Too many miles?

[hadabadachada]

Hello.
So I’ve been surfing all over researching as much as I can. And I’m really starting to question if I want an airhead.
I’ve always wanted one and I’m really starting to look now.
Most of them are going up in price quite a bit. There are some deals here and there. But the deals always bring the most questions. Main one, is it worth it?

A high mileage airhead isn’t really the scary part since people say they can run forever.

But what am I really looking for on a bike with high mileage? Going to be hard to bring proper tools to test leak down and what not. So I guess I’m just looking for oil leaks to point out potential issues?

I found a 1984 R100RS with 91,000 miles and not much other information. I want to go take a look at it but am wondering what would be the main problem spots/issues to look for?

I don’t know all that much about airheads, but I know a little bit about oil heads.

 

[stevenrankin]

Airheads

I understand trepidation in buying an airhead bike. Prices of them sometime make no sense. That is a whole other topic.

Oil heads are not too different from airheads, other than being harder to work on. LOL, in my mind it would be harder to find a good used Oil head due to the added complexity of the fuel injection versus carbs.

You don't necessarily need to do a leak down as that of course requires some kind of compressor but a compression test gauge is not too big to pack along with a spark plug wrench. LOL, Like on an Oil head make sure the plugs are properly grounded if the bike has the electronic ignition.

If the owner has had the bike from new or a long time, and can give you service history the key items to note are; What oil has been used? How often were valves adjusted? How often has the transmission input shaft been lubed? When was the last time the final drive spline was lubed/inspected?

The 82,83,84 bikes were noted to have valve seat problems with attending valve recession due to a BMW error. Has that been addressed? It shows up about 32K to 50K miles.

in particular to the RS airhead model, I have one. It is a wonderful bike except; the low narrow handle bars. It can be hard on the neck riding and a bear to move around in a garage or on and off a lift, anytime I am off the bike moving it around. The narrow low bars don't allow much leverage. Getting it on and off the center stand is harder than my RT.

Good luck on your search. St.

 

[swall]

First of all, ask yourself, "why do I want an Airhead?" These machines are vintage/antiques that you can also ride on a regular basis if kept in a good state of tune. With an RS, how it fits the rider is very important, as the rider position is not for every body type. You need to sit on one and see how it feels to you. Does the machine you are considering run?

 

[stevenrankin]

More stuff

Yeah, I know I wrote a lot but had more thoughts.

A BMW airhead will last a long time and as I said I know others besides myself who have over 200K miles on their bikes. The ONLY reason the bikes make it to that kind of high mileage is because they do need to be maintained at regular intervals.

They are fussy about the oil they get, and how often the filters are changed. If you get one with points, they can be a pain to keep properly adjusted. Valves need regular adjustment, splines need regular care.

None of this is new information for even the modern bikes or in the car world.

So, I will say this, I perceive I spend far more time wrenching on my two bikes then does the owners of the more modern bikes. Of course, I don't know any owners of more modern bikes with over 100k on them and I don't know many owners of newer bikes that do their own repairs and maintenance either.

Swall makes a good point. I will add, if you don't mind turning wrenches, can troubleshoot simple electrics and can enjoy a bare bones maybe not so smooth ride, and airhead is for you. They are an older grandpa of the Oil Heads. St.

 

[pglaves]

So, I will say this, I perceive I spend far more time wrenching on my two bikes then does the owners of the more modern bikes. Of course, I don't know any owners of more modern bikes with over 100k on them and I don't know many owners of newer bikes that do their own repairs and maintenance either.

Well, Voni's R1100RS has about 415,000 miles on it. My first K75 had 370,000 miles when it was destroyed in an accident, my R1150R had 189,000 miles when I sold it, and a current K75 is now at almost 120,000 miles.

As for those pesky fuel injectors, I have never had to send one off for cleaning and have never had a failure of the ECU which controls the injectors. Fuel injection system maintenance for more than 1 million miles of injected bikes has never been more complicated than a dose of good injector cleaner every 10,000 to 12,000 miles. Now about those carbs and points?????

 

[gtgt_bangbang]

Hello.
So I’ve been surfing all over

do you use one of the nation-wide Craigslist compilers ?
like https://www.searchcraigslist.org or https://craigs-list-search.com
not the best search engines / interfaces , but pretty useful imo

For a grocery getter / errand runner , a maxi-scoot is the only Smart Money I ever plunked down for a MC ( had a couple Majesty & would be OK w/ any of them if I needed to leave on on 1 hour notice coast to coast without fuss) ,
For a classic that isnt hard to work on, and want unbelievable parts availability , airheads are excellent choice . GL!

 

[lkraus]

do you use one of the nation-wide Craigslist compilers ?
like https://www.searchcraigslist.org or https://craigs-list-search.com
not the best search engines / interfaces , but pretty useful imo

For a grocery getter / errand runner , a maxi-scoot is the only Smart Money I ever plunked down for a MC ( had a couple Majesty & would be OK w/ any of them if I needed to leave on on 1 hour notice coast to coast without fuss) ,
For a classic that isnt hard to work on, and want unbelievable parts availability , airheads are excellent choice . GL!

Add https://www.searchtempest.com/ to the list.

 

[hadabadachada]

I’ve always wanted an airhead for their relative simplicity.
I’ve had an F800ST that i put 83,000 miles on from new in 3 years. Then it got totaled. I may have had the highest mileage on the 800 at the time. Some kinda guinea pig almost. Great bike tho, that rotax engine is amazing IMO. I’ve had a couple oilheads now, currently an 04 R1100S that’s just shy of 70K of which I put 45K since I’ve got it in the last two years.
I ride quite a bit and like the idea of a bike that can be, more or less, fixed on the spot. Vintage is always cool too, I’ve always loved the old boxers. My buddy has a 76 R90 that needs fully rebuild now it’s been sitting so long. But that was always fun to ride when it was running.

