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Zooming in, appea4s to have some surface corrosion on some fasteners, maybe parked outside?
Spiegler is pretty accommodating. After I changed my brake lines and then decided to put on some bar backs, I just gave them a call, told them which line I needed just a bit longer from the set I just installed and they provided me with a new line.
This might be a great deal for you. Take off the sidecar and sell it and you might recover half the purchase price.
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/mcy/d/brentwood-2002-bmw-r1150-rt-only-4k/7422498337.html
Very low mileage. Besides brake lines and HES re-wire, that bike will need a rear wheel if you remove the sidecar.
Yet to be mentioned is the most significant elephant in the room regarding Oilheads.
Oilheads are the first bikes BMW produced following new German legal requirements that automotive parts be biodegradable.
For Oilheads this means as designed degradation of wiring harness sleeves and even wire insulation itself. Especially where affixed with cable ties. This is the cause of hall effect sensor failure, for example.
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Vulcanized rubber is all effectively biodegradable in automotive use, so that isn't really unique to BMW Oilheads. Motorcycle parts do get a lot more UV and oxygen exposure than comparable car parts so the rubber often breaks down faster.
Have you ever seen a set of worn-out OEM suspension bushings on a car? They start as firm but pliable black rubber, and after years of bending and road spray they shrink and crack and eventually crumble into dust.
Something I always say to my friends who are looking for bikes is: on any used motorcycle beyond about 10 years old, all rubber parts are suspect until proven otherwise. Brand doesn't matter since nobody's figured out how to make an immortal rubber yet.
View attachment 86293
My current bikes include a 92 K75 RT, a 2014 Triumph Thruxton, and a 2002 Kawasaki Ninja. I have bought all my bikes used and to date I have been able to perform all my maintenance myself (nothing major like engine tear-downs).
I have located a 1997 R1100 RT about 25 miles from me. I've checked out the 18 photos online. It looks very nice, though I'm not a fan of the color - Glacier Green. The bike has 70K miles on it and the shop is asking $2,999 for it. It's a local dealer who specializes in used Harleys.
My questions for members of this forum are:
1) Is a 25 year old R1100 RT still a reliable bike?
2) how many miles do people put on these bikes? What is considered high mileage?
3) Are parts readily available?
4) Are there known problems with this model bike? And if so, are these easily repaired?
5) Are these bikes a money pit?
I love my old K75 and I have no plans to get rid of it. It's been the cheapest bike I own, and I love riding it and it is so easy to maintain. Will I be so fortunate with my next old Beemer?
Thanks of any insight that you can provide.
So, 35 posts later, did Chazzman buy this bike? The public has a right to know!
Bmw is making wire insulation from Soy beans that will biodegrade with time.Mice like it.The most vulnerable part of any automotive wiring system is its bare metal parts -- this usually means terminals and connectors. Your biggest enemy is corrosion. What I do to fight it is use electrical contact cleaner and then dielectric (silicone) grease at terminals whenever I pop them open for the first time on a project. The grease won't short anything out and keeps the oxygen away. More severe corrosion can be fought with metal polish (if you can get it into the terminals, rub it in, and then get it back out again with isopropyl) but small terminals that are too far gone need replacement. I'm handy with a soldering iron and I replace mine with leaded solder when necessary but crimp connectors, the not-cheap kind and crimped with the proper tools, work just fine too.
I'm not entirely sure about the "biodegradable wire insulation" claim made above. Personally I've never seen modern-ish automotive wiring insulation degrade just with the passage of time even on old vehicles. I believe all the insulation is plastic compounds or Teflon compounds and has been for decades now. The only failure modes I've ever seen have been due to owner abuse, corrosion, and wear caused by poor installation.
The last of these three is a known issue with early Oilheads; the wiring harness was fastened too tight to the headstock of the motorcycle from the factory, which puts strain on the wires and their jacket and can cause abrasive failure over time from steering, or it can pull terminals out of place. It's easily fixable with snips and zip ties before the failures occur and I did so on my bike. If it isn't caught until after the failure happens then it gets a bit difficult.
My own Oilhead hasn't had any problems with the wiring harness and the previous owner left it sitting in his yard uncovered for 3 years. The wiring harness next to the steering head even received direct sunlight during that time. I imagine if the wiring were biodegradable I'd certainly be having tricky electrical issues.
Even a 1980 Honda CB750K project I'm working on didn't have any issues with the insulation; its only problems were from corroded terminals and abuse by the previous owners. I had to replace the harness entirely on that bike due to how many places the previous owner had snipped it and made questionable modifications. I bought a used complete harness from Ebay, same year and model, and used the factory wiring diagram to test it with a multimeter. Every wire checked out just fine. Obviously that's not an apples to apples comparison but it's one thing I've seen firsthand.