OK, I bought a barn bike today

535IS · Feb 27, 2009

rbleau said:
Thanks, krehmke, and to all I apologize for my fat finger typos in prior reply. Here is a pic. Thanks / Ron

Looks like as good a place as any to start. Yours has an aftermarket (probably Parabellum) windscreen. You can get the stock height if you don't mind the wind in your face. The later RS in the thread has a Corbin Gunfighter dual seat; yours is OEM. I discovered yesterday that Sargent Cycle has replacement covers in black, but not blue (for my Motorsport). Depending on how picky you are for your restoration, I will have a set of mufflers coming off my RS in the spring. They aren't great, but they are a heckuva lot better looking than yours there. Your lower fairings are the early unsplit type that require you to undo the exhaust to get them off - which says they are original, but difficult. If you decide to redo those side covers, the blue "1000cc" stickers are still available. Don't drive yourself crazy trying to get that paint shiny. The original color was MATTE silver blue.

rbleau · Feb 27, 2009

Friday Update

My thanks to all / plenty to read and comprehend ! My frame no. is 6180215, in 11/76. I sent my info to the RS web page guy to "register". Here's a scary story - the fella that sold it to me stated that he had put a charger on the battery and that all the lights worked. Well, see the pic - the battery is over 20 years old. Sheesh. Whew !
Anyway, thus far:
- RS unloaded and wheeled into the shop
- prioritized list started
- tank removed
- master cyl fluid reservoir cleaned out somewhat
- experimented with simichrome on fork legs - some pitting just where they exit the fairing

Can you believe the tires hold air ? Yup. Clutch is NOT frozen, but stiff.

I would prefer a shorter, original windshield.

Next: cordon off an area of my shop for parts and what not....

Shop picture to follow !

Cheers / Ron (Age 60)

108625 · Feb 27, 2009

That's my kind of shop!

My inspirational poster is one of the late Wild Willie Borsch, behind the wheel of the "Winged Express"... There is a girl in the background, nervously holding the hem of her miniskirt too high.
Mousie Marcellus signed it, I think he was aware of the slip (or lack thereof).

kstoo · Feb 28, 2009

This is going to be really interesting! Keep the stories and pictures coming, please.

AnnapolisAirhead · Feb 28, 2009

robsmoto said:
Yes. See photo. The photo was taken after I spent about 2 years going all over my bike.

Gorgeous bike. I thought it was odd that there was an assumption that only one was imported into the US. If you don't have the book, its called "BMW R100RS" by Bill Stermer. ISBN #1-884313-31-0 on page 40 there is a picture of a bike, looks just like you have.

I think I need an RS.

Rev_Eddie · Feb 28, 2009

AnnapolisAirhead said:
Interesting bike. If I am seeing what I think I am, then Bill Stermer's R100RS book has a picture of what he suggests is the only R100RS with spoke wheels and a rear drum brake that ever made it into the US, may be mistaken. All others had rear discs. Apparently, there are two??? Anyone else have a drummy RS too?

All '77 R100RS models were rear drum brakes, as well as the early '78 RS models until the snowflake wheels with discs all around came out sometime mid-year.

rbleau · Feb 28, 2009

RS Fuel Tank

Consequences of storing a motorcycle for 20 years with fuel in the tank.

I suspect this will not be readily repairable. Nice pinstriping, though. / Ron

robsryder · Feb 28, 2009

rbleau said:
...I suspect this will not be readily repairable. Nice pinstriping, though.

You might wish to check out this shop for repairs to your fuel tank.
http://www.gas-tank.com/bike.htm

You might also wish to check for prices for a used fuel tank (for a /7) from folks that carry used BMW parts -
http://www.bobsbmw.com/
http://www.re-psycle.com/
http://www.airheadsalvage.com/
and of course ebay.

BMW thinks pretty highly of their fuel tanks. A "new" fuel tank for your RS is
part #16111452283 ; description= fuel tank prime coated ; price = $1,120.68

And you still have to have the tank painted and pinstriped!

rbleau · Feb 28, 2009

Fuel Tanks

robsmoto said:
And you still have to have the tank painted and pinstriped!

Thanks for the info & links, Robsmoto - I think used is a good idea...I would not trust repairing this one !

I have a super large endurance tank, with a large BMW gas cap, in good condition, fiberglass, that I hope to bargain with. I have no idea what she would hold - maybe 10 gal or more ? Anyone familiar with the history of this tank ? oops- better go take a photo of it. OK, it is roughly 27" long, 17" wide and 16" tall.

No clue how to upload more than one pic at a time, sorry. / RB

Roguetek · Feb 28, 2009

I have a late 70's R tank in good to excellent shape, it's identical to yours mechanically, from what I can see.

I could be convinced to horse trade...

rbleau · Mar 2, 2009

02MAR09 Status

Whike I am awaiting shipment of Kroil, thought I would do some cleanup. Some good news - behind the swingarm caps, there appears to be grease that is not solid. I shot some green Bel Ray waterproof grease into the swingarm bearings just to do something. Shot some PB penetrating oil around the spark plugs and will let them sit some more. Both wheels turn freely, and the ancient tubes hold air. After doing those tasks, saddled up and rode my 77 R100S about 40 miles or so, refilled from a Mobil station here that advertises that they do not have ethanol in their gas.

Any suggestions on how to get oil onto the bearings before I try to rotate the crank by hand ?

AnnapolisAirhead · Mar 3, 2009

rbleau said:
Consequences of storing a motorcycle for 20 years with fuel in the tank.

