Hello everyone!  Alex here, I'm from Central California (not enjoying this heat) lol


Just introducing myself here.  I've been in the BMW family for a while now.  My first car is a 1985 635csi manual (This was back in 2014, I was a senior in High School) and this July I got another 6 series, but a 1981.  

Yesterday, I found myself lucky and got myself a 1988 k100.  I'm still brand new to bikes and everything. It has 55k miles, but hey, I traded it for a $200 camera. Only problem is that throttle gets stuck.  I was playing with it today and looking at videos, seems like it just needs to be lubed.  I have to manually move it back because it takes a while to go back in place.  Also, it needs a battery, the guy gave me one, but doesn't have enough power to make it turn on.  I get the battery light on as well the oil, not sure if that's normal when you are about to turn the bike on?  

Anyways, I hope to pick up some good tips on this forum and looking forward to meet everybody here!   

Best,

Alex A.


***UPDATE***

Thank you to everyone that replied with their advice.  I was able to find PTFE base lubricant at a ACE store, I also added vaseline to the throttle and bam! Works like it's supposed to.   I was able to charge the one of the batteries that came with the bike.  The battery that it's suppose to go with the bike is dead, the other one came off a Goldwing, smaller but we were able to charge it and get the bike running.  Looks like I'm having trouble with the alternator.  I warmed the motorcycle for about 10 minutes.
 When I opened the choke, everything is normal, but when I put it back to normal, the battery light would come on.  It felt like it wanted to turn off.  As I gave it a little gas, the headlights would go brighter and when I led go off the gas, the light weren't bright.  My brother-in-law is going to test it with his pm tomorrow.  We'll see how it goes.  

Next steps is getting right battery, replacing spark plugs and fresh oil change.  I will also upload a video of before and after as well a clip of how the motorcycle is idling.  Thanks again!

Alex .

Welcome to the asylum. OEM cables are not supposed to require lubrication as they are Teflon lined. However having said that they can benefit with flushing and lubricating. Do not use WD40 or it's like, they can degrade the Teflon lining. You can use a lubricant called Tri Flow which is available from bicycle shops and is PTFE based. I lubricate all my cables with this and I am still on the original 25 year old cables. There is a gear set up under the cover near your throttle it is held in place by a large Phillips head screw, once remove and the cover poped up you can clean and change the grease, I use light lithium spray grease. This can also be a cause of a sticking throttle.  There are two lines on the gears these need to line up, otherwise throttle action will be compromised. Another problem can be caused by the throttle grip being pushed too far on a binding.
Regards Martin.

If it is a late 88 model just loosen the screw under the throttle. Mine had the same problem.

BTW Welcome to the Knuthouse.

welcome, and what a bargain ( swap for a camera ) you definitely got the better deal.

MartinW wrote:Welcome to the asylum. OEM cables are not supposed to require lubrication as they are Teflon lined. However having said that they can benefit with flushing and lubricating. Do not use WD40 or it's like, they can degrade the Teflon lining. You can use a lubricant called Tri Flow which is available from bicycle shops and is PTFE based. I lubricate all my cables with this and I am still on the original 25 year old cables. There is a gear set up under the cover near your throttle it is held in place by a large Phillips head screw, once remove and the cover poped up you can clean and change the grease, I use light lithium spray grease. This can also be a cause of a sticking throttle.  There are two lines on the gears these need to line up, otherwise throttle action will be compromised. Another problem can be caused by the throttle grip being pushed too far on a binding.
Regards Martin.

Thank you for the tip.  Unfortunately, the closest motorcycle shop is about 40 miles.  I saw people using 3 in 1 multipurpose oil.  Is this a bad idea than using Tri Flow or as long as it's PTFE based? 

Best,

Alex.

helensmellen wrote:welcome, and what a bargain ( swap for a camera ) you definitely got the better deal.

I traded it for a Canon Rebel T3 camera.  I took it to Europe and never used it again, just sat at home collecting dust.  By the way, I was able to go the BMW Museum in Munich Germany.  I'll try to upload all the pictures of the bikes they have on display, definitely a place to stop by.

larrikin wrote:If it is a late 88 model just loosen the screw under the throttle. Mine had the same problem.

BTW Welcome to the Knuthouse.

