Lately I've been on a later model K trajectory, so it's with pleasure I can announce that I've returned firmly to the fold. This arvo I checked out and bought a clean 1985 K100 from its aging original owner. The bike has an honest 20,202 miles on the odometre. Suffice to say I'm glad to have a classic K in the garage to fiddle with once again, my own classic being far, far away from me currently.


It started immediately on its new Westco AGM battery, has year old Pirelli Sport Demon tyres, but needs all the fluids flushed - it has a binding rear master cylinder and the front brake fluid reservoir was filled with brown stuff resembling treacle.

The Corbin seat has a split in it at the side and will be either re-skinned or replaced. I let it idle until the fan cycled three times. The engine oil is fairly clean, the fork boots are perishing, the rear main seal and water pump showed no sign of leakage as told by the weep holes..

The bike has Type III pannier locks with a 'brand new' BMW touring 'screen (they had recently ordered it through the workshop which is how I learnt about the bike and their desire to sell it), and a Corbin backrest.

It came with a new weather-proof cover, has all of the original paperwork and owner's manual. He paid $6647 for it new in May of 1985. Included was a receipt for a BMW helmet for $189.95! What a difference thirty years can make.

I am NOT going to strip it to the bones and spray it matte black, nope, nuh, no way. It's gunna get lovingly returned to the road as it is in as clean a condition as it could be for a thirty year old motorbike which was owned by one person.

More power to you TWB.

I had an SR500 back in the eighties, I'm so excited these days to see one in original nick. It may happen to the Kays.

 

Jez.

Thanks, Jez.

The sidecovers still have their nubbins intact, the muffler heat shields have been removed (but I have a set in my shed in OZ), and the maintenance records are in an envelope, all of them, since day one!

There is a slight crack in the 'fairing' round the right hand side turn indicator as old mate dropped it against the shed door, damaging the original 'screen, hence their need for a new one. He can't ride anymore due to a balance impairment. He and his wife were happy to see it go to a K enthusiast. Poker face; I didn't show them just how much of a K fan I am!

Man you got a bad dose of K pox.

Well, I have an Airhead and an Oilhead, too!


The shed's a tad packed with bikes and spares...

Two Wheels Better wrote:Well, I have an Airhead and an Oilhead, too!


The shed's a tad packed with bikes and spares...

That's only half the story.....one shed in WA and one in AU. That new K100C has some nice unobtanium panels too.

Congrats TWB !
Very nice indeed; I love the looks of that frontside...
Have fun and take good care of her...

Jos.

Hi, maybe you need original windscreen. Somebody from Croatia try to sell it for months and ask cca 60 USD for windscreen K 100 wih brackets.
I dont know about post expences from Croatia to US.
http://www.njuskalo.hr/moto-dijelovi-ostali/bmw-k-100-k-75-vjetrobransko-staklo-oglas-9390801

Regards

Thanks, the owner has just bought a new one for the bike from the dealer where I work. It is in that picture buried in the pile of foam wrap with the panniers.

That's a very nice find!  Thanks for not making a "cafe racer" out of it   The world has plenty of those.

nino wrote:Hi, maybe you need original windscreen. Somebody from Croatia try to sell it for months and ask cca 60 USD for windscreen K 100 wih brackets.
I dont know about post expences from Croatia to US.
http://www.njuskalo.hr/moto-dijelovi-ostali/bmw-k-100-k-75-vjetrobransko-staklo-oglas-9390801

Regards

My brother just went to Dubrovnik yesterday for 5 weeks.....

nino wrote:Hi, maybe you need original windscreen. Somebody from Croatia try to sell it for months and ask cca 60 USD for windscreen K 100 wih brackets.
I dont know about post expences from Croatia to US.
http://www.njuskalo.hr/moto-dijelovi-ostali/bmw-k-100-k-75-vjetrobransko-staklo-oglas-9390801

Regards

That is a very good deal, since the 'screen itself costs over $200 US dollars and the brackets are there!

