Hello everyone!
I just purchased a 1985 K100, and am very excited to start riding. The K100 is my first bike, and I am interested in any tips that you might be able to throw my way! Thanks!

they are a heavy bike ....make sure you have got your feet firmly planted on the ground when trying to moove it around ...time will make it easier

welcome aboard ,,,hope you love the ride ...we do !

Greetings mountainmania (MM) welcome to the forum. If you go to the Portal page here and read the "you have just got a K100 so what now" thread you will get some very good info and advice.
From a personal point of view if you haven't done some advanced rider training program it's a very good idea to do one and advice from me is that treat every other person on the road as if they are a homocidal maniac and they are hell bent on getting you as their next victim.
Ride safe and enjoy the journey.

Thanks! Yeah, I have relied on a bicycle as my sole source of transportation for about three years now in a city where people routinely try to run bicyclists off the road--so I am hoping some of those defensive skills will translate to motorcycles! Plus, I promised the girlfriend I would take a class and also take it very easy (including avoiding the highway) until I felt extremely comfortable (can't disappoint the lady).

welcome MM

ride it like you stole it
seriously these are one of the easiest machines to ride probably pay to
service the fork oil with a flush just so the front end stays put and predictable and as said above service is a must

just get out and enjoy yourself

cheers Tony

We can all relate to being excited about a new bike Mountainmania. Sound advice given above I can't say a whole lot more other than encourage you to follow it. Is this your first ever motorcycle?
88

Okay cool, I made an appointment with my local BMW dealer today to service it. Also, I had contacted the original owner who had the bike for 20 years before I bought it from a secondary owner--just to check up on how often the bike was serviced. He said he had taken it to them every year, so seems like it has been well taken care of.

Yes, the k100 is my first motorcycle, and I am planning on proceeding with caution--but also with fun!

Welcome aboard mountainmania - I'm a little concerned about your comment re. getting your bike serviced by the BMW dealer. As many here will agree, with a little mechanical know how and advice from the members here you could save yourself the serious money that you will be charged by a "dealer" and also learn a whole lot about your bike too - just a thought

Welcome MM! I just bought my first K100RT and I understand the excitement. Definitely heavier than anything I have had in the past, but that can be a good thing too! Everyone here has been fantastic with help and advice, so my advice would be, ask, listen, learn and have fun!

EDIT: and post pictures! we loooove pictures!

Hi mountainmania,
Great to have you with us +1 on the so you have just bought a k on this site and +1 about doing the work yourself, all of the routine service work is easy to do and very satisfying to know it has actually been done properly. Unless you know the shop you really are in a crap shoot as to getting good service. If you lived near Tom Cutter or Anton then no problem take it right on down you would know it will be done right, but elsewhere ? who knows.
Regards,
K-BIKE

Huh, interesting, I guess I didn't even really think of doing it myself since I have no experience with bike maintenance. I was told that BMW recommends some certain checkpoints--and the bike is at one of them now--18,000. The guy I was planning on taking it to has a certification by BMW as a "master certified technician"--whatever than means. He has been pretty helpful so far though. Do you think it is possible to fully service and diagnose potential problems on the bike with absolutely no experience? Cause if so, then I could save myself some money!

mountainmania wrote:Do you think it is possible to fully service and diagnose potential problems on the bike with absolutely no experience? Cause if so, then I could save myself some money!

To get experience you got to start somewhere, could be the correct moment.........

http://www.verrill.com/moto/newkbike.shtml

http://ebookbrowse.com/bmw-k100rt-routine-maintenance-manual-208-pgs-pdf-d160883662

Welcome MountainMania

Nice to see you joining our community.
Depending of you inseam, you may find the K100 pretty high, but that's only when you put your feet on the ground. I don't think that you want to stay static but ride

The majority of us are not professional mechanics, but we maintain our bikes on our own. We are all helping each others. We all started with no knowledge of the K bike and understand that you may have some basic questions.
If you get a problem, post a question and pictures and somebody will reply to you.

The nice thing about this forum is that we are an international community. If you post something at night, chances are that you will get your answer when getting up the next morning.
People from Down Under don't have the same sleeping pattern as our. They sleep during our day time

Send me a PM to get the password for the download page and you will be able to get a lot of documentation.

Enjoy your new wheels and start to get your hands greasy. You will get a lot of satisfaction doing your own maintenance.

CF

Welcome i am surprised your allowed a beast like a K100 as a first bike, here in the UK you are limited to 33 hp until you pass your test, you will be telling us next you can buy guns lol.

Lou

Welcome MM. Advice is to read, read and read. Check forum daily and look at new posts since last visit....sometimes information slips through. It seems like every possible malfunction, maintenance and riding information is somewhere on this forum, most accompanied by photos that are better than the manuals...there is quite a bit of humor too. BMW dealers here are at $95- $125 hour, you can buy a lot of stuff to do your own maintenance for that kind of money. Safety tip, no passenger rider until you have taken class and have several miles under you. kf

Welcome mountainmania, lots to learn here





BIG D