is that they seem to last forever, with minimal maintenance. 111K is not a big deal. Means its been ridden and maintained.


If you dig it, go for it.

[Carstarphen]

Jarvicious,

For a frame of reference go to the URL below and click on the older airhead twins:

http://www.ibmwr.org/market/

I think some of the prices will surprise you. In the worst case scenario, you could probably part this bike out and get most of your money back.

[Jarvicious]

Jarvicious,

For a frame of reference go to the URL below and click on the older airhead twins:

http://www.ibmwr.org/market/

I think some of the prices will surprise you. In the worst case scenario, you could probably part this bike out and get most of your money back.

Wow.  Despite the high mileage on the bike here in town, it's priced pretty damn well it seems.  There's an '80 R100Rt with 22k on it on that site who's asking the same price and it doesn't have half the stuff done to it as this one.  I have to check in on the loan, but I'm getting the itch. 

[Popeye the Sailor]

I hate shopping for BMW motos. I've wanted one for a while-know what I noticed?

New ones-expensive.

Recent ones-expensive.

Then....they just...never get cheap-by the point they start getting long enough in the tooth to be worth a bit less, they are then so old that they're now collectible, so the price climbs again. I'd buy it, btw.

[Jarvicious]

Yah, I remember your post about the GS.  The guy who's selling this bike has been riding around on a GS for about a year now and he can't rave enough about it.  From here to the west coast to the east coast and back (along with some fire trails) and it's still running perfectly. 

I know what you mean though about the pricing.  When you're spending 5k on a '78, you have to wonder why exactly. 

[Popeye the Sailor]

Yah, I remember your post about the GS.  The guy who's selling this bike has been riding around on a GS for about a year now and he can't rave enough about it.  From here to the west coast to the east coast and back (along with some fire trails) and it's still running perfectly. 

I know what you mean though about the pricing.  When you're spending 5k on a '78, you have to wonder why exactly. 

I just figure they know something we don't? It's the primary bike on the road in the winters here.

[myssrhl]

Get it...
It is like buying a VW Bug (not new ones) ... always worth what you paid and someone will always buy it

[Jarvicious]

I give you, "The Big Dirty".



It took about a week and a half to get all the financials sorted out through my credit union (don't get me started on this.  I almost shanked a pregnant dog) but she's finally mine.  All in all it's been an interesting ride so far.  I picked it up Thursday and decided to head to St. Louis for the weekend on Friday after work (about 130 miles).  All in all, the ride went remarkably well for me having had very little time in the saddle and barring the initial in-town snafus I had before I even left.  Then again, it wouldn't be a proper motorbike trip without a few random problems  .

Due to a latch issue with the rear trunk and the fact that I was just going for an overnight I decided to take the trunk off the back and simply utilize the paniers.  I had more than enough room for a change or two of clothes, toiletries, bulky ass rain gear, and a couple other emergency odds and ends.  As you can see in the pics, the stock latches on the bags have long since been replaced by a couple of guitar style latches riveted directly into the plastic.  It actually took me two days to realize it wasn't even stock, so I have no problems with it as they hold up very well.  I DIDN'T however anticipate briging anything back with me which ended up being a problem Saturday before the return trip (note to self).

I loaded everything up, stopped by the GF's for a quick goodbye, and I was off.  Not a half mile from her place and the shit heap (I mean that in the nicest way, in case she's listening) just shut off.  No throttle.  Barely cranked.  Dead.  Ohhhhhh was I pissed.  I was hugging the curb doing my best not to block traffic, but it's 4:30 on a Friday on a road I wouldn't exactly call barren.  I wheel her off onto a side road which happens to be at the top of a good sized downhill.  Excellent, I'll get her running and try and bump start it.  It has much less compression than the Duc, should be easy.  Nothing still.  What the hell is wrong with this thing?  I manage it into a parking lot and realize (drum roll):  Carbed bikes have fancy little on/off valves for their gas lines.  I knew this.  I knew this.  Following a sigh of relief that there's nothing actually wrong, I work on getting back to business.  I choose a driveway to do a turn around in and half way into the street, she decides to start leanin.  While she's aircooled and fairly light compared to some of the competition, there was nothing I could do.

Crunch.

My first instinct was to just try and pick it back up.  Don't be stupid.  Thankfully a guy stopped his car and gave me a hand.  Nothing wrong save a scuff on the head and some gas on the road from the carb.  At this point I have to weigh a 200+ mile round trip against kharma.  What did I do to deserve this?  make the beast with two backs it, I'm goin.  (I think I actually said that out loud)

It was 50 degrees and sunny when I left and the first thing I noticed once I hit the superslab was the wind protection compared to the S2R.  I haven't had too much experience with faired bikes and I can tell you, it's night and day.  I turn on the heated grips, just to see how they work in this temp and settle in. 

While the windshield is a good sized chunk of protection, it's still not enough to hide all of my 6'4" frame from the wind.  I can run with my visor open with some discomfort, but I still get a substantial amount of wind noise through the vents in the top.  The earplugs are going in next stop.  Rt70 is usually pretty crowded at this hour, and Friday was no exception.  It's the major East/West from Kansas City to Stl. so there are a good amount of semis trolling around.  Time for a draft test.  Here's where I discovered some things about faired bikes.  With the Duc, cutting wind is a seamless affair.  Even on the most blustery of days there's no problem keeping the bike in line, in fact, I usually get most of the wind buffeting while the bike is solid as a rock.  The "Dirty" was a whole new ball game.  Anyone who's ever said faired sportbikes do better in wind than nakeds need to lay off the sauce.  A full on sport bike may very well do better than this beast, but holy hell was it hard to keep on line.  It wasn't really all that scary but it definitely wasn't what I'd call stable in the wind.  Whatever, I'll get used to it.