I am looking forward to some quiet touring behind it come Spring in these parts. This bike was never a hotrod and while it's tempting to ditch the exhaust (sounds like vacuum cleaner with a headcold), brace the front forks, go plus-one on the tyre sizes, or fit some three spokers and radials, it's gunna stay as is.

I dragged the K100 out of the garage into the faint Sunday arvo sunshine. I've not had much time to go over it since bringing it home last week. The rear master cylinder is definitely scored and will need to be replaced, but the front hydraulics bled out alright. The Corbin seat is really comfy but that split... I'm taking it to an upholsterer in Tacoma to be reskinned. I've checked the VIN with BMWNA's Great Computer and discovered that she's got an early '85 US production date of 7/84. The VIN is 0030066.



Tomorrow I'm dropping the other fluids, flushing the cooling system and checking clearances. There's a few screws missing here and there but for a bike with just over 20,000 miles and thirty years on her she's in good nick! I am beginning to like the look of the bike without the touring windscreen. I might try to locate the short factory 'screen as an option.

Nice find,I have one similar, 1984 with just 3707 miles when I found it.



The brakes had suffered as it hadn't seen the road since 1992 but it didn't need major work.

Two weeks later I found a 1993 37000 mile K1100LT that hadn't seen the road since 1998 and it was worse still. The front brake wouldn't hold fluid in the cylinder and had quite a bad leak. I ordered parts and waited for them to arrive but in the mean time I stripped the master cylinder to find the piston in perfect condition but there was a hard varnish type deposit in the bottom of the cylinder that was causing a poor seal. I scraped it out with a plastic wedge.cleaned it up and it's perfect again. The irony here is that as I'd finished the rebuild, the postman arrived with the new parts I didn't really need!
The reason I'm boring you with all this nonsense is, strip and check it first before you order replacement parts, all may not be as bad as it seems and it might save you some money. 

It'll need a rear master cylinder and one front calliper. Both are 'toast'. I'm gunna whack some Spiegler SS hydraulic hoses onto it too. I work at a Beemer workshop so ordering anything and having it arrive quickly or as needed isn't an issue. I also have stacks of new and secondhand spares. It's all a part of not having come down with last night's rain.

Nice one Dazza!

It looks sharp and you're the right type of bloke to make it look amazing!

It's gunna take a bit of elbow grease to remove the corrosive acid stains from the gearbox where an early lead/acid battery spewed and I've been recommended several products that aid the effort. The thick brown lumps I removed from the hydraulics were life forms of their own, and it was good to see clear fluid come through the pipes after a tear into it and flush out, but at least we (thought we had at the time) have good stoppage abilities now. A wasp had nestled snugly up into the waterpump weep hole and was I glad to see that no liquids followed after the caked-in mud removal. The engine, gearbox & final drive fluids were all surprisingly clean given the length of storage of the machine. The fork oil is next on the list, the long-travel front end quite springy. I prefer the firmer 'S' forks retro'd to my OZ-based K100RS.

As the bike has a number plate good 'til March next year she may see the road for a short country road burble this weekend. It's forecast to shine round here after these much-needed rains pass through.

When I got my RT a little over 2 years ago there was serious acid damage as in frame was corroded and bad staining due to the previous absence of a battery breather pipe. I did bare metal sand and repaint that section of frame in satin black Hammerite and it is fine. The aluminium was a case of elbow grease and at times T cut or kitchen cleaning cream [Cif!!] diluted with some beer   and it has come up really well now. Resist the temptation to use anything much stronger. I wasn't striving for showroom condition but the acid damage is sorted and looks good.

Simple Green and a fine kitchen scrubby (also green) appear to work really well on the aluminium gearbox and engine cases in eliminating the corrosion.

I'll drink a beer or three afterwards.

nice looking machine dazza

have fun with it

As it's the first day of Daylight Savings Time on the US West Coast, it's blustery and pissing with rain, a Sunday, and no one else's around, it's time for a much-needed garage day!