I suspect this will not be readily repairable. Nice pinstriping, though. / Ron

I don't what you intend to do with the original tank, but you might want to consider making it a cut-away for tech days. Gives people a chance to see the inner workings, where fuel/water may lie, petcock pickup and reserve tubes sit, etc.

I recently attended the Pennsylvania SuperTech and one of the instructors brought a cutaway tank in. The have a collection of everything imaginable in cut-away form from Bing carbs (sliced right through the jets!) to transmissions, forks and several engines. Great stuff and it all comes from parts like your tank.

Really enjoying this thread. I'd be tempted to pull the engien and trans and do a total rebuild. Of course, its easier to suggest that, than to do it. :lurk

108625 · Mar 3, 2009

rbleau said:
Any suggestions on how to get oil onto the bearings before I try to rotate the crank by hand ?

Good idea. When building car engines we would prime the oil system by inserting a purpose built shaft in through the distributor hole to the oil pump drive shaft and spin it with an electric drill... Meaningless trivia that won't help with an airhead, but it backs up your point; it is worth being concerned about with a plain bearing engine.

Have you drained what's already in there and dropped the pan? I'd do that first.

I would think (if you can afford it) you can overfill that crankcase with thin viscosity oil (or ATF) for a few days and let it penetrate everywhere. Then drain it out (and inspect) and gently turn it over by hand, then refill with the correct level with proper oil and a clean filter before trying to start it. Automatic transmission fluid (ATF) is thin, is great at breaking up and cleaning out old sludge, and has additives that help seals and gaskets "swell". It's also cheap.

rbleau · Mar 3, 2009

Good ideas - thank you.

Boat School Airhead: good suggestion for the tank - will think about it.

108625 - now that is a novel approach ! let me think - what I really need is to look at an engine block that is torn down....will there be any unintended consequences of overfilling ? I was about ready - pending air temp increase later this week - to drain the fluids and drop the pan, but your suggestion has intrigued me ....wonder how high up you can go before it runs out somewhere, or runs ino a bad palce ? getting up to the mains might be tough, and seems possible to accidentally soak the clutch, which may well be worth saving - the bike has only 18k miles on her when she was parked.

Keep 'em coming ! / Ron :scratch

535IS · Mar 3, 2009

rbleau said:
- the bike has only 18k miles on her when she was parked.

I dunno, man. A lot of what I see says "118k", not 18k. If it's only 18k, where's the original windshield? :scratch

108625 · Mar 3, 2009

rbleau said:
Boat School Airhead: good suggestion for the tank - will think about it.

108625 - now that is a novel approach ! let me think - what I really need is to look at an engine block that is torn down....will there be any unintended consequences of overfilling ? I was about ready - pending air temp increase later this week - to drain the fluids and drop the pan, but your suggestion has intrigued me ....wonder how high up you can go before it runs out somewhere, or runs ino a bad palce ? getting up to the mains might be tough, and seems possible to accidentally soak the clutch, which may well be worth saving - the bike has only 18k miles on her when she was parked.

Keep 'em coming ! / Ron

It's just a thought. Dropping the pan will give you a better idea of how dry it might be in there, or if there was a condensation and rust issue over time. It also might show you why it was parked (read Lonelobo's thread). I would venture a guess it's not a good scenario, parking a bike long enough for it to look like that on the outside is usually not any different on the inside.
You might be able to spray a can full of penetrating oil up in there and hope that does it, but who knows.
I'll give you this disclaimer on the fill and soak trick: I've never tried it on an airhead, but did it with a Triumph twin and an old Willy's Jeep truck straight six. In the Triumph's case, the engine turned out to be why the bike was parked for a couple decades (broken aluminum connecting rod under one of those stuck pistons) the Jeep I got running again with with no adverse effects.

rbleau · Mar 3, 2009

18k or 118k ?

535is said:
I dunno, man. A lot of what I see says "118k", not 18k. If it's only 18k, where's the original windshield?

Good question. I believe it to be 18k miles for several reasons - it is a local bike, and the owner had 5 BMWs, maybe 4. I have seen his 1970 R75 and his 1965 R60, complete with sidecar. I have seen his R1100RT, and I bought the R100RS. All of this was in his son's garage, as the owner is hospitalized, sadly, and incapacitated and his son is working off Power of Attorney. The owner was a big bike mod guy - my RS has Koni shocks, and the cross over pipe is missing, the ports welded closed.

I just talked with the sellerand he thinks it is only 18k miles. Am looking for more records / data, and I know the local servicing dealer, so I can check there for service records.

We shall see !

Thanks, Ron :dunno

rbleau · Mar 4, 2009

Update

Well, the left spark plug gave in to the penerating oil, but the right is still fighting me. It turns just a bit but is very tight. I am soaking it periodically, heating with two heat lamps, and occasionally I go out to the shop and take another quarter turn CCW or so. I have no idea of how to tell if bad things are happening.

rbleau · Mar 5, 2009

Right plus is out

Well, yay, the right (starboard for the Marines / Navy in the crowd) sparkplug is out - pen oil and heat lamps and lots of time. The threads in the head, from what little I can see, and the threads on the plug, do not look nearly as bunged up as I expected. Likely can be cleaned up, just guessing. Looks like some type of rubbery black stuff was around the base of the plug - Permatex ? So OK, both plugs are out, and my Kroil is "supposed" to be delivered today.

Cheers / Ron

BUBBAZANETTI · Mar 5, 2009

OK, I bought a barn bike today

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