High Mileage R100RS

I'm lo0king at a 92 RS with 110k. It is a one owner bike that has been serviced properly. Transmission rebuild and new cluth at 100K. No other engine work other than regular maintenence. Paint seems to be in ok condition. Should this level of mileage concern anyone? I think its priced pretty steep at 4 grand but I need someone else's opinion that is more familiar with airheads.

I ride alot and would put this bike into service right away. What other maintenence should I expect in reality to have a bulletproof bike that won't let me down?

Thanks everyone

brprider679 said:

I'm lo0king at a 92 RS with 110k. It is a one owner bike that has been serviced properly. Transmission rebuild and new cluth at 100K. No other engine work other than regular maintenence. Paint seems to be in ok condition. Should this level of mileage concern anyone? I think its priced pretty steep at 4 grand but I need someone else's opinion that is more familiar with airheads.

I ride alot and would put this bike into service right away. What other maintenence should I expect in reality to have a bulletproof bike that won't let me down?

Thanks everyone

Click to expand...

I would not be concerned by the mileage. If it has been maintained, you should be fine. You may need to do valves at some point, but that is not a big deal. If your year had the circlip issue on the transmission it should have been fixed during the rebuild.

Mine is 12 years older and has more miles and I would ride it anywhere.

Airheads require periodic maintenance. You would need to become familiar with the important tasks and pay atttention to them. The airhead community is a good group of folks that will teach and assist you about what is needed. If those things are done it will be reliable. Fluids, bearings and brakes at proper intervals, occasional service to electronic ignition module, carb cleaning, adjusting. It is all routine stuff.

Kelly Blue Book Trade-in value adjusted for my local zip code (Michigan) is $3175.

Agree with Randy that mileage in of itself not a worry for that bike.
That being said:

Was the rear main crank seal replaced when the trans was done?

Other items of interest for that mileage, in addition to what was mentioned:

Timing chain + sprockets
fork springs + seals
rear shocks
steering head bearings
carbs rebuilt

Also: I wonder why the transmission needed rebuilding so soon?

Ride Safely,
BrickRider

The forks, front and back, have been done. I asked about the rear main seal and he said there was no leak. At what point should the rear main be replaced - leaking or not?
Also, when should i expect to replace the steering head bearings and have the carbs rebuilt?

Thanks for your help

brprider679 said:

I asked about the rear main seal and he said there was no leak. At what point should the rear main be replaced - leaking or not?


Thanks for your help

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Anyone pulling and rebuilding a 100K tranny WITHOUT doing a rear main seal is making a huge mistake. Just one man's opinion.

Ride Safe
Rideoften

re the R100RS

I own the same bike; mine has 89+K miles on it. "Last of the late great RSs"< I call it.
If your sample of this model is wellmaintained as you say, well serviced , has had oil changed regulary, if rubber and paint overall are OK or better, then it is a bargain at $4K. It sounds like it is quite similar to mine by the description, and I know I would not sell mine for less than $5K.
This bike is a classic; a book has been written about it; it has the upgrades like the paralever rear suspension, etc, etc. I ride mine for comfort or pissing hard in the mountains. Beside the Airhead GS I'd say this is one of the best Airheads the Krauts ever made.
'nuff said?

Chas Benz
Airhead #52

my thoughts are based on what I have seen over the past few years and what I have read here and other forums. And with anything I say or others, a lot is based on how the bike was really maintained and used and will be used.

1) sounds like a good deal
2) the tranny went a long way if it was the missing circlip model and hopefully that was replaced, it should all go another 90k now
3) yes the rear main should have been done, you will probabally do it soon
4) watch for pushrod tube seals leaking
5) timing chain is going to need to replaced soon
6) alternator brushes should be about 2/3 worn, how old is the battery ?
7) check rear wheel for "wobble" this can be about the time that the big bearing in the final drive is starting to show its age, if wobble, replace it, main seal, and maybe the brake shaft o-rings
8) while your dinking around with things, clean electrical connections, adn use dielectric or other corrosion stoppers stuff ( high tech term )
9) steering head bearings might need service, maybe just new greese at this point, greese everything that should be, even if you were told it was just done
10) inspect pads, and if all ok, flush, clean and bleed brakes, if you need pads go with aftermarkedt like ebc ( I use ebc hh type) , there are others out there as well that are better then BMW and cheeper

all that said , how soon is soon ?
some depends on how the bike was ridden in the past adn how it will be ridden now
do you have all those issues, hard to say without seeing the bike, sounds like a good bike and you dont have all of those issues


also there has been great debate on synthetic oil vs dino oil, if it has been running on dino, and you have seals at 100k, and swithc to synthetic, you MIGHT see the seals start to weep, again, up to debate
I know wiht my past 2 airheads , 1 with 30 years of age, one with 90k, both begain minor seeping when switched to synthetic, and I switched them back to dino until I could service the parts. however, were those parts ready to start weeping anyway... again debate

of course now many of us head into winter and winter projects or lots of "idle" time on the bike, so problems may not show for a while

but if it were me, adn I was planning to ride often next riding season, then this winter I would address any kind of oil weeping
and since I love twisting wrenches, I would be going through the bike to make it bullet proof for next year, addressing oil seals, alternator brushes, and possibaally t/chain and sprokets

hey...and dnot forget to post a picture of your new toy

Thanks so much for eveyone's help!