I'm relatively new to motorcycles, I've been riding about 3 years now but I've been riding just about every day since I got the first bike, a 1979 BMW R65, still my everyday rider.  

Recently someone offered me an 85 BMW K100RS for free.  I jumped at the opportunity and picked it up immediately.  He said it had an intermittent starting issue and just stopped riding it, it's been sitting ever since.  I got the impression that he was talking about 2- years.  It wasn't until I got it back to my place and had a closer look, that the reality of my situation settled in.  This thing was in bad shape!  And the tabs were from 1999!  It had been sitting for 14 years, and much of it outside. 

So here I am doing what I can to get it back on the road and learning quite a bit along the way. 

I started a blog but I've quickly realized I should be posting here, where I can take advantage of the tremendous knowledge base and generous forum members.  



Amazingly I was able to get it started with a friend over the weekend after pouring out the old gas (if you want to call it that) throwing in some seafoam and ethanol-free fuel, changing the oil, and hooking up a new battery.  It didn't purr like a kitten but it gave me faith that it was worth trying to bring back to life. 





I decided that although I was really looking forward to having a bike with a fairing, it was going to have to go into the barn and wait to be restored at a later date. 

The paint on the tank was stained from probably being on its side for a while, who knows.  I figured, it's an aluminum tank, lets just sand it down and see what it looks like. 

Sanded down with a clear coat and new emblem:


Oh, and the tank had pinholes in it of course.  I opened them up a bit, used some JB Weld and then used Red Kote inside.  

I'm on a pretty tight budget for this one, the original challenge was to keep it under $1K.  So any painting would be rattle can, I was going to go for black but found some silver metallic in the garage my son had been using and figured what the hell, let's see how it looks.  I was surprised how well it matched the aluminum.  



Added a black stripe down the front fender and the back seat cowl for the hell of it.  

Also added a British-style H4 Headlight and some torpedo turn signals, both from Dime City Cycles.  Some Bar end mirrors and a hell of a lot of scrubbing.  

Put Progressive springs in the front. 
Got a replacement rear shock from a friend off another 85 K100.  
Updated the throttle cable

Just replaced all the plugs and wires.  It starts nicely and sometimes holds idle.  

Challenges I'm facing now:

 - Tach and Speedo don't work (I took apart the cluster and checked connections all of which looked surprisingly good.
-  Neutral light comes on when starting the bike but then goes off.  
-  Pipes have some rust holes.  Try and weld them?  Or replace (I'm on a budget!  And I know a welder...)
-  Rear brake cylinder is frozen up.  I'm still trying to get it apart but it's looking like it may need to be replaced.  
-  throttle tube gears are bad, needs to be replaced
-  brake lights don't work

I guess that's about it for now.  It's been a hell of a lot of work for me to get it to where it is now.  I'm no mechanic so things probably took me a lot longer than they should have, but have learned a hell of a lot and spent a lot of time cursing in the garage.  I've got a lot of respect for these guys who do complete tear downs as winter projects (but I also have to question their sanity).  

Any troubleshooting ideas or suggestions would be would be helpful.  Thanks!

You have done well so far. A lot of work but you will enjoy the end result.

Electrical connections need to be checked out. Sometimes this can be the problem and not the items that appear to not work. The earths, particularly under the gas tank are very important to clean up and reset.

Seems though the brake light switches themselves can give up. My rear became erratic and then stopped. If you get the rev counter going then you can use that as a speedo, 4000rpm equal 100kmh or 60mph.

Check the age of the tyres too, but if they were also 1999 or earlier you definitely need new no matter what tread is on them. They go hard and will be lethal.

Clean up and polish the fork stanchions until they are nice and smooth, any rust lumps will soon zap your fork seals. Change oil in them too. Without a fairing its a bit easier and there are posts about using a big syringe to refill them. Good advice!

The speedo sensor is on top of the final drive, very near the bottom of the rear shock. An Allen bolt holds in in and it will wriggle out with not too much force, just an O ring on it. It can be cleaned up. There is a connector from it to the loom at the front of the right hand side panel. There is another connector beside that which is the rear brake switch. Both connections should be checked. If you are trying to get the rear brake switch off use some WD40 first. Also take out the fuses and clean or preferably replace them.

There are some good posts on the instrument cluster, but first let us know what lights etc are working on them: as the speedo and rev counter problem might not be in the cluster itself.  Cluster internal light? High beam? Brake light warning? Turn signal? Orange and red fuel levels? Oil? Electrical charging? Gear indicator? Time? Pop up the chassis number because there were changes in 1985. Your seat and twin fuel level indicators suggest its the earlier 85 model.

Your handlebar switches may have a little internal corrosion due to sitting around. Might be a good idea to fit a headlight relay to reduce the risk of internal burnout of the left one.

Keep the posts coming.

doing well so far .....keep it going, if and when you can

great to see another forgotten k returning to the road

sounds like you have some relay and fuse- fuse holder issues as well

look for some "deoxit "  we find it really helps all those wiring connector corrosion points

cheers

That's 2 free K100s I have heard about in the last 2 weeks.
Im beginning to think I paid to much for mine.

