Looking to buy an R100s for my first airhead - have a bunch of questions

Hello everyone, thanks for the warm welcome in the newbies forum.

I am looking to buy my first airhead after having ridden superbikes and Japanese sport touring bikes for years and years.

I have been reading as much as possible on these bikes, but have some questions I am hoping you might be able to help:

- what's the range of (real prices) I should expect to pay for one of these bikes? I realize that everyone thinks their classic bike is "special" and worth a premium, but there has to be a general range.
- what's it cost to rebuild one of these motors from top to bottom?
- if I found a bike and wanted to restore it, assuming it has all the right OEM parts, what's it cost to do a high quality repaint on a bike such as these.
- can the OEM S fairings be found if required?
- what other parts are unobtainium? It seems like the badges are in very short supply (like the tail badges). What about other more consumable parts like footpegs, seats, mirrors and switchgear and such?

I am thinking it would be fun to have a "very nice" ridable bike, maybe something I could take to local enthusiast events and shine er up and meet others.... but not something to store or a museum piece.

Anyhow, any resources or advice is really appreciated. I'm having a blast just researching these bikes and learning about them

mullet
Bend, Oregon

From the 2012 edition of the Vintage Motorcycle Price Guide:
1977 R100S prices are $900 for grade 6, $3000 for grade 3 and $4500 for grade 1. For a 1978 model, the figures are $700, $2100 and $3500.
A condition 6 bike is a junker or parts bike. A condition 1 bike is showroom new. A condition 3 bike is one that is original, all parts present, everything works, excellent cosmetic shape. You don't want to mess with a condition 6 bike and you won't find an honest condition 1 bike.

Some things to consider

You might be better off looking for a nicely maintained well cared for R 100S or RS, you can pick and pull items to refresh in the off season as needed. There are many pitfalls related to restorations and buying a bike in need of a restoration.

Some things to consider with a restoration project

The cost can easily get out of control. If you don't have the tools and knowledge to perform a mechanical restoration you can plan on spending some serious money shipping components to various shops to have them rebuilt/restored to original specs.

A cosmetic restoration can be equally expensive and very time consuming unless you can do it yourself or have a local body shop that would help you out for a reasonable cost.

A restoration project is a big undertaking especially if you want it spot on correct. If you want a non rider project bike to occupy you spare time, garage space and a good amount of your bank account until its a rider there are plenty out there but let the buyer beware. I would suggest opening up your scope of what you are looking for as far as year and model but look for a bike with 25,000 to 75,000 miles on it with service records. You can always add an "S" fairing to a standard R100 or replace an "RS" fairing with the smaller "S" fairing to get the look you want.

I don't want to be the one to rain on the parade but a restoration project can take as long as a year or two and cost much more than the purchase price of a nice airhead that you can get on and ride all Summer and tinker with it in the Winter.

Choose wisely.

The cost of paint work

Call Holt BMW for an eye opener on the cost and time line for a repaint.

69zeff65 said:

You might be better off looking for a nicely maintained well cared for R 100S or RS, you can pick and pull items to refresh in the off season as needed. There are many pitfalls related to restorations and buying a bike in need of a restoration.

Some things to consider with a restoration project

The cost can easily get out of control. If you don't have the tools and knowledge to perform a mechanical restoration you can plan on spending some serious money shipping components to various shops to have them rebuilt/restored to original specs.

I don't want to be the one to rain on the parade but a restoration project can take as long as a year or two and cost much more than the purchase price of a nice airhead that you can get on and ride all Summer and tinker with it in the Winter.

Choose wisely.

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Great advice thank you.

I can shed some light on painting costs. I had my 1952 Indian Chief painted one year ago. My painter, a body shop in Auburn, Indiana, charged $50/hr. for "custom work". He had 30 hours in it. Then there was about $400 in paint+supplies. I had done all of the heavy dirty work, like sand blasting and priming with PPG epoxy.

69zeff65 said:

You might be better off looking for a nicely maintained well cared for R 100S or RS...,
Choose wisely.

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This is good advice. Consider also the R100 or R100T. BMW was making naked bikes when they were just called bikes

For rainy, cool Cascade Range riding, I'd put a word in for an RT---nice ones can be had for reasonable money, and the fairing will keep you going when you'd otherwise be looking for shelter.

