New project. BMW R100S

if you have to ask, you wouldn't understand

 

And if you understand, you aren't afraid to ask. I liked my '86 R80 a lot, but I have never regretted selling it. I missed the Seca 650 enough to go back to it twice, and I plan to keep my current bike until one of us dies. But that's just me.

Look, I don't want to hijack the OP's thread, here. He got a sweet deal on a fine motorcycle that's going to be a ton of fun to restore and ride, and that's the bottom line.

Go for it, AK, and keep us apprised of your progress. I hope you fall in love as hard as I have.

 

Well, as far as the R bike vs. the Seca, I have a Seca and an R bike. I'm an equal opportunity owner and wrencher.

I appreciate the Seca for the XJ "ride me off a cliff, pick me back up, and ride me home" reliability, the cheap and easy to find parts for it, and this amazing forum for tips, tricks, and support.

After riding my R1200GSA across country, I really found an appreciation for the quirky BMW's. The parts of course are more expensive and harder to find, but I really dig their over engineering and function over form.

 

Well said, ZZR. Different bikes find their way in to different hearts for all kinds of different reasons, and that's a big part of their overall appeal. There are no "bad" bikes, only those that don't suit the owners' needs and/or sensibilities.
By the way, I'm surprised to read that you've had a lot of trouble with your 'Strom. The owners I've talked to swear by them, not at them. What's up with yours?

 

My V-Strom came to me from a fellow Alaskan rider who rode the proverbial balls off the thing. That being said, the bike's true condition only became evident well after I had purchased it.

The valve clearances were checked and adjusted a week or so before I bought the bike @ ~25,000 miles. At 28,550 I had to re-accomplish the valve clearances due to a massive loss of compression from the valves seats receding into the head, although I didn't know that at the time. At 32,250 the bike again wouldn't start due to the valve clearances loosening up so much. At this point I started digging around at the local dealerships about this particular bike's history, and find out that it had thrown the rear timing chain and had all the parts associated with that replaced around 15,000 miles. There was about half a dozen major other things that were corrected over its lifetime as well.

Long story short, I was blindsided by essential lies of omission from the original owner, and now it's my burden to correct them.

I have bought a set of heads with 211 miles on them from an SV1000 that I am in the middle of swapping on to my motor. Along with them I have new head gaskets, timing chains, tensioners, and chain guides.
Gratuitous picture of said heads:


Once I get it all buttoned back up I plan to work any bugs out of it and promptly sell it. I cannot justify having it in the garage alongside a pair of 2010 R1200GSA's (both mine and my dad's are ending up in my garage here next June). Plus my wife has her eye on the F650GS.

 

alaskazzr, check www.beemerboneyard.com for the parts you need to put your airhead back together. Dang it! I want an R bike to go with my K bike! $500! Dang it again!

I'd love to find a decent RT for lighter weight 1 up touring.

Loren

 

thanks!

 

Yikes! You have to work pretty hard to lunch one of those motors after only 15K unless there was some kind of serious factory defect, which is rare for just about any bike these days, let alone a Suzuki.
The PO must have not only ascribed new meaning to "riding the balls off the thing", he must have also neglected to do any preventative maintenance whatsoever. Shame on him for destroying a perfectly good motorcycle--x10 for passing the fruits of his idiocy on to you without any kind of a heads-up.
This is the kind of thing that makes one wish that what goes around does, indeed, come around. Here's hoping that your experience with the new Airhead will more than offset the 'Strom debacle, and that the sh**bag who sold you the Zuke finds himself stranded in some really nasty place when his next bike blows up.

 

Congrats on the new ride, for a traitor to the Strom, you've done well<LOL>! I also was surprised to see "money pit" in your sig since mine has been so bulletproof for the past 3 years.

Like XJ4 said, it's hard to scrap one of those engines, especially in only 15K. I bought mine new and checked the valves at 12k and 2 were a tiny bit tight. It has 17K on it now and I need to replace it's original chain and front tire. I love the bike and like you, mod my bikes to suit how I ride that particular bike. I've run it hard a few times but with my other bikes, I have no reason to try to make the Strom a "racer" so hopefully, it will last forever. It's a great touring bike now with my changes but it's also a physically large machine. I'm 6' tall and 190 but hate big, heavy bikes. What's really an eyeopener is to go for a ride on my Vee, then take the RD350 out for a while......feels like I'm riding a bicycle!!

Anyway, enjoy your beemer rebuild and ride safe......

jeff