It seems that I really need it. Luck I mean.

Well then. That Japan import K100 owner said that he would order that front brake maincylinder rebuild set (70e), and install it with me, and he would then sell the bike to me at price of 3000e. I have now seen total of 4 different K bikes + that one, and this is by far the best what comes to condition etc.

How often you grease your drive splines (km)? In this one this procedure is done (and I'm sure of it) quite recently. I must check the km reading from owner. And I think it might even really be only driven that about 70 000km in total since it is Japan import.

I'm really close closing a deal on this one. It is not cheap, but I think it is worth it.

How often you grease your drive splines (km)?

Haynes is saying annually or 15000k frequencies

moly 60 or optimol paste

search forum for more on this

That is about the same price as a good one in Australia and finding any early K in Australia in good condition is difficult.
If it feels right then do it. It is not very often that a gut feeling is wrong.

Be made wrote:

Haynes is saying annually or 15000k frequencies

What does BMW say? Since that seems ridiculous. It would mean that BMW:s shaft would really need more attention than normal chain bike with oiler installed.  

I thought something like 10 years / 100 000km frequence or something. How often you grease your cars shaft or rear? That just can't be right.

I'll have to do some search really, since this might be the final punch for me to give up getting more K bikes. I would like to have a reliable bike that would go on and on with basic maintanence.. Not a bike that has to be blown to pieces annually.

And is it same for 8v and 16v since they do have different shafts etc. ?

G,day,,

No one has mentioned belts yet, I,ve got 80,000 K,s on my 08 Harley Fatboy and the belt is still going strong, smooooth as and Strong..

Cheers Ballsy

A BMW needs on going and comprehensive maintenance like any other piece of machinery. If you neglect it things will start to fail.
The maintenance free motorcycle is as mythical as a paperless shithouse. BMW will tell you that you don't need to do any lubrication of the splines but experience says to do it at each tyre change. K riders were finding out just how wrong BMW was from about 40000km onward.  The paralever rear drives don't need it as often but I would do it at least at every 30000km stage

Ballsy wrote:G,day,,

No one has mentioned belts yet, I,ve got 80,000 K,s on my 08 Harley Fatboy and the belt is still going strong, smooooth as and Strong..

Cheers Ballsy

what destroys the belts is if you pick up a stone between sprocket and belt.
other than that they seem to last forever.

Hi there, regarding the belts, from what I´ve seen, are smooth, silent and dependable. My Harley friends had never ever complain.
Maybe for very high powered or all terrain bikes are not suitable but for the rest seems to be the better solution.
Best regards
JAP

I have had 2 belt bikes so far. No problems, but I did not drive them so much. Buell XB9S (only 2000km) and H-D XR1200 (about 11000km).

My bikes so far in case someone is interested:

http://tinyurl.com/nfmvnqg

Tomorrow morning I will go for that longer testdrive with that Japan import K100RS.

Ohh. I'm almost ready to give up.   

Drove a good testrun with that Japan import K100RS today - approx 45mins and some 60km. Stopped halfway to inspect bike once more really throughly. At that point - after 30km - I was really pleased. Driving position is great and bike runs smoothly, engine was perfect etc. Well know problem was that front brake master cylinder. And while inspecting I found out that rear brake has the same problem. Drove bike back to it's owner thinking that we probably will find solution to that too.

Then back at garage I took of helmet inspected bike once more, brake discs etc. and noticed that it had marked it's place..   

There is a coolant fluid leak at front of the engine (small hole). Is this a sign of something going bad, or is it normal after long period of time that bike has been unused and after first longer trip? I think it is not normal and it kind of halted the deal.

I think I just must admit that I can't get a good bike with my humble budget.

some people let the coolant/oil leak go for yrs and it never grows bigger.
the leak on my 85 K100RT bothered me. so i repaired it.
easy fix, about 2 hrs and well documented on here and other sites.
most dealers have the parts in stock.

Tenox wrote:Ohh. I'm almost ready to give up.   

I think I just must admit that I can't get a good bike with my humble budget.

Dude . . . Im almost ready to give up on this too.

What do you expect for a 23 year old machine ??, and only paying one quarter or less than you would for a new one.

If you want new reliability etc you will either do a full rebuild of an old machine or buy a brand new one.