IMHO the 1981-on bikes are night and day better bikes than the earlier ones. Yes, you'll have to get beyond the valve recession thing, but it's fixed once fixed. Nikasil engines are bulletproof and the old iron engines aren't.

And, all the engines and transmissions are the same in a given year and all it takes to make one an "S" is the fairing and corresponding handlebar. Those are the only things that ever distinguished an R100S or R100CS from any other R100, except in the first years when you could get a tamer motor in an R100/7.

The nicer clutch/flywheel and electronic ignition bring the newer bikes out of the farm equipment category. The only advantage to the first R100S bikes is that you might find one with wire wheels.

Look for one someone else has done most of the work. I love BMWs but they can be money pits. The only way you get your money back is to drive it. The R100S has a paint job that would be very expensive to duplicate and worth less without the stock paint.

Check out what this one may be selling for.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1978-BMW-R-...ash=item2f0306cfe8:g:UD0AAOSww9xZCRa3&vxp=mtr

lkchris said:

IMHO the 1981-on bikes are night and day better bikes than the earlier ones. Yes, you'll have to get beyond the valve recession thing, but it's fixed once fixed. Nikasil engines are bulletproof and the old iron engines aren't.

And, all the engines and transmissions are the same in a given year and all it takes to make one an "S" is the fairing and corresponding handlebar. Those are the only things that ever distinguished an R100S or R100CS from any other R100, except in the first years when you could get a tamer motor in an R100/7.

The nicer clutch/flywheel and electronic ignition bring the newer bikes out of the farm equipment category. The only advantage to the first R100S bikes is that you might find one with wire wheels.

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+2. My '84 R100 was sold as an S or CS but came to me without the fairing (the original owner had the dealer remove it?!?). IIRC, the number of actual S models, that had higher compression and different final drive ratio, imported into the US was small. The rest, including mine, were as lkchris notes. I added the fairing and bars and it was the best rider of the three airheads I've had.

georgej said:

Check out what this one may be selling for.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1978-BMW-R-...ash=item2f0306cfe8:g:UD0AAOSww9xZCRa3&vxp=mtr

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I actually bid $9600 for it, which was top dollar for me. Its now at $9700.00



mullet
Bend, Oregon

That's a museum piece, Mullet. The '78 Red Smoke R100S models were/are the most beautiful motorcycles BMW made in the last 50 years, IMHO.

Holt BMW in Athern, OH, can paint your S parts smoke red so nicely you can't tell it from a factory paint job.

I think I'm at least 95% correct with the following trivia: the eBay description for this bike calls the saddlebags Krausers. They are instead Denfelds ... which is what you got if you ordered bags from the dealer.

Max BMW sold a '78 Red Smoke S a couple of years ago for around ten grand Imthink it was. It was an unrestored low mileage bike.I remember that one because it was for sale there just after I got my '77 100S.I agree that Res Smoke paint scheme is pretty nice.Mine is just the plain red.I do like the spoke rims though.

R 100s

georgej said:

Max BMW sold a '78 Red Smoke S a couple of years ago for around ten grand Imthink it was. It was an unrestored low mileage bike.I remember that one because it was for sale there just after I got my '77 100S.I agree that Res Smoke paint scheme is pretty nice.Mine is just the plain red.I do like the spoke rims though.

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I do believe that the plain red (cherry red with gold stripe) R 100S were the 77 models, while the smoked red were the 78 models. 77 models had drum rear brake, 78 had disc rear brake. Bikes can be painted any color, brakes are harder to change though it can and has been done.

Friedle

Mine is a '77 bone stock original except for tires, battery, mirrors and BMW saddlebag racks. Krauser racks were mounted at the dealer. I bought her from the original owner.
She's red with the gold pinstripe spoked wheels and rear drum brake.

georgej said:

Mine is a '77 bone stock original except for tires, battery, mirrors and BMW saddlebag racks. Krauser racks were mounted at the dealer. I bought her from the original owner.
She's red with the gold pinstripe spoked wheels and rear drum brake.

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Beautiful bike. That's exactly the bike I have been shopping for. I like the 1977s because of the spoked wheels.

Beautiful .... Something about that bike is just perfect.


mullet
Bend, Oregon

khittner1 said:

That's a museum piece, Mullet. The '78 Red Smoke R100S models were/are the most beautiful motorcycles BMW made in the last 50 years, IMHO.

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I agree.

mullet
Bend, Oregon