Plus old airheads are going up in value. Tho I can’t say that’s any reason to get one, other than trying to get one cheap before they allll cost too much. It’s not so much an investment as it is just something I’ve always wanted.
I get my bikes to ride.
I’d love to have kept this R1100 with low mileage because it was in fantastic condition when I bought it. But I get these things to ride. And I like to ride.

I’m thinking I may just need to look for other bikes. This one has 91K, no service records, it runs and drives, the guy who’s selling it says he starts it up every week and rides it around the block, but that’s all I know. Oh, and it’s 4 grand, so, one of the cheaper ones out there on the market.
BUT, may have a rusty gas tank, might have a slipping sloppy clutch, might have this that the other.
But I guess all that could be fixed too….

Maybe it’s a cherry barn find that was cleaned up. I doubt it, but who knows.
Im planning a road trip, Miami to PA and a few spots in between. Bike is in Orlando, I want to stop by on my way out of town and have a look, see what’s there to lowball.
I did ask him, would it make it Orlando back to Miami if I came up to buy it? He hesitated, said, I don’t know if it would on the highway, but yeah it would definitely make it, but that long on the highway would test it.

 

[stevenrankin]

Points

Well, Paul, LOL, I spend most of my time at a dedicated airhead shop and my local BMW club is pretty much gone away. So, thanks for letting me know the oil heads will go the distance. I kind of figure they would but alas no experience.

As for points, Yeah, they are the only thing I have ever hated about airheads. My RT has the factory electronic system and the RS was converted from points to Dyna and now to the much better Wedgetail system. It is great not to have to get on my hands and knees in a parking lot while on a trip to adjust points and timing because the gap changed and the bike started pinging.

Carbs, I have never really had a problem with carbs other than needles and seats wearing out and needing replaced. I run enough gas through them I don't have gunk problems to worry about. I find that for the most part when they are adjusted properly they stay so for quite sometime. The only regular tweaking I have to do is cable adjustments from time to time and of course when cables are changed. I kind of like not having a fuel pump to worry about and to be honest, I trust the old system of turning petcocks from main to reserve a bit better than a light going on to tell me to start looking for a station.

The biggest problem I have with carbs is usually due to getting a dose of bad gas at a station. Then it is a pain to get the water out, a messy job with float bowls. LOL, since I have no experience with fuel injection just what happens on an oil head when you get a slug of water in the gas?

Yeah in reality the oil heads are now at the age where 200K plus bikes are growing in number, some day maybe the wet heads and cam heads will as well, in their cases, electronics will determine the length of time someone will put up with them I guess. St.

 

[stevenrankin]

Prices

LOL, one of the biggest topics at the airhead shop I hang out at is bike prices. It is my everyday source of both wishing I had space for one more bike I find at a good price and a source of amazement and amusement at some of the prices being asked.

We at the shop can't conclude if the seeming increase in prices for airheads is due to old guys like me who are getting out of riding want to sell their bikes for the most money, no secret there who doesn't. Are there sellers out there who think BMW demands more money, sorry fellas, the BMW name doesn't in the shop consensus.

One thing about BMW that makes them attractive and perhaps keeps the price up is the availability of parts on the market not only from BMW but other sources and the number of shops still in business that work on the older bikes. A different situation for other companies.

Yes, a bunch of people restore old rare bikes and all the manufactured bikes over the years have probably had at least one person restore a model of the bikes produced. But, that is a different story for someone who wants to ride regularly. I would love to have a Vincent Black Shadow but to be honest, I am not a put a bike in a show or look at it guy I am a rider. The airheads readily fall into both categories.

All I can say is I have stated in other posts I find the airhead BMW to be almost the perfect bike and am thankful for small companies who over the years have brought to market items for improvement. Still they are NOT perfect.

I also joke that someday someone will twist my arm, make me an offer I can't refuse and I may just end up owning a bike newer than my 84 RT. When I see Paul write about his bikes, I get tempted, just tempted. St.

 

[Paul_F]

So, I will say this, I perceive I spend far more time wrenching on my two bikes then does the owners of the more modern bikes. Of course, I don't know any owners of more modern bikes with over 100k on them and I don't know many owners of newer bikes that do their own repairs and maintenance either. St.

I am certainly am not in Paul or Voni’s mileage realm but my ‘87 K has 176,000 miles and my Oilhead has 155,000 miles. I complete the services for both bikes but when a repair is needed, I take them to someone far more competent than me.

 

[stevenrankin]

Key

The key here is regular maintenance, NO bike or car will go the distance if not maintained. I am enjoying getting information on high mile BMW non airheads. St.

 

[kinterridge]

The key here is regular maintenance, NO bike or car will go the distance if not maintained. I am enjoying getting information on high mile BMW non airheads. St.

I concur with Steve on the maintenance, we will be bumping 200,00 miles next month on our fall trip up to New England area from SC. I have done away with points as well, carbs, never really had any issues other than when I went through them 5 years ago, when I replaced the clutch, I replaced the floats during the rebuild (1st one so far), I found they no longer floated upon re-install. So maintenace wise, I think normal, wear and tear. Renewed the rear seals and oil pump seals, shaft bolts and boot. When I did away with points, new timing etc. Always use seafoam in my fuel and non-ethanol except in areas where it's not available. I always try to take care of the issues before they get out of hand, feel something, smell something, see something that just isn't right, take care of it as soon as possible. Just my thoughts on my Airhead.