New Guy with R100R

[Bill Harris]

a tool for seating the pushrods seals, but...

No no no. That tool is from the old days and shouldn't be used anymore. It doesn't "reseat" the seals, it is designed to move the ring on the pushrod tube that presses against the seals. Used to be, that ring was a press fit. Sometime in the '80's it became brazed on to the pushod tube. The "tool" now moves the entire pushrod tube, loosening it'd fit in the head. At any rate, it is not a good idea because you end up pushing the ring against a worn out seal-- the ring then won't be in the correct position when you put the new seal in.

Better to go ahead and replace the worn pushrod tube seal. And checkthe proper distance of the ring in case someone has thwacked it with that awful tool.

And the bike has aftermarket (?) gaiters on the forks. Good deal-- I've never been a fan of nekkid fork tubes, exposed to stones and bugs.

If you want a fairing for poor weather, consider a Hannigan. It was originally designed and made in Canada, and is period-correct for BMW from the '60's to well past the '90's. Got one on my /5.



It can even be painted purple...

[R100RT Mark]

Originally Posted by backfill

I have a BMW shop manual for this bike. Is it helpful to get the Clymer/Haynes manual for it as well?.....

Yes.

If the drive shaft on the R100R is dry, does this mean that there are no splines to lube?.....

Yes and no. There are no final drive related splines to lube. There is a clutch input spline to be lube. You will find lots of debate online about if, when and how to do the latter.

One of the first things I did was change the engine, transmission and rear end (final drive?) oil - this was done before riding it at all. I also changed the plugs and cleaned the carbs, but didn't replace any carb gaskets. I guess that should be done this winter. I will do that before trying to sync the carbs.....

If some tweaking gets the bike running as it should, no urgency to go back into the carbs if nothing is leaking. The normal carb cleaning sprays cleaners will attack o-rings (and diaphragms) and poorly sealing o-rings can cause some very odd running characteristics.

The pushrod seals are oozing a bit, not dripping but enough to get the oil pan messy. Because if this, i bought a new oil pan gasket thinking this was the problem, but haven't installed it since I determined that it is the seals.....

As noted above, no push rod tube "re-setting" procedure on later airheads. A useful upgrade is to fit an oil pan, pick up, perforated plate and requisite dip stick from a monolever bike. It is deeper and allows a little more oil and more windage in the crankcase.

Reading through the threads here on the airhead forum, the purchase price for Barney might have been a bit high....

A $2,000 purchase price is a great deal on any airhead.

So far this has been a fairly inexpensive motorcycle purchase. I hope it stays that way......

Airheads are not "cheap" rides. They can go on forever with good and regular maintenance, parts availability is very good, but parts are not cheap and the opportunity for "farkle creep" is huge.

[disston]

Bill and Mark are correct about the push rod tool compression tool. It was for /5s only, I thought. If used on tubes that have the attached metal rings the tube gets pulled out of the head. Sometimes the fit of the tube is ruined by doing this and then you have an oil leak from the bottom side of the head.

If it is done once it sometimes causes no problems but the rubbers will leak again and the tool will be used over and over. then you will have problems. Fix the rubbers. Replace them.

[Bluethumb]

Well I'll be damned! Learn something new everyday. I didn't know BMW updated the pushrod covers. Shows I'm certainly in the old school camp.

My mistake

[Wirespokes]

That's correct - don't try to tighten the pushrod seals by moving the retaining ring!!!!

Ride the bike a while and see if the pushrod seals still leak. They have a tendency to weep if the bike sits for long periods, but seal back up again with use.

I'd say you got one helluva deal! You practically stole the thing!

[R100LT]

Talk about a Purple discount ... Damn the thing could have hot pink or baby shit yellow and I would have jumped at it at that price

[Bill Harris]

I just did a top-end on mine so it's nice and dry. But in 5 years they may be seeping or weeping and I'll simply regard that as "the patina of loving use".

[supershaft]

Bluethumbs advice is only for the early '70's models that have a seal crush ring that is not brazed solid on the tube. Using that tool and method on your bike will move the entire pushrod tube if it doesn't break the crush rings brazed joint to the tube and likely cause a leak at the other end of the tube where it interference fits into the cylinder.

I re-sealed my '92 R100 when I first got it with 28,000 miles. It was leaking from everywhere. 12 years and a lot of hard miles later I had a timing cover gasket start to weep for a creeping gasket and a head gasket that started to leak oil. My pushrod seals and oil pan gaskets have never even weeped on either my '83 or '92 airheads and I got the '83 brand new!

Use a layer of Dirko spread very thin with a flat exacto blade on the cylinder base. Use just a dab on the cylinder stud O-rings and make sure they haven't fallen down on the studs right before the cylinder gets snugged up to the case. Gaskets and pushrod seals clean and dry. Scotchbrite pad remove the mold release from the pushrod tube seals inside and out and install them dry is my best advise. I very lightly lube the cylinder O-rings before I put them on the cylinders. Borrow a good inch pound torque wrench for the clean and dry sump gasket. Go round and round until they all click tight at the same time. Retorque your heads AND sump gasket after three or four heat cycles. Then check the torque on your sump bolts about once a year. IMO, checking the head torque every 24,000 miles is plenty enough. Don't back them off. Just check them and tighten them if they need it.