A quick gas stop a few miles out of town and I'm the road for the long haul.  These fairings are something else.  Every once and a while I'd stick an extremity out into the wild blue and even in 50 degree weather, I could appreciate the protection.  It was much, much worse after dark.  Just a knee in the wind for a minute or two let me know just how miserable I would have been on the Monster.  I love this bike.  I get to the hotel without a problem and proceed to bullshit with my gearhead buddy over my new toy.  The weekend went well and I got my fair share of Mardi Gras beads at Soulard's celebration parade.   

Saturday morning we wake up to a mild dusting of snow and 20 degree air temps.  I was semi expecting this so all I can do now is hope it melts off by the time I head home.  We get breakfast, hit the parade for a couple of hours, and head over to Gateway BMW to look into getting a spare key cut.  As it turns out, I already had a pair on a keyring in the glove box, but they looked different than the original.  I just hadn't figured it out yet.  No biggie, heaven forbid I have to wander around in a Beemer shop and drool a bit.  They actually had the old K1300R that my shop guy traded in for his R1200GS, not to mention the owner at the BMW shop actually knew him.  Small world.  He also had a rack full of Olympia summer jackets for $50 bucks each, so I picked one up for me and one for the GF.  I guess it wasn't a total wasted trip after all and a thanks to the guys and gals at Gateway.  I'd stop in again in a hearbeat.

A couple of scheduling issues/ drunken decisions later, we make it to Seamus McDaniels grill for one of the best burgers I've had in quite a while.  We're talking top 10 in my life here.  Dinner was good, but it's getting late and sunset is not going to help the temperature situation.  We make it back to their hotel and I get geared up, and geared up again.  By the time I'm finished, I can barely even bend my arms to put my helmet on.  Worth it.  It's 7:30, the bike is warmed up, and I'm off after some goodbyes and promises of sending me the coffee and cigars Heather picked up in the Dominican Republic which was supposed "mailed out asap" a few weeks ago  .

Homeward bound.  I gas up and hit the road.  There's a Blues game in town in addition to "Mardi Gras" so the city itself was insanity, but it was quite serene once I got out on the interstate.  Ten minutes in and I remember thinking "I wonder how long it takes these grips to warm up".  I praise myself for the 4/5 layers I donned earlier and decide to quit being a candy ass, suck it up, and get home.  I again appreciate the wind protection, but there may be some modifications later to the fairing to include better hand protection.  My pinkies start getting cold.  This is when I discover the true beauty of the throttle lock.  For some reason, my grips aren't getting to a temp I would consider "useful" so I alternate hands keeping one after the other in behind the wind screen and out of the air.  I stick a knee out for a bit to test the waters.  Yep, much colder than yesterday.  I love driving/riding at night because there's less for you to pay attention to.  The time flies by along with the miles

I pass a couple of familiar exits and realize I'm only 20 or so minutes out.  Awesome, I think, until the bike starts to shudder and lose power.  What?  It's not a feeling I'm used to when it comes to motor vehicles and I pull onto the shoulder to investigate further.  I turn it off and back on.  Idles well and seems to throttle up ok.  Guages look ok (including the built in volt meter, which is just weird to me).  I have an idea.  I turn off the grips (you remember, the ones that weren't working right), rev her a couple of times, and accelerate back up to speed.  Everything seems to be running ok so I turn the grips back on to experiment.  They actually work.  Hmmmm, the plot thickens.  I ride for a few more miles until she starts in again with the shaking.  I turn the grips off, and voila!!!  No more issues.  I run it a bit longer thinking I have the problem licked.  Oops, back to the shakesthis time with the grips off.  The only thing I can think of now is fueling.  There's no way I could be out of gas.  The trip meter reads 85.  No way.  I pull off and turn the fuel turned to the "Reserve" setting.  All seems to be well.  Here's when the hypocondriac in me kicks in.  Why should I be out of gas.  Why aren't the grips running right?  I don't know the girl well enough to make a decision just yet, more invesigation to come.

First things first though, I get home and breath a sigh of relief.  I'm expected at a birthday party for a buddy so I proceed to de-clothe and decompress a little before I head out.  It seemed colder here than in St. Louis, so I check the temp online.  21 degrees.  Limits discovered.

I can't even fathom getting rid of the Monster, but I know for sure that this trip would not have gone down on it.  No way.  Not within the physical realm we occupy.  I can do a good sized trip on the Duc, but I'm thrilled to have something I can run comfortably on for long hauls, not to mention include the girlfriend in.  Now to work out the bugs.  I love my bike.   

Sorry for the novel (kinda  ).  A few more pics:

[swampduc]

nice writeup and nice bike. Good luck with the grips. Damn I hate electrical issues.

[Paegelow]

Awesome!!!  I want one 

[Jarvicious]

Awesome!!!  I want one 

Not after you found out she has alternator problems.  Grrrr.  That little red light is the bane of my existence.  The shop guys said old airheads were quirky.  Understatement.