1983 R100 RS Project

Hello all,
My name is Brian Fograshy from Monson, Ma.
I've enjoyed owning, riding motorcycles for most of my life. My current bike is a 2000 Triumph Trophy 1200 that I've owned since 2004.
What am I doing posting on a BMW site you ask? Well I'll tell you.
I'm in the process of acquiring a 1983 R100 RS from a neighbor who's husband owned the bike but has passed away.
The bike has 29k miles on it and from all appearances is complete and in decent shape.
The catch is it has not run in 26 years. That's why the title of this thread has the word project in it...
It has been garaged and covered all this time. I know it was parked for some issue. Not sure yet if it was electrical or mechanical yet. It needs someone to bring it back and that's what I plan to do. Over time.
I'm looking for some guidance in that area.
I'm thinking before I get too far along I want to see if the motor will turn over. I don't plan to try to start it. A friend suggested I pull the plugs, get the rear wheel off the ground and put the bike in third gear to see if turning the rear wheel will turn the engine over. Sounds safe enough to me. I thought about some mystery oil in the cylinders for a bit before I try put the bike was not stored out side so I don't know if that's necessary.
Any help will greatly appreciated!!!
Thanks in advance.
Brian

Congratulations on your find. I will pass along my experience, which should not be construed as a recommendation. Years ago, I purchased an '84 RS that sat under a tarp outdoors in the humid South for over 10 years. The gas tank was rusted through. I took the tank and battery from my '81 RT, changed the oil, checked the valve adjustment, and fired it up. I ran it for a few minutes, shut it down and changed the oil again. The oil came out clean, which was encouraging. After that, the engine work was basic; valve job with hardened seats (which you may have to do), carb rebuild and removal of the pulse air system.

Check Brook Reams YouTube site;

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQzNs09m3GMIJmFTBFEeM6w

He's a member here and does amazing work. Also he's a much better resource for a proper rebuild than yours truly.

Doug

I find turning the engine with the rear wheel awkward and clumsy. It provides little feedback as you do it other than it did turn or it didn't.

I much prefer to remove the front cover and turn the engine with a proper Allen socket on the rotor bolt affixed to the front of the crankshaft. Turn clockwise as you face the front of the engine, spark plugs removed, of course.

This provides much better feel as to what the engine is doing as it turns.

Welcome to the forum!
Pretty cool to have a race track next door.
You are at the right place for advice on your find. There are some great Airhead enthusiasts here.
Good luck with your project.
Gary

Thanks everyone for getting back to me so quickly.

83014 - I will definitely check out Brook Reams Youtube channel.
PGlaves - Thanks for your input. Just got back from my neighbor's garage. I took the plugs out and put the bike in gear. You are right it was a bit clumsy to turn the rear wheel however everything turned freely.
BTW I thought the sparkplugs had a lot of carbon on them. Very black. Looks like the bike had been running very rich.
The front calipers were frozen but with a little help from PB Blaster I got the wheel to turn. I'll be adding rebuild of those to the list...
One of my first issues is I can't get the gas cap off to look inside. The key will only go into the lock about half way. I have penetrating oil in there too at the moment.
Has anyone run into that issue?

Perhaps the gas cap lock is a reason it was parked? It’s possible a key is broken off in there, tho the usually break flush or nearly flush with the top. You’ll know more after a good soaking with penetrating oil.

Good luck with your project; it’s great to see another old airhead being brought back to life!

DeVern

Welcome Brian! Best of luck with your project. I hope that you will post updates on your progress. Thanks for the pics.

Howdy! Since you're in Mass., you need to connect with these guys: https://www.yankeebeemers.org

Go have breakfast with them and bring your questions. They'll help with solid advice and chances are high that one of them will try to come help you.

These bikes are pretty reliable and long lived. I had an '83 RS and have an '84 CS and I can advise you to look out for valve recession with these bikes. It's a problem with them and you are coming up on where it starts to get going.

Great bike. I wonder if I know the late owner?

Congratulations!

Welcome Aboard, Brian Triumph!
I suspect you’ll be pleased with your new project once some of its systems are overhauled: gas tank, Bing carbs, brake cylinders, crusty vintage rubber tires/tubes, etc. Mrs-HSV has a bike similar to yours; her gas cap threads were crusty & rusty. See if you can get some WD-40 under the lid because that whole cap wants to be gently unscrewed - but it can really stick tight. Our Airheads live comfortably between the two cars, so we just do not worry about locking the gas cap!

And U should become familiar with Max BMW up in your area! I think they just acquired Vetch’s entire stock of Airhead parts from down here in the South {http://benchmarkworks.com}

Good Luck and enjoy your Sleek New Beemer!



Happy Trails whenever & wherever U can - Ciao!
HSV-Karen & HSV-Phil
USN-Ret'd —--&-— USAF-Ret’d
'09 F650GS-twin - '14 K-GT
'82 R100CS ——— '75 R90S
’08 CRF230L —--— ’09 KLX250S
'16 R1200RS —-— ’05 Vespa 200L

Good Morning All,
I brought the bike home yesterday. First time the bike has seen the light of day in over 26 years. I attached a few pictures after I pulled the bike from my neighbor's garage and its new home. Doesn't look too bad right?
First obstacle as I had mentioned earlier is getting the gas cap off. I've read the responses, links etc regarding gas cap issue but the issue I'm having is different. The tumblers in the lock itself seemed to be jammed. So far no amount off penetrating oil is helping. I'm guessing that I will end up drilling it out and replacing the cap.
Stay tuned!
Brian

I’m no expert, but I don’t know what the lock actually does {except keep someone from lifting the floppy-handle, which thus makes the cap harder to remove}. Keep adding some small amounts of Liquid Wrench/WD-40 under the wide cap {your tank’s contents have already turned to varnish years ago}. Then try a small standard screwdriver along with a firm grip with your fingers to coax it to unscrew. I mean, U can’t break it (if you’re thinking of drilling!). It might work, and it beats drilling out a useless lock.

