Bought my first BMW! A 1996 R1100R!

[miseenscene]

Hello,

Just to follow up: the US R850R had a 5 speed transmission. The 2nd generation version offered excusivly abroad, did have a 6 speed. This is why the previous owner of my R850R changed to a 3.09 final drive. This allows it to cruise comfortably at 70 MPH. It is a bit sluggish off the line but for me, this is only a concern when riding two up. If your R1100R has a 5 speed you may wish to tweak the performance with an alternate final drive to suit your style of riding.

I am still adapting to my R850R ( I am an old enduro guy and my primary cycle is a F650gs Dakar ) but the R850/1100 is a great all around platform; fuel injected for efficiency but otherwise simple, stable and reliable. I look forward to taking a long tour this summer with it.

Be well, ride safely.
RK

 

[jedz]

Well after a super long wait I finally got the bike in MD. Haul Bikes failed me so I went down and rode the bike from MD to VT, 500 miles in the saddle of a bike bought unseen.

Here the venture here. Might lose.my MOA membership from some of the comments but hey, if you can't sympathize with a motorcyclist getting upset with his new motorcycle he just bought or don't like profanity best not watch... If you don't mind here's the adventure fully documented.

Best,

 

[rangerreece]

Jedz, welcome to the MOA and forums. Love your new bike, excellent choice. I’m glad you’re here. Hope to see you soon at one of our events. Ride Safe.

 

[jedz]

Jedz, welcome to the MOA and forums. Love your new bike, excellent choice. I’m glad you’re here. Hope to see you soon at one of our events. Ride Safe.

Hoping one of these days. Montana is far out. I did go to the Tennessee rally a couple years ago.

Thanks for the welcome! I've been enjoying the MOA community thoroughly.

Maybe I'll see you on the road (or off it). My best,

-Jedz

 

[slime]

Well after a super long wait I finally got the bike in MD. Haul Bikes failed me so I went down and rode the bike from MD to VT, 500 miles in the saddle of a bike bought unseen.

Here the venture here. Might lose.my MOA membership from some of the comments but hey, if you can't sympathize with a motorcyclist getting upset with his new motorcycle he just bought or don't like profanity best not watch... If you don't mind here's the adventure fully documented.

Best,

Welcome! I have an R850r and love it...So, why does this have a single gauge R850r dash?

 

[slowpokepete]

great video...really enjoyed it, and looking forward to hearing details on what needs to be done to that final drive.

SPP

 

[jedz]

Welcome! I have an R850r and love it...So, why does this have a single gauge R850r dash?

That would be news to me... I can tell you as the bike is being torn apart that this dash is in rough shape. With the windshield off it's all held together with duct tape... It does have a tiny tachometer.

I'll post some pics or better yet another video of the progress. I'm planning on taking out the dead ABS unit, Swapping out the exhuast with a lighter freer flowing unit for a R1100GS and removing the carbon canister. I want to give the bike a diet. I also want to clean up the bars (install standard bars) bigger head lamp and some custom headlight mounts. I would like to remove the huge box that is the instrument cluster as it's pretty hideous and weighs more than it needs to (all metal).

I'll also plan on taking out that Final Drive and looking to see what the issue might be. I'm guessing the pinion bearing is starting to walk out the door as that seems to be where the pivot of the rear dif is.

I'll be browsing around for a rebuild kit.

Best,

 

[senseamidmadness]

Welcome! I have an R850r and love it...So, why does this have a single gauge R850r dash?

The early R1100R models had the same dash as our R850R's. I believe the R1100R changed over to its chrome multi-instrument dash in model year 1998 or 1999.

The R850R 2nd generation model, which they kept making but never imported to the US, also got the new chromed multi-instrument dashboard.

 

[senseamidmadness]

That would be news to me... I can tell you as the bike is being torn apart that this dash is in rough shape. With the windshield off it's all held together with duct tape... It does have a tiny tachometer.

I'll post some pics or better yet another video of the progress. I'm planning on taking out the dead ABS unit, Swapping out the exhuast with a lighter freer flowing unit for a R1100GS and removing the carbon canister. I want to give the bike a diet. I also want to clean up the bars (install standard bars) bigger head lamp and some custom headlight mounts. I would like to remove the huge box that is the instrument cluster as it's pretty hideous and weighs more than it needs to (all metal).

I'll also plan on taking out that Final Drive and looking to see what the issue might be. I'm guessing the pinion bearing is starting to walk out the door as that seems to be where the pivot of the rear dif is.

I'll be browsing around for a rebuild kit.

Best,

Welcome to the world of buying a poorly-maintained BMW, Jedz. Yours seems like it's cosmetically in better shape than mine even though it's one year older, and I'm pretty jealous of those spoked wheels on yours. I think it's the exact same color as my poor neglected one, too.

These things do not like sitting, and they especially don't like it when an owner doesn't do the preventative maintenance. Sounds like you had one of those previous owners who not only didn't do their maintenance but also broke stuff and didn't fix it the right way. Mine is the same story, and it's still not quite running and reliable after months.

If it were me I'd hold off on any weight-saving or cosmetic mods until the important preventative stuff is done first and that final drive is dealt with. Better to have a sound running and riding bike before you start modding it out, usually. Though that instrument cluster being wrecked, and the removal of the charcoal canister, are notable exceptions.

There's a pretty good amount of preventative maintenance you need to do if yours has been very neglected. I've had to do pretty much all of it to mine.

 

[jedz]

Welcome to the world of buying a poorly-maintained BMW, Jedz. Yours seems like it's cosmetically in better shape than mine even though it's one year older, and I'm pretty jealous of those spoked wheels on yours. I think it's the exact same color as my poor neglected one, too.

These things do not like sitting, and they especially don't like it when an owner doesn't do the preventative maintenance. Sounds like you had one of those previous owners who not only didn't do their maintenance but also broke stuff and didn't fix it the right way. Mine is the same story, and it's still not quite running and reliable after months.

If it were me I'd hold off on any weight-saving or cosmetic mods until the important preventative stuff is done first and that final drive is dealt with. Better to have a sound running and riding bike before you start modding it out, usually. Though that instrument cluster being wrecked, and the removal of the charcoal canister, are notable exceptions.

There's a pretty good amount of preventative maintenance you need to do if yours has been very neglected. I've had to do pretty much all of it to mine.

Thanks for the insight here.

This may be my first BMW but it's my 67th or 68th motorcycle I've owned since I started riding when I was 23 (14 years ago).

The ABS unit is dead so it's going to come out, while in there I'm checking the accessory belt, discovering and properly repairing electrical "repairs" from a PO of time's past, also repairing loom wear (exposed wires) and general clean up of 25 years of grim and neglect... Once the ABS unit is removed I can than give a full brake flush of the (New) brake system and perform routine maintenance. The modification/diet is so intertwined with my need to do routine maintenance (or just restore) to get the bike back to good running condition. I've learned through my experience with other motorcycles (some much more neglected) that if you ground the bike out for a few weeks and just go through the whole thing at once you come out with a great running machine that is setup to your liking.

The final drive will be addressed once I finish up the other work and the tank is back on the bike. I'm not anticipating riding the machine again until it is 100% ready to roll! I suspect I have at least a few weeks of work cut out for me...

I can (and am, Monkey today) ride one of it's siblings for the time being.

Best,

 

[senseamidmadness]

Makes sense to me if you've got another bike to ride, then. Hope the project goes well. You sound a lot more experienced than me. My BMW is only my 6th motorcycle.