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Love at first sight

Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2015 8:06 pm
by MTBer
What can I say...these bikes are damn sexy and I finally got my hands on one! And it was not easy... In the early morning after a wedding in La Conner, WA we hightailed it to catch the ferry to Port Townsend as the bike was located in Port Angeles. The last car I passed on the way to the ferry was the only other car to make it on! If we hadn't made it on the boat, it would have been a long, depressing drive back to Oregon with no bike to show for it.

It all worked out in the end and now I'm the proud new owner of a '77 R100/7. It runs like a top and gets up and goes! It supposedly only has 38k miles on it.

I will be honest and say that I do plan to do some custom work to this bike like a slimmer seat, LED lights, paint, etc... I would like to get rid of the K&N filters that are currently installed and go back to the stock filter. Got a few Mahles on the way along with a Clymer manual.

I decided to join this forum because it seems pretty active and it's free, which is nice. Also, I need help getting familar with the bike apparently because I couldn't even figure out how to get the clamshell airbox open! The manual should help but it's always nice to talk things over with guys who know their stuff.

Looking forward to being part of the community and hopefully contributing some day.

Re: Love at first sight

Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2015 9:30 pm
by dwerbil
Welcome MTBer, and have fun with your new /7. Sounds like a good'en. And with low miles to boot. Mine had 20k on it back in '90 when I bought it. It's about 130k now. Never has stranded me other than my fault with bad gasket around the points I never replaced. (let in the rain and fried the points). Post some photos of the bike when you can.

Re: Love at first sight

Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 12:16 am
by Major Softie
You say "supposedly." Take a look at the footpegs, and the control levers. These will definitely show more than appropriate wear if the bike has more wear than claimed. But, here's to the claimed mileage being accurate, and welcome!

Re: Love at first sight

Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 7:08 am
by Kurt in S.A.
Clamshell air box: from the left side, remove the air horns to the carb...you'll need to loosen all the hose clamps, even the ones on the head side of the carb and wriggle the air horns off. Then unscrew the bolt on the cover that you can see above where the air horn attaches. Reach into the opening with a couple of fingers and pull/wriggle the cover off towards you. Once off, you'll see how the it goes together. The right side cover has a small bolt/tab on the bottom that needs to be removed...usually on the left side is removed to replace the air filter.

The '77 R100/7 was one of the best IMO. The engine was untouched by the USA EPA requirements that started for the '78s so the performance should be a bit better.

Kurt in S.A.

Re: Love at first sight

Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 11:41 am
by enigmaT120
Do some forums charge money to join?

MTB, mountain biker? If so you're not the only one on here.

Congratulations on the R100.

Re: Love at first sight

Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 1:47 pm
by khittner1
enigmaT120 wrote:Do some forums charge money to join?
Yes---the BMWMOA's.

Re: Love at first sight

Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 3:31 pm
by Ross
Photos????

Re: Love at first sight

Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 4:02 pm
by Major Softie
khittner1 wrote:
enigmaT120 wrote:Do some forums charge money to join?
Yes---the BMWMOA's.
Airheads too, I believe. You can get to many of their tech articles, but I think you have to join (pay for the newsletter) to access the forum.

Re: Love at first sight

Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 4:40 pm
by tsa
Kurt in S.A. wrote:The '77 R100/7 was one of the best IMO. The engine was untouched by the USA EPA requirements that started for the '78s so the performance should be a bit better.
I'm curious [1]. What EPA modifications were made that reduced the '78-on R100's performance? The air plumbing?

[1] and, in this respect, an uneducated UK resident

Re: Love at first sight

Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 4:40 pm
by Kurt in S.A.
Major Softie wrote:Airheads too, I believe. You can get to many of their tech articles, but I think you have to join (pay for the newsletter) to access the forum.
If you're speaking of the Airheads Beemer Club, there is no forum that is directly associated with the ABC organization. There is an Airlist which is free to join...many people belong to ABC but many do not and they all participate on the discussions. It's encouraged to join the ABC but not necessary. The "forum" is really the old listserve style...you get emails sent to you either individually or bundled as a digest, multiple emails in one email. It used to be you could get to the tech articles, but about 2-3 years ago, they pulled them inside for members only.

There is another forum site that caters to BMWs and that is the Vintage BMW Motorcycle Owners. It's broken into broad year/model categories. There aren't many K-Bike discussions but it could happen. There is a free section but the paid section allows a member to list items for sale, looking to buy, knowing they'll be dealing with like minded people...not something like IBMWR marketplace. A membership also gets a nice quarterly magazine.

Kurt in S.A.