Pretty much, either way you get what you pay for. Mine, an 89 LT cost me 2500 nzd and then another 5 grand to restore back to new and then another 2 grand to repower after a bigend failure, so . . . 9500 $$   . BUT.  .  it IS what I want  . . .now . . . 18 months after purchase

If you just want to ride and park . .  ride and park . . buy a brand new suzuki or something, 500 - 650 cc, do 20000 on it and then trade it in for ANOTHER new bike

The thing is man, and pretty much all of us on here know this, we are playing with almost CLASSIC machines. As such, YES, they ARE frought with problems and little things that wear out from time to time. They stopped making k100's a long time ago! Therefore, whether we buy a 1980's jap, germain , italian british or whatever, they are ALL going to have the same idiosyncrasises of things wearing out (or about to)

For 6 grand I cant expect a young 1000 cc bike. I CAN get a nice old one though, and be prepared to get my hands dirty from time to time.

For me the benefits of owning and operating a K100 on a daily basis @ around 20000ks a year on sunday rides far outweigh the costs of owning and operating virtually anything else on the market

With anything else I don't feel as though I get the same cost effectiveness, ride, reliability, comfort , handling, car like smoothness, quietness or handling or prestige that I do with a BMW .

Thats just my 2 cents worth and there is bound to be plenty of people who don't agree with me but I am not interested in that

I am a K100 owner and this is a K100 forum.

If people want to pipe up the benefits of other brands then, to me , they are doing it in the wrong place and I feel sorry for them. Put this way - if I owned a yamaha I would be on the yamaha forum

If you are not prepared to get burned, stay out of the kitchen. Thats all I am gonna say

This is my last post on this thread

Good luck with whatever you eventually decide on

Oh Be made do not go away from this thread! I appreciate what you say even though it may not always seem so.

My words - in one sentence you quoted - is 1:1 most of your words. In lot more sentences... That is just what I ment. Is my budget reasonable on this project? Which is buying almost 30 years old bike to everyday use.

This is the thing I am now trying to solve.

I could get decent R1200ST for about 7500e (30 000km, full service records etc.) but I would have to take a loan for it. Or I could buy this lovely K100 for 3000e but with the flaws I have reported. Without a loan. I don't know what it would cost for me to fix that coolant leak + those brake fluid leaks, but I think that about 300-400e would do it.

So it all comes to that. What I want. I do not know. That may be the problem. In many ways my current K100 is in perfect condition. It does not leak anything from anywhere except front forks. Engine seems to have equal power of 16v version etc. But I have had so much problems with it, that it is very diffucult to trust it anymore. Also there is that problem with throttle that bugs me. And I don't seem to get it fixed.

Well as I said. K100RS seems to be perfect fit for me what comes to ergonomics. So I would really like to get one in good condition. It just seems so that in Finland with my budget there is not one.

I don't believe you will buy a K100 anywhere that has not got some problems to fix. The problems you describe are easily fixed and not expensive.
When I bought my K1100 there were quite a few problems but once they were fixed and I was up to date with the maintenance I have had very few problems and the ones I have had could happen to a 3 year old bike just as easily.
Like I said If it smells good eat it. If you like it buy it.

I have checked out (from forum) the procedure of fixing water/oil pump seals, and I have to say that it is too much for my skils.   

So I think I have to forget this K too.

Getting someone to do it is only 2 hours work and it isn't any harder than taking forks apart to put new seals in. You can even buy a new pump and fit it yourself.

Tenox wrote:I have checked out (from forum) the procedure of fixing water/oil pump seals, and I have to say that it is too much for my skils.   

So I think I have to forget this K too.

working on your bike is a challenge, just like life.
i love the challenge, after i have fixed all problems on a bike i get bored and usually sell.
working on a bike and the pride that comes along with fixing it youself is priceless.
my current K100RT is bike # 36
the repairs on the K are all well documented with step by step inst all over the net.
there are people on here that have stripped down the K to bare bones and have never been there before.
plenty of friendly help on the forum to get you through any problem on a K you might come accross.
if you feel you can't handle it and do not have a local mechanic, maybe you should buy something new with a looong warranty.....

kartooo

if you feel you can't handle it and do not have a local mechanic, maybe you should buy something new with a looong warranty.....

Maybe I should.. Maybe I should.

I have hands full with current K100. I have done about +100 hours of work with it allready, including changing the main seal and clutch disc etc. I will have to fix that sticky throttle and I'm planning to do some paint jobs and little modifications too. Next winter. We have a short summer, and I just don't want to spend that too in my garage.

