My new Airhead,'78R100/7, soon to be Cafe Racer

She does not look like much yet, but my Restoration/modification is well under way. I will post pictures soon, but most of the work is not yet picture worthy, or is at the machine shop.

I've been riding all sorts of motorcycles for well over 20 years, and worked as a mechanic for quite a while. but this is the first Airhead I've ever ridden, and after that, I had to have her.

She looks pretty poor, but a PO loved her deeply, and installed Dyna ignition/coils, braced swingarm, dual plug heads, and fork brace, and billet top triple. I hope to do her justice, and make her better than ever.

So far I have new rubber Avon AM26's, a /5 rear hub, Sun rims/spokes (Buchanans) Honda CB750 front hub, which allows 20mm wheel bearings, to fit the GSXR fork. I'm better than half done with the new stainless exhaust as well.
I'm really enjoying the work, and can't wait to ride her again. Thanks for taking a look at my first, but not last BMW

Just a few pictures, to keep things interesting. I promise to make this a much more interesting thread soon!


I picked up some stainless steel fenders off Ebay, stainless is hard to find, and a bit of money, but I needed to be able to weld up some of the holes to custom mount them, and cut to fit, without the edges rusting.

This is about as far as the exhaust has come. I need to order the stainless megaphones still, but I just got laid off, so moneys tight. Soon though!
One more pic of the exhaust, just because I am having a lot of fun making it, and want to show it off!

Hi there, I am also in Bothell!

Must not be too bad of town, lots of Airheads here

I'm just down the road in Shoreline...looks like you've got some skills. Can't wait to see what you come up with.

From the photo it looks like flat top Bings, I believe those were on the R80, mine had the 32mms on it. The throttle cable is at too sharp an angle but it sounds like you're overhauling it.

What are you going to do with that seat

I've seen R80/7 with that color scheme, bur never any r100. Is it originally an r80 or an r100?

I think it's safe to call it just a modification.. not a restoration.

Sounds cool so far..

Hi looks interesting,doing somthing along the same lines myself http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123593&page=4
done a fair bit to the frame on mine but havnt goy round to the pipes as yet.what are you planning for the back end of the pipes?

I've only seen a few, but when I Googl'ed '78 R100/7 the images came up with a couple in this scheme. Other than that, The title says R100, I guess it is


I think it's safe to call it just a modification.. not a restoration.
"Some" parts will be restored

What are you going to do with that seat
If you like it, you can have it!
The bike came with Krauser bags, and a new solo seat. I gave the seat to a fellow who wanted it, I will be making a cowl, and 3/4 solo seat

I've been following your build, I'm going to do quite a few modifications, but perhaps not quite as far as yours
I'm going to try to make the bike look actually older than it is, to the casual observer, but improve it's handling, and performance. Hence spoke wheels, chrome fenders with GSXR forks.
As for the pipes, I'm planning reverse cone megaphones, just straight out the back, as in the pic. I debated all kinds of high pipes, 2into1, ETC. but stuck with an older/classic style design.

I look forward to seeing how you get on with your bike, looks like you have got some good bits together. I am now wondering what is the shock, how wide is that rim and what hub you thinking of lacing it to?.

My plan is to also try and not stray into too modern looks. i want to try and keep it looking like thr r100 it is, thats why i have kept the tank and seat unit. i plan to make new yokes, reaysets etc.
i am trying to make my mind up as to the finish on some of the ally parts, ie polished, painted or anodised...
ps here is a pic of the state of play on the frame sofar

as much of an ass as I make of myself bashing BMW's I have to admit boxers make a pretty sweet cafe if done right.

I love your polished sub-frame, I am making a new unit for my bike, out of 3/4in, polished stainless
The wheels are skinny 2.75x18 rear, and 2.5x19 front using /5 BMW rear hub, and a CB750 front hub. The shock is a 2008 R-1 Yamaha. I actually like dual shocks, but I need new ones, and they are expensive to get good ones, but an almost new single shock is $20, so....

I just wanted to add here, that for anyone wanting to build their own exhaust, that 1 1/2in. tubing is almost a perfect fit for bikes with 38mm exhaust. This tubing is only a couple thousandths big, so wrapping the tube with a strip of emory cloth, and going to town for a bit will have a slip fit into your ports.

Also, the u-bends I used are 4in. radius. I suspect, depending on your design, one could use 3-5in. radius bends, without too many problems.
I am using .065 (16ga.) tubing. this is a bit thick, and heavy for a race bike, but for a bike you want to last, or take abuse, this seems about right. It also allows a little extra material, to correct mistakes, like slight mismatches, or small ripples from your tubing roller nobody's perfect!?! If building for a race bike .049 tubing would be fine.

Anyhow, almost ready for some more progress pictures, Stay tuned!

Hey Simon, This is an exhaust I think looks great with that tail you have. Just a thought

Whew, took a few hours off from my part time "day job" to put in a little time into the Airhead. Photo of my day job. It's a small race car with a Yamaha R6 engine, and is now the fastest vehicle around Streets of Willow. We also built an R1 powered version, it is another 5 seconds faster! BTW, the driver pictured is Eddie Lawson. We Lucked into a real test driver thanks to a friend of a friend

Did a little grinding, a real pain to remove the foot peg/exhaust mounts, but these are super ugly, and just have to go!

I got them ruffed out, a couple more hours to make em pretty

not much left of her kind of reminds me of this....

I'm thinking to polish the side panels in the tank, and clear coat it. I have heard the urethane paints would work OK for this, does anyone know for sure???
Hopefully the other side isn't dented in, and bondo'ed over! That would make it hard to polish

Well that's about all for today, Thanks for looking at the boring pics. I hope to start lacing wheels, and finish the exhaust real soon! That should be more fun!

I have sprayed acrylic urethane over aluminum for exterior use (signs) and they've held up perfectly so far, 6 or 7 years for the longest.

I doubt that it will work for steel though. The bare metal will be exposed to the atmosphere for a time, no matter what, and you'd be sealing the moisture in with the clear coat. And then it will rust. Chroming is probably the best bet.