R100RT Newbie question

Well, I'm not actually a newbie, but I am doing my first oil change on my R100RT after 5 years. To make a long story short, I sold the bike 5 years ago, and now I bought it back, so I am doing my first oil change.

My R100RT dates to the early '90s. The R100RT has some kind of oil send/return unit instead of a simple oil filter cover plate, like on earlier models. When I removed the cover, I found a white silicon rubber o-ring between the sender unit and the engine case, but no paper gasket. Anyone know if there is supposed to be a paper gasket there?

When you buy the oil filter, but the entire oil filter kit. It should come with all the parts.

Hey Dave.

Thanks for the reply.

Small world. Not sure if you remember me... my name is Kurt. I used to be in the Yankee Beemers. My wife and I were on that wet ride to the RA rally in Quebec about a half dozen years ago. That was the one where the tents were floating away, so everyone wound up sleeping in the livestock barns.

I had breakfast at a diner in Ayer a few months ago and met a guy with a coupla kids... turned out he is your brother.

'Bout the filter... forgot about the kit... it's been a while. I just bought a filter and the crush ring for the plug. At least I remembered to get the split filter!

Use just the white O ring and the shim that come with the kit. The paper gasket will reduce the compression on the O ring if it is used.
Check with www.airheads.org

Well, the local shop gave me the wrong filter. Now I remember why I stopped doing business with that place back in the early nineties. I used to have excellent luck with Skippy Freeman up in Beverly Mass, but he closed his shop.

I just went ahead and plopped in the white silicon-rubber type o-ring and the black one that came with the filter. If oil pours out, I'll invest in a roll of bounty to clean up the mess then buy the kit.

Thanks for the feedback!

Rusty, Freeman's parts guy extraordinaire, is now at Max BMW in Portsmouth.

No way!!! I remember Rusty. Thanks for the tip!

In regards to your RT oil filter. First and foremost, check the AirHead List and InternetBMWRiders sites.
Find everything possibile written by Oak, it's for sale, look inside the cover of the MOA mag for address.
Depending on the year, you may/may not need a shim, need to measure the protrusion where the o-ring sits. Some of the older models needed the shim to protect the o-ring from sharp maching surfaces. In some cases, using the paper gasket could reduce the clamp force applied to the o-ring, causing a loss of oil pressure.
There is no simple answer. It all depends on your particular bike.
Everything I have said, is what I have found on the Internet, hopefully I have stated it right.

Allan