Looks like you’ve got a new winter project to get rejuvenated before spring ’23 comes around!

Another resource we use from time to time: https://www.motobins.co.uk

Ciao, HSV-Phil & HSV-Karen

HSVPhil said:

I’m no expert, but I don’t know what the lock actually does {except keep someone from lifting the floppy-handle, which thus makes the cap harder to remove}. Keep adding some small amounts of Liquid Wrench/WD-40 under the wide cap {your tank’s contents have already turned to varnish years ago}. Then try a small standard screwdriver along with a firm grip with your fingers to coax it to unscrew. I mean, U can’t break it (if you’re thinking of drilling!). It might work, and it beats drilling out a useless lock.

Looks like you’ve got a new winter project to get rejuvenated before spring ’23 comes around!

Another resource we use from time to time: https://www.motobins.co.uk

Ciao, HSV-Phil & HSV-Karen
View attachment 89857

Click to expand...

There's a tab that extends out of the bottom side of the cap when it's locked that prevents the cap from rotating. If you drill the lock out, it may allow you to reach in and slide the tab back from inside the core of the cap. If you can drill the lock set out, the rest of the cap may be fine and you just have to guy a lockset and rekey it.

Not sure if that's helpful, but I hope so.

There’s some useful info on airhead gas cap issues, like stuck gas caps, here:

https://bmwmotorcycletech.info/fuel-caps-airheads-K.htm

Best,
DeVern

1983 R100 RS Project Continued

Good Morning all,

Did some more breakdown on my 83 R100 RS this weekend.
First I would like to thank everyone for their replies so far. Very helpful group for sure!
Ok, first off the gas cap. Still having problems with that cap. I drilled out the lock and was able to get the cap partially off but honestly I think the threaded section of the cap has rusted to some degree to the tank itself. I have some pictures attached that show the top of the tank and one of the fuel petcocks. The tubes attached to the petcocks are completely rusted. Not a good omen for the condition of the inside of the tank.
There was roughly two gallons of gas still in the tank. Can you say varnish? Sure smelled like it anyway.
I also attached a few pictures of what greeted me when I took off the air cleaner cover.
There was so much mouse "stuff" in there I can't see how they had room to live in there as well. Nothing recent though and thankfully nothing below the air filter itself.
Some other work going on:
Brake calipers removed. I happened to watch a Brook's Garage video (Great website by the way) on rebuilding calipers and one thing he did was to wait until the calipers were remounted before he set the torque on the bolts that hold the calipers together. So i loosened them before I took them off.
Working on removing the exhaust system. I have a friend locally who is working on securing that special wrench for the header nuts. Watched a video on that as well. Gottta be careful there...
Removed fenders, battery mounts etc. Kepp moving, nothing to see here...
Seriously considering a bike lift to get the bike a bit higher off the floor. gottta be easier to work on than laying on the floor to get at some of this stuff. Anyone know of a good lift that will work with these bikes?
Thanks.

Wow that is quite the mouse motel!! As for lifts, there's been much discussion about lifts over the years. Habor Freight seems to be a popular choice especially when you can get them on sale. Here are a few threads for your perusal:

https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?41638-Harbor-Freight-Motorcycle-Lift

https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?96984-Moving-around-a-motorcycle-lift

https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?96604-Motorcycle-Lift

1983 R100RS Project

Thanks for the lift information.
I'm hoping that I can find one that will allow me to remove the wheels though.
It looks like that once I get the exhaust off I can support the bike from the frame underneath the engine. Provided I account for what looks like the oil pan that extends down past the bikes frame itself.
A jack something like this style if possible.

https://www.toolots.com/ml-1500lbs-...ck lifting Bike ATV Motorcycle Motorbike Lift

1983 R100 RS project

Good morning all,

Well I finally got the gas cap out and it's not pretty. As you can see from the pictures I attached the amount of rust on the gas cap and in the tank.
Looks like there's a new tank in this bike's future...
Still tearing the bike down. The exhaust pipes came off the heads without a fight. Happy for that. Today I plan to remove the carborators, air box etc.
Will keep you all posted.
Brian

That’s ugly.
OM

You might be able to save the tank depending on the extent of the rust. Try using EvapoRust inside the tank, swishing it around to cover the rusty areas. It may take more mechanical scrubbing using numerous nuts/bolts/screws inside the tank while you shake them all throughout to chip off the flakes of rust. Then you will need to recoat the inside of the tank to protect the bare steel.

I'm doing a similar thing. Bought a 1984 R100RS at an auction. 49,000 mile bike. It had a 10 year nap, so not as affected by time as yours. Brakes and carbs redone so far and a new starter. Getting all of the lights to work is next.
The simplicity of these bikes is nice. Euromotoelectric is also a good source of parts.