Hi Everyone,

Good to see so many people on another BMW forum.

Hi Beemerbike,
Great to see you with us and from the Twin Cities too, I visited there many a time always during the warm summers never during the winter though. You must have to lay the bike up during the cold bits and I know the salt on the roads is a challenge to corrosion control. I can recall friends who live there showing me lace work undersides of not so old cars where the rust had just eaten the metal away because of the salt. The City used to spend $2,000,000 per year on salt from memory. Still the upside is it is good for new vehicle sales and gives M/C enthusiasts an opportunity to step up the maintenance to battle what an old pal called the Tin Moth.
Regards,
K-BIKE

Welcome on board beemerbike.

This site is growing rapidly and the major subjects for the posts are technical questions and answers.
Contrary to the majority of other forum, we are a bit restrictive as we are mostly talking about one type of bike.
We have a pool of riders with deep knowledge of the 'brick' technology and often they will do tests on their own k100 before replying to a question.

We are not always boring with mechanical talks and have posts on other subjects (and certainly some humor too).
Hope that you will feel comfortable among us and find answers to your questions.

K-Bike was talking about your weather and the salt, and here in Cdn we are sharing the same passion for shoveling snow! Since NAFTA and the free trade agrements with the US, it seems that you are sharing more of your storms with us. In political-economical language, when a country over export, it's called "dumping". In real life when we see a storm coming from the south, we call it "dumping" too.

Cheers,

Crazy Frog.

Hi Frog and K,

I'm sure I'll have some questions, but fortunately I have a great mechanic so I don't have to do too much of my own maintenance. My goal this year is to learn to do my own oil changes. Last year I learned how to change my own brake pads. The rear was a pain in the tush.

Oil change is quite easy. I am planning to do one this week end and may take some pictures and give explanation.
As an example, I aways fill up my oil filter before re-installing it. This is to avoid to have the pump sucking air until the filter fills up. Some people don't!

Changing the rear brake is not a big deal at the condition that you take few steps to make your life easier.... As an example, you have to spread the piston as far apart as possible. When re-installing the caliper, it will be very lose on the disk and then it's easy to align the bolts.

This is the kind of tricks that you will learn on this forum.
Before starting a task, you ask us, and we will give you the points needing close attention.

Stay tune for the pictures of the oil change!

Crazy Frog (by the way, don't call me Frog but Crazy. This is more appropriate to what i am!)

Cheers

Bert

With regard to the rear brake that's exactly what I did. I had the privilege of doing the brakes at the shop I work at and one of the full time mechanics helped me through the process when I had questions.

Hi Beemerbike,
Just one thought about the oil change I suggest you use the genuine BMW oil filter as it is intended to be permanently immersed in hot oil. I am constantly amazed on other forums where people seek to save a few dollars by fitting non standard filters.

On a car that probably would not matter because the hot oil is only inside, but on our bikes the oil is on both sides inside and out, so if the paint is not resistant to hot oil it comes off and circulates!.

I even saw one person had used a car filter which has as a marketing plus a rough grip coat applied to the outside to help in putting it on and off. One guy commented he had used one and some of the grip coat came off in the oil! Eeew!
Regards,
K-BIKE

Yes K-Bike is right (as usual)....
The oil filter should not be painted or coated with any material.

I am not using BMW filters because the closest dealer is 300kms from home.
In stead I am using Hi-Flo model HF163 and when I replace them (after 5,000kms) the little bit of marking on it is still visible.

Yes, Hi Flo is what my mechanic uses. Emgo is the cheap brand we carry, but I don't think Parts Unlimited carries the Emgo one for the K100.

As a side note Beemerboneyard has a bulk buy deal on BMW oem filters.