Thank you, I still haven't looked up the VIN, I'll do when I get home.

welcome alex

wow have you got a lot of reading to do

the forums in here have tons of knowledge , banter and good advice

take your time to get to know your bike

in the "portal page " is a good basic knowledge base about owning a k bike . or as you ...new to k bikes
"so you just bought a used k bike "

found here

http://www.verrill.com/moto/newkbike.shtml

lots of advice ..
don't be scared at all ..for the most part just simple things to tick off the list

enjoy the experience and welcome again

charlie99 wrote:welcome alex

wow have you got a lot of reading to do

the forums in here have tons of knowledge , banter and good advice

take your time to get to know your bike

in the "portal page " is a good basic knowledge base about owning a k bike . or as you ...new to k bikes
"so you just bought a used k bike "

found here

http://www.verrill.com/moto/newkbike.shtml

lots of advice ..
don't be scared at all ..for the most part just simple things to tick off the list

enjoy the experience and welcome again

I appreciate it Charlie,

It feels the same as the bigcoupe forum, people always having great advice.  I will definitely look over that link you sent me.  I want to have it at is best before driving it as my daily (at least to college).  My first long trip will be Sacramento ~200 miles away from where I live.

Best,

Alex A.

Welcome along - nice bargain.

You sticky throttle could also be a bit of corrosion on the handle bars below the throttle twist grip - especially if the bike hasn't been used much recently. 

One of mine "failed" it's MoT (annual state inspection) a couple of years back because the throttle wouldn't snap back on release. I pointed out the obvious - the factory fitted throttle friction screw (the screw Larrikin eludes to) which acts a crude cruise control and actively stops the throttle from snapping back (so how can it be a MoT failure?), but when unwound it, the wretched throttle still wouldn't snap all the way back. The test station reckoned it was the throttle cable and rubbed their hands in glee thinking of the £££ in labour (fairing off, tank off type of job). As I was kind of stuck 30 miles from home and the garage was about to shut for the weekend, I wheeled the bike out with the intention of locking it up somewhere accessible, getting the train/taxi home and then collecting the bike with my car/trailer and fixing myself later on. However, nothing ventured and all that, I decided to take the throttle grip off to feel if the cable did seem tight or not. As soon as the grip was off, I could see that the handle bar was rough with surface corrosion - one handy bit of emery paper later, a little vaseline, reassembled and hey, throttle snapped back lovely! Straight back into MoT station - free re-test and I rode home. Over the weekend, I stripped it down again and repainted the handle bar to stop further problems. 

Just a thought - some times it's the simplest things, so worth eliminating in your investigations.

With respect to living far from the nearest parts dealer - the internet is your friend and opens up a much bigger market place.

Enjoy

Born Again Eccentric wrote:Welcome along - nice bargain.

You sticky throttle could also be a bit of corrosion on the handle bars below the throttle twist grip - especially if the bike hasn't been used much recently. 

One of mine "failed" it's MoT (annual state inspection) a couple of years back because the throttle wouldn't snap back on release. I pointed out the obvious - the factory fitted throttle friction screw (the screw Larrikin eludes to) which acts a crude cruise control and actively stops the throttle from snapping back (so how can it be a MoT failure?), but when unwound it, the wretched throttle still wouldn't snap all the way back. The test station reckoned it was the throttle cable and rubbed their hands in glee thinking of the £££ in labour (fairing off, tank off type of job). As I was kind of stuck 30 miles from home and the garage was about to shut for the weekend, I wheeled the bike out with the intention of locking it up somewhere accessible, getting the train/taxi home and then collecting the bike with my car/trailer and fixing myself later on. However, nothing ventured and all that, I decided to take the throttle grip off to feel if the cable did seem tight or not. As soon as the grip was off, I could see that the handle bar was rough with surface corrosion - one handy bit of emery paper later, a little vaseline, reassembled and hey, throttle snapped back lovely! Straight back into MoT station - free re-test and I rode home. Over the weekend, I stripped it down again and repainted the handle bar to stop further problems. 

Just a thought - some times it's the simplest things, so worth eliminating in your investigations.

With respect to living far from the nearest parts dealer - the internet is your friend and opens up a much bigger market place.

Enjoy

Thank you for the tip!  I did take off the throttle twist grip.  The paint on the handle bar is off, so I'll try to do that as well. I have some paint laying around and I'll see if I can get some vaseline today as well the lithium spray grease they recommended.  I appreciate it!

Best

Do not use 3 in one oil it could degrade the Teflon liner. Any PTFE lubricant should do read the label.
Regards Martin.

MartinW wrote:Do not use 3 in one oil it could degrade the Teflon liner. Any PTFE lubricant should do read the label.
Regards Martin.

 

Will do, thanks in advance!