So maybe this is the answer. To keep this current K100 as a hobby - I do know that it is in very good condition in many ways. Engine rebuild and tuned and all. One day I might even afford new fork pipes or maybe a different front end alltogether with better brakes. It would also keep me interested on this forum that I do like and where I have had help before.

AND to forget that silly idea to get a good touring bike for 3000 euros. A little loan would raise my budget to 6000-8500 euros which would be enough to get a decent low mileage touring bike like for example that R1200ST.

I will have to give this a serious thought. Thanks.

Why don't you save a big heap of loot and but 2 good fork legs and swap them over in 1 day and you do know that all is good.
If you get rid of it now all that work you did is for someone else to benefit.  When you consider the costs of repayments and some maintenance the costs of some extra maintenance is small and you know then that what you have is good.
I have made the mistake of selling something because I get tired of working on it only to realize my mistake when the next bike is also in need of the same maintenance.

I'm not selling my K100. I will - if I get that new bike - just put it to garage waiting for inspiration. It is not the forks that concern me, it is that throttle cable which - due it's poor design - will need tearing whole bike to pieces before I can even see is there something wrong with it.

What comes to the fork pipes. They would cost 800 euros + cargo. I'm just thinking that if I could find used K1100 or K10016v front end with that money - so that I could upgrade brakes too.

Reason for the hunt for the tourer comes from the fact that my K100 is not that suitable for longer trips with luggage. It is quite good for solo riding without any stuff. About 500km / day is doable, although my left hip has something wrong in it and it starts to ache after a while. My bike has altered frame (back) so original sidebags won't fit.

Me and my 3 friends do annually one about week long trip. I have done it with different bikes and setups, but now it seems to be the time that I would really like to have a bike with decent sidebags and riding position.

Yes the aches and pains catch up with us much sooner than we expect. I have a tourer and am now in the process of building the day ride bike for some extra fun.

Here is one possibility.

http://www.nettimoto.com/bmw/rs/1646195

It is cheap - and I think it will go even less than asked. It has better brakes on it, maybe whole front end. It has nice exhaust on it and the text says it has had 2500e engine repair at year 2003. It has original bags etc.

What am I thinking is: Buy this and drive with it for about two seasons and then scrap it for parts for current K100. If I could get it like for 1700 euros and if it has solid 16v front end. It would be OK deal and I would have spare gearbox, shaft etc. etc.

     

Tenox wrote: If I could get it like for 1700 euros and if it has solid 16v front end.

Well it can have a solid 16v front end but seems is from a 16v Jap bike (CBR600 Mk I?)? Bad pics but doesn't look like K16v's Brembos in front and the lower legs even look non-BMW, not to mention the awful fender. Also look how much the forks have been raised through triple trees to get the desired stance (And is that the reason for the handlebar risers? No room for STD bar location?). Also the front wheel is not from a 16v K100RS.

Strongest selling point seems to be an engine overhaul made +10 years ago?      But then again if the price is right (1500 eur?) could be an OK deal (But as a complete project, not a trouble-free restored bike).

16v Suzuki Katana I would say

Thanks for the info Heikki! I did not notice even the front wheel... I just thought that it could be good as it is for season or two and then I could really just scrap it. If the front is good (???) I could install it to my current K100 etc.

In that add is said "Completetly original"       

But today I will check out this. Has been with same owner since 2000.

http://www.nettimoto.com/bmw/k/1687718

Price is too high for 8v but I will check it anyway.

Those RS SE usually fetch a better price than the RS. In Australia that would be at the bottom end of the range, they are about the only K that has shown any sign of becoming a collectors item.

And it was in good everyday use condition. Current owner has had it from 2000 and about 50 000km, he has changed oils every autumn and overall maintained bike well. If something have been broken it has been fixed.

Bike had some marks of use on it, but overall it was in surprisingly good condition for it's age. It did not drop any fluids from anywhere on my testrun or after it. Brakes were much better than my own, ABS is functional, engine seemed to be in good working order. Bike handled little like a brick, but the tyres were old school and even they did have lots of tread left I thing handling will improve when they are changed to new ones. 3 bags, some service parts etc. including.

I think I may do an offer on this one. Although it is 8v, it seems to have been in good hands. Bike was almost original, only rear shock was aftermarket and original (leaking) would come too. So 2018 (or 19 not sure how it goes) it would be quite easy to make it a "museum" bike. It would lower insurance costs to almost nothing / year. And it would lift the price up.