Spline lube? That is the clutch splines. It's a complete waste of time IMO unless your clutch is grabby from the bike setting for some years. Other than that it will not make your splines last longer in my expereince. As a professional beemer wrench I have seen tons of bikes never get their splines lubed and not be any worse for it. I have also seen many a regularly lubed spline let loose. Plus, there is a good chance of it making your clutch slip for putting too much lube on! That or having your drive shaft bolts come loose for not tightening them properly. I have seen it many times over. Personally, decades and hundreds of thousands of miles into it I lube mine when I am in there for something else which sometimes can be a LONG time.

Hard starting? Make sure your choke cables are pulling the choke levers all the way to their stops and use full choke. I highly recommend sealing the choke and throttle cable junction boxes with electrical shrink insualtion tubing. It keeps the road grime out of those boxes perfectly. Good luck!

[backfill]

Thanks all for your helpful suggestions. You have given me lots to ponder and do for the coming winter.

Mark - i agree with your comments about BMWs not being "cheap" rides. I am not concerned about maintenance costs, my comment was directed more towards major engine and driveline failure that I hope stays away. But that was why I bought an airhead. With proper maintenance it should last a long time.

cheers,
Phil

[backfill]

It was suggested that I get a Clymer manual for Barney, but I am having a bit of an issue figuring out which one.

There is not one specifically for the 1992 R100R. The closest one I can see is the Clymer BMW Repair Manual M5023, but it does not mention the 90s R100R, just the RS and RT. Is this the right one?

thanks in advance,
Phil

[disston]

The after market manuals are not published for one year. The publishers are trying to sell as many of any one book as they can so these manuals will have a lot of stuff you don't need and some stuff you do need won't be in them.

I just picked up my Clymers manual, off the floor, and notice it is only a three digit issue, M502. Maybe there are others? Mine is a second edition, 5th printing, September, 1999. It is the black cover with a Silver R90/6 on the cover. It says it covers model years 1970-1994. I guess that's enough. Mine does not say what models with in those years but I didn't look very far into it.

You might have an issue with a manual that doesn't cover some of the specific gear on an R100R. Aren't those just a couple of years and they have Para Lever drive shafts or some other weirdness?

Mine does have Para Lever drive shafts.

Things like carburetors. The manuals don't show you an explode diagram of every different model. Just in CVs there are three different tops and two different ways of attaching jet needles. And forget finding diagrams of early /5 enrichners.

I have the Clymers, Haynes and BMW Shop Manuals. I also have an older Clymers, with the red /7 on the cover. The old one says it is edition M309. Published in '83. It goes up to 1982 models.

Do the best you can selecting one, get at least one manual, Clymers is a good choice, but no manual will cover everything.

[R100RT Mark]

Originally Posted by backfill

It was suggested that I get a Clymer manual for Barney, but I am having a bit of an issue figuring out which one.

There is not one specifically for the 1992 R100R. The closest one I can see is the Clymer BMW Repair Manual M5023, but it does not mention the 90s R100R, just the RS and RT. Is this the right one?

thanks in advance,
Phil

Sometimes owning a R100R feels like being a "redheaded stepchild". Great bike, but produced toward the end of the airhead era and in the minority both in contempoary terms and when it comes to overall airhead volumes. Means digging a little deeper in available literature and a little caution when following mass "convention airhead wisdom" the generic Clymer and Haynes are what you need. Be careful to check their later model specific notes, although much of these are directed toward the GS models.

[red bud]

Originally Posted by backfill

RedBud, nice bike! How do you like the fairing? A local guy was selling a white Windjammer fairing for $60 that he took off of a R100R, but I decided not to buy it. I thought it would look like a scoop of vanilla ice cream floating in a cup of grape soda. Besides, I have the little S type fairing which does a pretty good job of keeping me out of the wind. However, I might think differently now that the cooler weather is here.

i like it, i picked it up at a swapmeet for 10$ so that makes me like it more

but i've offen thought the parabellum scout like u have would be the way to go

[disston]

Originally Posted by backfill

RedBud, nice bike! How do you like the fairing? A local guy was selling a white Windjammer fairing for $60 that he took off of a R100R, but I decided not to buy it. I thought it would look like a scoop of vanilla ice cream floating in a cup of grape soda. Besides, I have the little S type fairing which does a pretty good job of keeping me out of the wind. However, I might think differently now that the cooler weather is here.

Be on the look out for a Hannigan. Bill Harris posted a picture of his bike with the newly installed Hannigan in your thread, post #16. These are still in production and they show up used. There are two versions of the Hannigan normally seen. The ST, which Bill has, more common, and the smaller one, forget the name.

Try to get one as complete as possible. But parts for them are available.

[red bud]

i am looking for a easy on&off passenger backrest if anybody knows of one