I obtained a sweet, clear braided hydraulic hose set from Spiegler USA, a new set of rear pads (Valor), a rear calliper seal kit, rear master cylinder and miscellaneous hardware, and set about stripping all of the brake components off the Polaris silver metallic K100. The front master cylinder was gummed up to the point of being frozen due to irregular brake fluid flushes by the original owner (a one owner machine!) and the moist, Pacific Northwest climate. I'm prolly gunna have to replace the cylinder, but I have a kit just in case it's salvageable. The front cals came up clean and the pads are hardly worn. The rear master cylinder was junk. A new one rests where the locked up old one resided. The rectangular rear reservoir is in such good nick that it won't have to be replaced with the new roundy round type. I see the old type falling to powder at this stage, usually. The Spiegler hoses are fitted where they can be while awaiting the master cylinder re-seal or replacement, but I still need a few misc bits from Beemer to finish the job.

I've dragged the black exhaust shield back off my '87 K100RS from OZ in one of my suitcases and with a few captured nuts, screws and the forward rubber mount, she'll slip right on where the original missing version was. I note that the '86 on heat shields have one more screw/nut arrangement where the earlier versions have one less. A short screw and nut in the centre near where the passenger pegs are will 'hide' the fact that I'm using a later version heat shield on the earlier muffler.

The tyres are near new Pirelli Sport Demon in the standard sizes. I cranked the bike and she settled into an immediate steady idle with no timing chain or other internal noises coming from the engine or driveline. It idled until the fan came on with me pulling the end of the throttle cable a few times to rev it a bit. The obligatory puff streamed out the tailpipe for a minute or two then cleared up. My sweatshirt now stinks with the rich combo of partially spent gases and unburnt hydrocarbons of pre-pinned oil control rings, saturating the cotton garment I'm draped in, from keeping the garage doors closed and breathing deeply. Admit it, you do it too. it's an elixir. A glass of whiskey will fix it.

This bike has not been ridden in at least three or four years and I've still not motored away on it myself. I cannot wait to give it a go. First she needs a coolant flush, the fork oil replaced, an airbox to engine breather hose replacement, and the last few bits of the brakes done and dusted. I detect tightness in the steering head bearings but with just over 20K miles on the (original) odo I suspect it's merely cracked and dried out grease. I'll thin that and re-grease it before replacing the bearings. A thorough check over will take place tomorrow, then if the rain's stopped or lessened we're off on our mutually maiden voyage!

It's good to feel Spring in the air again. What a continuing (but unsurprising) wet Winter we returned to after our delicious month in mainland OZ and Tassie during February! I've got a few K bike projects re-started at last and this is gunna be a great Summer of riding them.

Today I split all three callipers and with a simple garage air pump nozzle for a beach ball, managed to blast the pistons across the garage floor and under the toolbox and other various hiding spots. I used bleeder valves in the threaded holes to stop air escaping and watched them slowly leave their chambers until bam! I found them all, eventually. I'm glad I went inside the cals as they were sludged up with sticky brown goo. An ordinary bleed wouldn't have done much to stave off eventual binding. The front master came up clean after a full can of brake parts cleaner emptied into it, a quick but light twirl of a wheel cylinder hone and compressed air blown through the orifices. I'm just waiting on one more calliper rebuild kit - only had two in stock. The front pads are OEM BMW and in good nick - makes sense at just over 20,000 miles. The back pads are worn halfway, evidence of a tail dragger previous owner.

I also replaced the cheap aftermarket handgrips with my favourite BMW ribbed version.



The touring windscreen looks nice all perched up around the headlight - only waiting for a coupla missing grommets.






Next stop, fork seals and fluid, the new BMW 11.5 stuff....what will they do next!?

That's my weekend done, satisfied. Time for a snort of Finlaggan single malt and some sofa time.