As Rick said this seems to be little more rare item. It might even keep it's value or perhaps gain some. I did not know anything about SE models before today. Were there any other differences from normal RS than ABS, front fender and painting?

Only thing that worries me little is that ABS system Mk I. If it is broken one day will there be any place to get parts to it...

Edit: Before that trip I washed and polished my own K100. +2200km this year with it already. Here is some scenery from my birth town Nakkila:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wso2wf0jajx9dju/Us9IpM3PD1#lh:null-DSC_0390.JPG

The SE had the sports front forks as did the K75s. The ABS parts are common to the K1100 up to 1993 and the computer can be repaired by Tosi Tabuki in Japan. It will have the early 1.5 type ABS but the 2.5 computer could be used with minor mods.

Tenox wrote:Were there any other differences from normal RS than ABS, front fender and painting?

Rick have allready mentioned the sport fork........SE models did came with radials as standard, dark tinted screen and wind deflector, black rims (86-87),white rims (88-89), black engine (and drivertrain, exept -86), gray seat (-87), dark blue seat, chrome silencer cover, engine spoiler (88-89).

So should that one have that engine spoiler? It is 1988 with these I think:

- sport forks
- dark tinted screen and wind deflector
- white rims (same size than normal)
- black engine and drivetrain
- dark blue seat
- chrome silencer cover
- 2 colour paint scheme

I think I will offer..

And thanks Inge and Rick.

I'm a bit surprised. My offer was accepted.   

So today I will get another 8v K100 in my garage. 

Just a peek from my testdrive yesterday: 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cgl3odg52g3r21q/DSC_0377.JPG

More will come after I have washed and waxed this classic.  

Very Nice!! That's a keeper. 

Thanks Dale! I think it is! 

Brothers:  https://www.dropbox.com/s/hq93b1ssec0e6l5/DSC_0395.JPG

More pics - on another thread I think - as soon as it is washed and waxed!

And don't worry guys, I won't be doing a Cafe out of this one, it shall remain as original as possible.  

Did get it relatively cheap.. 2000e. Including Haynes manual (which I already have) manual / service book in germany and manual in finnish, but it is for the 16v model. Also got that old back suspension unit (broken, but can be fixed), new spark plugs, air filter, one fork seal and couple brake pads. And 3 original BMW bags.

I think it was a good deal. Not a killer one, but good.

i like it !!
my 85 rt is white too.
the only problem i have with white is the brake dust really shows up on the white rims.
https://i.servimg.com/u/f57/18/74/15/18/pict0812.jpg

kartooo wrote:the only problem i have with white is the brake dust really shows up on the white rims.

I found out that instantly...

Removed the backbox and it's rack. Tomorrow maybe I can do the washing etc. One more pic before that:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6rbfjdxnovfnn3c/DSC_0400.JPG

Nice bike Tenox.

Hopefully you won't be disappointed and it proves to be as good as have been led to believe.

Shine it up and show it off. Well done.

Thanks Rossko. With that price it would be almost good enough just for the parts.. But I do hope it would be reliable and I will keep on maintaining it quite like the previous owner.

SE:s own thread: 

https://www.k100-forum.com/t8100-bmw-k100rs-se-1988

K100 this thread is about goes under renovation for aprox. 2014-2019 winters. We shall see what it looks like after that.

So it goes to rest again. 2500km this year with this K100. Changed the oil to something I found from my garage (Delphi 5W/40) and will change them and filter again before this one comes to real use again. Also planning to change endgear and transmission oils then.

I have ridden with this K100 little less than 9000km so far. Plans are:

- Better job with wiring
- Finding out what is wrong with the throttle cable
- Some mods and paintings
- Mud tyres

Bonus: If I can get a K100 16v front end with all the brake parts and suspension I would fit it to this one. But as said before this is a slow project.

Finally started to dismantle this one. This coming winter I think I just fix that annoying throttle and do some mods and painting. Then after spring 2015 mud tyres. I think I will not do anything about the wires. They seem to work OK so lets not spoil that.  

And finally today got that airbox out of the way so that I could take the throttle cable off. It had bad plastic cover down there and I hope it was the reason why it stucked. Not sure though. Well repaired that nicely and put the cable back since it was in good condition otherwise. Seems to be OK but I will find out if it is or not when I get to drive it again. Which is propably april 2015... I thought that I would paint some parts (like the airbox cover) but I could not get the airflow meter off so decided that it is better not to break anything and just left the paintings to be done in sometime future.

