Would you be afraid to buy this bike?

Hello, I need some advise on a 1999 R1100RT. The bike has 10k miles and is as new cosmetically. The problem is none of the fluids have ever been changed, except the engine oil and we are not even sure about that. The current owner bought it with 1k on it and does not know if it even had it's first service. It has not been started in over a year and has one half a tank of bad fuel. Naturally the battery is shot and will not even light the neutral light. If he gets it started would you be afraid to buy this bike. Also, how much should it be worth, knowing that it has been neglected and abused in this way? Thank you in advance.

This is a sin!!!

I'd definitely low ball the offer. If you are able to do your own labor, it would be a steal for, say, $2,500. I wouldn't even start it. Bring it home - change all fluids, replace the fuel filter and probably the fuel lines, clean out the tank while you're in there. New tires, new battery, new plugs, valve adjust, retorque the heads. She'll fire right up. Synch the throttle bodies. Ride it hard to break it in. Put 200,000 miles on it.

i'm with Steve- lowball an offer, and DO NOT let the guy start it beforehand- if nothing else you don't want that shellac that used to be gas going thru the system.

At the right price....jump at it.

Do not start it untill you have changed all fulids ! Sounds like it could be a good find it you can get the price low enough.

I agree with the above post. I have a 15 year old VFR in mint condition and things like brake fluid were never changed. When I ask the dealer to do it he said it was not necessary! I told him to do it anyway. My point is that if it had 80,000 miles on all that old fluid then no but most of the other stuff should be ok at such low mileage. I would change the engine oil a few times in the first 3,000 miles and do all the other stuff everyone recommended. I,ve bought quite a few neglected bikes or antiques in the past and with a little TLC they come back to life and love you for the attention. For the past five years I have been riding and wrenching on a 1970 /5 that sat for 22 years and I just do some different things every year now and now she is finally ready to be a daily rider if I wanted her to be. When I change the oil in her it still looks like gold at 2,000 miles but it was not like that at first. Good luck

Another consideration is where the bike has been stored while it's been sitting. Is it in a high humidity or salt humidity area? If so there could be some rust issues inside the engine. WHY was the bike sitting? Was it because it just stopped running or possibly they ran it out of oil or something similar. Did it get dropped into water so the engine got wet inside? It might be a good buy if there is nothing catastrophically wrong with it. Get a scope and look inside the cylinders and see what the top of the pistons look like as well as the condition of the cylinder walls. If the engine can't be rotated fairly easily with the plugs out by putting the bike on the center stand and rotating the rear wheel I'd pass on it.

Motor31 said:

Another consideration is where the bike has been stored while it's been sitting.

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Excellent point.

Was this bike ever licensed in New Orleans (or some other area subject to flooding)?

If you buy the bike (I would) along with the fluid changes everyone has recommended I would also run some Techron through it for the first several tanks to help clean out the fuel pump, regulator and injectors.
+1 on removing the plugs and spinning the rear wheel in 5th gear to make sure the engine is not siezed.
You may even want to dump the oil _before_ you buy the bike to make sure there is no water in there. (The flooding thing...)
Even then, if it is dirt cheap I would still buy it!
It's a brand new old Beemer.

156327 said:

It's a brand new old Beemer.

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Wha chew mean OLD?!?!?!?!?