I am considering purchasing a 1988 K100RS.  Has luggage.  Been sitting for years but stored in a heated garage.  Everything is there and it looks OK, no dings etc.  55,000 miles.  Prices is $400 US dollars. Motor is free.

I assume I would need to completely clean fuel tank and fuel system.  Possible soak the cylinders.  Change fluids, etc. Install new tires and battery.

What else should I  be thinking about if I want to bring this thing back to life.  $400 seems like low risk.  

Were 1988 models fuel injection or carb?

Thanks for any information you can provide.

BigDawg

No K has ever had a carb fitted as standard.

welcome aboard

if you are mechanically minded ...with a little electrickery smarts and you are prepared to do the work your self ..

it could be a rewarding experience

as always, rubber bits age ...and need replacement i'm afraid ...there doesnt seem to be any shortcuts ...but with care the process could be a planned and generally not too expensive venture .

have a go ...as you say your not too indebted to opt out if the whole thing goes belly up , spares are always sought after and for reasonable prices might sell quickly .
of corse we would be interested to see another k back on the road

have fun

Your biggest items are rubbers and seals. They perish with age and time. You need to replace as many of these as you can, they won't last. Also fuel pipes and lines.

The splines should probably be lubed as the grease on them is likely to be dried up and gone hard. If you do splines and check out the seals you have a good bike. The fuel tank as you said too and all fluids.

For the money you got a good bike and its worth bringing it back to life, it will last for years.

Everyone here is very helpful here. So let the work begin!

I am going to check out the splines before I purchase.  If OK, I'm going ahead.

I have restored a 1953 tractor from the ground up including engine work, so I am up to restoring this bike.

I will most likely be visiting this forum often.

Thanks for the lightning fast response and if anybody want to add something to check out, go for it.

BigDawg
Wisconsin

For $400 you get a well engineered BMW that can be totally rebuilt to new spec, at great cost
or
A wrecker that will certainly repay, given time
or
anywhere between these two

I reckon they are $400 of fun pulling it down and learning all the systems, so you get the bike

"for free!"

Welcome,
If you can restore a tractor you can re-build a K-bike. Hell, put a hitch on the back she'll plow a field and still race home at 100+.
No fear and all fun!
Rob

By my '91 k100 and ride it (see my ad)

Hi, I've been working on getting an '86 K100 back on the road and it's suffered from lack of use.  I ended up needing to change the fuel pump (well, everything inside the tank actually) and spent the best part of a day scooping out assorted rubber goo from inside it.  I'm now spending some quality time down at the injector rail...  Still that's to be expected on a 28 year old bike with <13k on the clock.  Putting some modern unleaded petrol (inc. 5% ethanol) in a year ago to run the engine and then leaving it probably wasn't such a great idea either, with hindsight.

I wouldn't worry so much about the splines / transmission, I know this is a popular item for discussion but I've never had a problem with just greasing the rears.  Maybe I'm just lucky.

On the front page of this forum is a heading "You've just bought a used K100, so what now", some helpful info there.

Keep in mind that grease will harden up in time, sod's law is you will find that out when furthest away from home.