Hello All,

I bought a 1985 K100RT 2 weeks ago. The bike was for sale last summer, and I passed it every time I took one of my 3 kids to a sports field in town. Fell in love with the look of the bike then, but no way I could afford it. No matter what the cost.

This year it was out again and since my financial position has improved I inquired. The gentleman explained he was moving and has 2 other bikes. The K bike had 2 previous owners, Father passed to son. The BMW service book had a number of entries in that showed service at regular intervals up to 15k miles but no dates and only one original service invoice from a dealer also confirming mileage . The seller, having met the previous seller, was very comfortable the mileage was accurate. He bought it for $3,500 2 years ago. Wanted $2,500 now. I had a friend who is an auto mechanic eyeball the bike. He gave the green light because despite some white smoke at startup it started and ran well. Everything else including all indicator lights on the instrument panel are working.  Cosmetically in very good shape. I picked the bike up for a few hundred dollars less than asking price, knowing I was going to have to put tires on it and look into the white smoke. (I've done my homework, not a side stand issue)

10 years ago I was riding a 1978 Yamaha 650xs. Sold it after my 3rd and 4th child arrived a year apart. No time to ride. While I love the stock look of the RT I also like the Café conversions I've seen on YouTube and what Specialks.com has done with them. I used to be a computer engineer - doing more business development now but the idea of working on this bike appeals to me as I've always enjoyed working with my hands. That being said, I'm a complete newbie to Motorcycle mechanics. If I hadn't found this forum I probably wouldn't have picked up the bike.  

My nieces boyfriend is helping me get started. He put new tires on the bike and checked the rear spline. Great news. It looks in great shape! (sigh of relief) Working my way through Ted Verrill's, "So you bought a K-bike, now what...". Looking forward to many years of learning and riding.

Stew
Northern NJ, USA

Welcome Stew good to have you with us. Please keep it as a RT
I think you will notice the difference to the 650 Yammie.
Have you considered an advance rider course, they are worthwhile doing after a long layoff.

RicK G wrote:Welcome Stew good to have you with us. Please keep it as a RT
I think you will notice the difference to the 650 Yammie.
Have you considered an advance rider course, they are worthwhile doing after a long layoff.

I do plan to keep it as an RT but I like that if I ever happen to grow tired of it there are other looks I like as well. I've had the bike out for a 40 minute ride all within a 10 mile radius of the house on the old tires. I could certainly tell the difference buzzing up and down hills. Looking forward to the highway with the new tires. Good idea on the riders course. Neighbor who is a Harley owner had forgotten I ever had the Yammie and asked if I had ever taken a course. I had but that was beginners. I admit I'm not looking forward to heavy traffic, or any surprises on a back road.

welcome stew
enjoy the ride
sounds like a well kept machine

Welcome and congrats.
Check the engine oil level. Sometimes the sight glass is so opaque that you cannot see the oil, and people just keep on filling it up. I drained 6 litres out of one, should be 3.6 lit (whatever that is in your money). White smoke
is a good sign of too much oil (and worn pistons and leaky gaskets but we won't mention that, check the compressions). Drain it and refill, see what happens.
RT

Thanks everyone!

So my mechanic got the new tires on. Metzeler Lasertecs. Changed the oil. used the BMW filter bought through bikebandit.com He cleaned the oil sight glass and checked the spark plugs. He said the plugs looked good. All the bolts loosened easy some had anti-seize on them. He applied where there wasn't any. All and all he feels the bike was taken care of.

He says the smoke is oil burning.  I guess it is grayer than it is white. He smells the oil. I think I mentioned in the previous post it goes away once the engine warms up. I also mentioned to him that after I siphoned out the old gas I put Sunoco Ultra 94 and Lucas 10013 fuel treatment in the gas tank. I figured this would be a shortcut to avoid manually cleaning the fuel injectors. He's hopeful that the fuel treatment my be dissolving/loosening up deposits and now they are burning it off. But I've read and he and "RT" concur this can be worn piston rings letting oil past. Not going to jump to any conclusions. Before doing any more troubleshooting I'm going to start riding and keep a close eye on the coolant and oil levels.

Input is always welcome.

Welcome! You've come to the right place.

Way to go (on reading the aforementioned   article.) I spent 2-years bringing my '85 up to maintenance spec, and am still not completely done (scheduled for front spline lube at my mechanic's in June). 

It fires up perfectly every time and is so reliable I have had no instances of being left on the road (except for an early case of clutch cable breakage).

Enjoy the ride.

For a smokey engine that isnt due to the propstand use, you can stop the bike and just sit there for a few seconds even leaning to the right by a few degrees is allowing the oil to settle before putting it on the centre stand, it may just need that, if it persists on startup then, it may just be a ring gum issue

Make sure you keep the oil level at the dot (mid level) max. If you fill her up further most bikes will burn it off and then stay steady at mid level.

Welcome from North Carolina