Met with the owner today, young guy, it looks like he works in local auto shop because he is wearing mechanic uniform, 1985 BMW K100RS $2000, he told me he was the second owner then later he said "I might be the third owner..", definitely he was lying. I asked him if he got the service history he said he did not have it and I asked what had been done to the bike, he said recently he brought the bike to local shop, and the bike was checked thoroughly, and then I asked him if the valve adjustment been done before, he said again that the shop adjusted already and performed the service necessarily, he said he paid $200 and then I asked him again, have you done anything to the fuel injector, and then he said again "This is carburated not fuel injected, the carburator has been cleaned and adjusted..." I just giggled, I am not sure if he is the real owner or not, he does not know definitely what he owns or he is trying to lie to me, and no way local shop only charged only $200 for valve adjustment. Anyway I saw the front fork seal is leaking I could see the smear of oil there. and also maybe some engine oil leaking also I could smell oil burnt. Just want your opinion, if the bike is still worth the money let's say $1200. I attached the video just to listen the engine sound, since I never had a bmw, does this sound normal?

When you're asked to pay $2000 for a secondhand K bike it's a good idea to get a chance to run a scan over the areas of a bike you feel secure with in a few minutes then request an hour or so with the subject so you can check the oil/fluid/clearance/compression/corrosion levels at your skill level, then make your offer, win or lose. Otherwise it's a waste of your, and his, time. Everyone, good intentions or not, embellishes to their benefit.

If you can smell a bit of burning oil and you get a puff of blue smoke when you start it, nothing to worry about.

I see it is on the side stand, almost all K's will do that if it is on the side stand for any length of time.

The sound of the engine is more of a worry. I don't like the tick. I am sure someone else here will have a detailed explanation for it, but I would walk away.

Of course he's lying. But there are positives, too.
You're unlikely to get much of a service history with a 30 year old bike, but it is a brick and serious problems are unlikely if it runs at all.
Smoky exhaust? They all do that, sir.
Especially if left on the side stand.
The valve clearances are easily checked and adjusted. I did it!
Sync the injectors and it'll purr.
Get your hands dirty. That's one of the appeals of these bikes.
The engine cases look like they may have been painted? Should be bare aluminum.
It has the radiator cowling which is made from Unobtainium. 
Almost impossible to find or buy and, if you're going to cafe it, makes the front look so much tidier.
If you didn't want to keep the cowling, put it on eBay and you'll recoup a lot of your purchase price.
The headlight nacelle is also something of a rarity these days.
I recently bought something similar for about $500 as a project that's not as clean. Depends on what prices are like where you are, but could be worth a bad offer.
Remember, they are an acquired taste and he's not going to have a big demand.

Bigsax wrote:If you can smell a bit of burning oil and you get a puff of blue smoke when you start it, nothing to worry about.

I see it is on the side stand, almost all K's will do that if it is on the side stand for any length of time.

The sound of the engine is more of a worry. I don't like the tick. I am sure someone else here will have a detailed explanation for it, but I would walk away.

Yes, I am curious what caused that ticking noise, that's first thing I noticed when the person started the bike.

Thanks guys for all advice.

The price is not way out of line. If you can knock off a couple of hundred I think the bike is worth it.  And yes they ALL smoke, especially on the side stand. You can use your knowledge against this seller ,as very few people really know K bikes.  I would have offered 1300 and worked from there. I recently purchased an 89 RS for 1850, which is super clean, and I had to do some fancy talking to just get a small discount from 2000.  I got lucky , my bike is very nice and needs almost nothing.

yes, I think the price should be around $1200-$1300.

Has anyone else noticed it's not a K100RS ?

John R

( K100RS owner )

Difficult to to say if it's worth the money.
The bike looks in fair general condition.

The 3 important points to check:
Oil/water pump: Is there any sign of oil or coolant in the area circled in red?
You may have to clean this hole as quite often it is plug with dirt.


Under the bell housing (between the engine and the gear box) there is a drain hole.
Do you see any sign of oil there? if yes, the output shaft seal would have to be replaced.

The other very important area to check is the splines. Unfortunately, this requires pulling off the final drive for an inspection.
If the splines are bad, it could be an expensive repair.