The base around the front master cylinder leaked overnight. I'd replaced the o-ring but noted heavy corrosion in the tapered opening to the cylinder. Cleaning it up didn't do the job, also the brake pressure isn't really up to snuff. I should have known with the heavy rot taken place inside the workings of the unit. It's amazing what a lack of basic maintenance will cause. But, it's done its job over thirty one years, a lot of that time in storage, now's the time to relegate it to the bin.

The back brakes are working swell, the touring 'screen is attached correctly, the heat shield is on with new fasteners all round. I'll just need a new front cylinder and reservoir. On order today.

Whilst sorting my shed in OZ last month I actually handled my original RS 13mm master cylinder assembly which I've kept in a plastic lidded storage container, thought, 'what shall I do with this fine piece?', then wrapped it up and put it back. I replaced it with a K1100RS 20mm version and four pot callipers several years ago.

Doh! I had room in my checked luggage. The weather's improving round here and I'm Jonesing to ride this bloody thing!

Brakes done, windscreen on, a coupla warm and dry hours after work. The bike has a number plate and insurance, so off we go for a shakedown run...



It's actually slightly smoother feeling than my OZ-based '87 K100RS and gets up and rolls with a good twist of the wrist. The extra tall 'bars seem to be either tweaked slightly to the right or the rubber vibey bushes in the upper triple clamp need tightening. The windscreen provides excellent upper body wind protection. For a staid, thirty two year old, upright tourer, she does the job, though the wooden feel of the two-pot Brembo brakes, old fashioned suspension and narrow tyres leave a bit to be desired compared to the upgrades I've done on my older bikes and the newer bikes as they are.



Next stop is the upholsterer to get that Corbin, which is very comfortable, a re-skin due to the separation on the centre right hand side. I'm happy with it as it is, overall, and look forward to a weekend out over the mountains when the snow melts.

The K100 is gone. I sold it to a mate from Juneau, Alaska, called Mike. We visited him on the Inside Passage ferry to Alaska back in June. He's got an interesting collection of bikes, from a low model 883 Hardly, early '80s R80ST, some old Kwackas, a Suzuki or two, I think I saw a Guzzi and a Vespa in there, and several more Beemers. Not bad for a bloke who lives on a landlocked coastal strip with less than fifty miles of roads in either direction, and where it rains so much when the sun does come out they call the rare spots 'blue clouds'.

This is his first K, but he's spying on a soon-available K100RT, too. We'll have 'im converted quick smart!

I'm down to four bikes here and two in OZ now. I reckon one more is going soon, dunno yet if it'll be the R1150RT or the Mighty K1200R. I like the K-R's massive engine and crazy, beautifully effective Duolever front end, so it'll be a difficult choice. The K1200GT is too much like the RT in what it's good at - fast sports-touring - and in the end I prefer the GT's power delivery over the more lazy revving Oilhead boxer. Thing is, the RT has over 136,000 miles on the clock and wouldn't be worth much more than about $2500USD complete (with Ohlins, Remus, Sargent, BMC, Booster Plug, Cee Baileys, etc.) to some lucky soul. But in bits....perish the thought.

Sounds like a First World problem as I type.

good to see it move on mate ...pity it may not get the miles to really appreciate its glory ..

cheers from down here

charlie99 wrote:good to see it move on mate ...pity it may not get the miles to really appreciate its glory ..

cheers from down here

Mike's got that sorted. He's got an auntie here in Tacoma so the bike will be stored at her house. He visits several times a year. I am delivering it to her this week. He's also got a bike in Illinois for when he visits his dad. It's a good life when there's a bike where you go when you get there.

That K100 is a sweet runner, befitting its previous owner's care & maintenance (mainly the storage bit, really, as the brake fluid and coolant were sludge!) and lack of mileage over thirty one years.

Last ride, late Summer arvo. What a fine machine, going to its new home, pity I couldn't just keep them all...