Good job, well done

Wow, that's weird. Someone took an RS and turned it into a modified LT. Never seen that trick before.

But, yea, I agree it would be a great resto with just 40K on the clock. Look for a set of tuned headers. Most '85s have the Euro cam, and the performance boost with headers will turn it into a "screamer." 

I'd also ditch the center stand for the K1100 type along with '86 style footpegs. It's an easy upgrade that makes the bike look better and the improved center stand won't rust out (you're going to have to replace it at some point anyway given its condition). See the pictures linked in my signature for an example.

Thank you all for the great feedback!  My todo list just got longer. 

I'm also amazed at the global community with people living in all the places I'd love to ride some day! 

Here's some more info on the bike:

Just ordered some Deoxit and will see if I can post a video that shows the series of lights that go on when I start the bike...

Sitting dormant for 14 years, outside no less. New battery, oil, gas and she starts. 

This surely hints at core reasons for the many dedicated to K's. Awesome.

Says it all!.

Current state of my pipes:



Salvageable?  It sounds like a Harley.

Current state of my pipe


Possibly non-salvageable

Kyle, if I could find 4 of those I may be able to achieve the kind of torque I'm looking for...

hmm looks as though those pipes are after market or later series grafted in .
you can tell by the extra length loop- length  of number 4 pipe ...(but on the right path anyhow )  perhaps something like a supertrapp ? 

I suspect that the baffling material is probably all gone (many had some form of fibreglass wrap for muffling the noise around an output core ...and some were taken out on purpose )

I would predict that once some backpressure is added you may find some more torque comes with it , without doing some intake breathing modifications .

clean them up and keep them is my suggestion , but perhaps try and find their origin and correct parts to repair the baffling

or sell them to me ? giggles

Those are definitely aftermarket/custom headers. 

Do I see this correctly that there are actual holes in the pipes?

Actual holes indeed.  A few of them. 

lol   evidence of an "off event" me thinks

patch em up and ride well ...giggles

Charlie99 wrote:clean them up and keep them is my suggestion , but perhaps try and find their origin and correct parts to repair the baffling

I've been poking around trying to figure out what they are, no luck yet.  

I'm going to try and get them off in the next couple days to have a closer look, clean them up and take them over to a welder friend.   I'd love to patch them up and maybe even wrap them.  We'll see.

The tubes are steel only, and susceptible to rusting from the inside out or vice versa. An experienced welder could make a duplicate. FYI, avoid short trips with these exhausts as moisture build-up ruins them. :suspect:

The Supertrap web site has replacement cores and baffles. A complete replacement muffler is also available, but still have to weld on the mounting tab.

If you'd like an OEM stainless steel muffler and pipes I have an extra set, asking $100 plus shipping (~$30).

AJ.Valente wrote:

If you'd like an OEM stainless steel muffler and pipes I have an extra set, asking $100 plus shipping (~$30).

I may take you up on that.  First I'm going to have a closer took at what I'm dealing with.  Trying to get them off this week.

The tubes are steel only, and susceptible to rusting from the inside out or vice versa. An experienced welder could make a duplicate. FYI, avoid short trips with these exhausts as moisture build-up ruins them.   
-------------------------
I tend to agree here. To me it looks like rust from standing water, not so much an 'event.' 

If you are interested in going the route of having a competent welder/fabricator duplicate your headers, let me know. We could split costs to have him make two sets. Looks like we're both WA denizens.


Working on fairings now. Hopefully a little inspiration for you (matte, as it's between coats):

Nice work.

A guy in NZ has a set of restored race headers.
I might try borrow them from him and have some made.

I'd buy if it doesn't mean a mortgage re-fi. Seriously.

Kyle10 wrote:If you are interested in going the route of having a competent welder/fabricator duplicate your headers, let me know. We could split costs to have him make two sets. Looks like we're both WA denizens.

Working on fairings now. Hopefully a little inspiration for you (matte, as it's between coats):

How much do you think it would cost to fabricate?  Imagining that's not cheap.  

My welder friend is recommending new headers.  

Fairings looking good!  You're more patient than me.  I only have so much time before family is dragging me from the garage.  The weather is starting to change and I'm already regretting choosing bar-end mirrors over heated grips (has anyone been able to do both?)... Going to try and bring my fairing back to life over the winter.  Maybe.  It's in pretty bad shape.

I'm pretty sure these are the headers I've got.  I'm guessing they are the Luftmeister ceramic coated 4-1



If only mine were in as good shape. 

Kyle10 wrote:

A good muffler shop would quote you ballpark if you took it with you to their shop. 

Work continues...

Paint is looking good!  What are you using?  I'm guessing its not a rattle can job?

House of Kolor: 
- Body: Shimrin Solid Kolor Black
- Stripe: Hok Ice Pearl White
- Coat: Shimrin2 USC01 Kosmic Urethane Show Klear

Yeah, having a pro shoot 'em. 
Seeing how good it's turning out has me looking down the rabbit hole, namely stripping the bike down to the frame for a powercoating. And if I do that, well I'll just have to upgrade the lights and finish the custom exhaust and and...