Bike is now assembled back in one piece and needs only fuel so that I can check if it starts OK. At spring I will change oil in every system and motor oilfilter, then it is back on the streets again.

(I think I might be selling that other K at spring.)

And it is alive!

It seems that I managed to drive my bike on garage so that it did not have enough fuel to start anymore... Quite close I would say. But now it started quite quickly and seems to be just fine.

Looking for those mudtyres for the summer. Am I correct thinking that suitable sizes on original Y-spoke rims are 100/90/18 or 110/80/18 front and 130/90/17 or 140/80/17?

Are there any other sizes that would fit?

So far my candidates are:

- Heidenau K60 front and Metzeler E35 rear (110 and 140) ~217,00 euros
- Continental TKC80 front and rear (110 and 140) ~224,00 euros
- Mitas E09 front and rear (110 and 140) ~182,00 euros
- Pirelli MT90 front and Pirelli MT21 rear (100 / 130) ~189,00 euros

It seems that those 110 conti TKC:s are rear tyres. Mitas might be the one I will try.

Tenox, 

Take a look at this tire write up written by the renowned Duck. Great rim/tire combo recommendations. 
The move from bias ply to radials is astonishing. In a good way.

Tenox wrote:Looking for those mudtyres for the summer. Am I correct thinking that suitable sizes on original Y-spoke rims are 100/90/18 or 110/80/18 front and 130/90/17 or 140/80/17?

Are there any other sizes that would fit?

So far my candidates are:

- Heidenau K60 front and Metzeler E35 rear (110 and 140) ~217,00 euros
- Continental TKC80 front and rear (110 and 140) ~224,00 euros
- Mitas E09 front and rear (110 and 140) ~182,00 euros
- Pirelli MT90 front and Pirelli MT21 rear (100 / 130) ~189,00 euros

It seems that those 110 conti TKC:s are rear tyres. Mitas might be the one I will try.

Check out my post HERE
Very happy with the Shinkos for the purpose I bought them.

Thanks guys. Shinkos would propably be a better choice (if sold somewhere in here, not sure), but in this case it is 50% of how it looks, and 50% how it functions.  

Therefore I'm thinking those Continental TKC80 tyres at the moment. I would like to get big knobs on tyres. And those are BMW GS 1150 tyres, so they should be quite OK also on road.

1st good sign in what comes to my motorcycling desires. I had this lack of interest last autumn, but now - since this bike is now ready for the season - I have started to wait for the spring. 
Really thought I would not, but... Can't wait to get on the saddle again. About 3 months before the season starts here. 

Spring is early here in Finland. So I took both bikes for a ride.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9x81tnwob3bdo19/DSC_0489.JPG?dl=0

That's the faster one. 

A bit like Scrambler now.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9mh5fq22zcwda8i/AABAb40uiSCF5BQKQq1Re_8Na?dl=0

Tyres are good both on tarmac and gravel - me happy.

Me not happy about the fact that the throttle cable stucked again! After troublefree 1400km.. God I hate the way this bike is made what comes to the throttle cable maintanence. So I just will not do anything about this problem again until winter. If even then. I just hope that the bike does not kill me this summer. Another thing I have learned to hate is the center stand. It broke again 3rd time, and is - again - welded together and strengtened. I shall see how long will it last.

On plus side, I really really like the bike now - when it is working - it is just great fun to drive.

Edit: I think I have now found the problem. I have said this many times before, but now I really think I've know what causes cable to stuck, and why it lasted OK for so long this spring. Cable is OK, both ends of it are OK. But. It is bit too long, and if it goes in wrong position it stucks. So now it is only my job to find out the perfect position, and a way to keep the cable in that position. Wish me luck..

When I had the wire in hand last winter and when I installed it back I put it together with one of the gaslines. Used a plastic tie with (in english?) them and it had slipped away. I'm quite sure that when it slipped, the cable began to go in wrong position. I placed a new tie down there, and it was way better than without, but still stucked two times. Small change on cable position and stuck was gone. Annoying, but there is hope still.

The other K100 (RS/SE) is sold. It was a good ride, practically no problems on my ownership and sold it without any loss (of money) this spring.

After about half a dozen try and fails I think I now was able to install that wire so that it can't move too much. +100km testdrive without any jamming. Lets hope it is really OK, since I will go on a 5 day trip with this bike week from now.