BMW R 100 RT. No needles in haystacks

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Purchasing classics there

No needles in haystacks, just plain needles in the oil pan. We will come back to that. Gerhard is one of the motorcyclists who has taken a step forward into the past. His last pair of engines - BMWs, because that brand is close to his heart - were new or recent. And in fact he came to the conclusion that ... he no longer liked them. He thought he wanted to go back to his 'last' two-valve boxer, an R 100 RT.

The end of the R 100 RT. Or not?

When BMW started from 1983 to produce liquid-cooled three and four-cylinder motorcycles (the K 75 series and the K 100 series), Het Management intended to retain the air-cooled boxer engine only for the GS models. Customers, dealers and even importers strongly protested. Because a BMW? He was supposed to have a boxer engine.

Better turned in half ...

After a few years, BMW saw the sales figures and customer satisfaction surveys that it had taken a disastrous course by removing the heavy boxers from the market. But then it was now the case that the 'old' boxers could no longer be molded within the applicable environmental requirements, without compromising on reliability and power. BMW decided not to simply take the 1000cc models into production, but to develop new ones based on the still existing R 80 engines. After all, they were adapted and modernized. The blocks could drink 'lead-free', and the frames were also more modern because they were fitted with a monolever rear-wheel suspension. From a motor point of view, the 'new' 1000 cc blocks had fewer muscles than the old ones: 60 - against 70 hp, that was also a result of environmental conditions.

The second generation BMW R 100 RT

The first version of the new 'heavy boy' was the R 100 RS. External differences with the predecessors of the / 7 series were the smaller wheels, the rear brake, the mono suspension, and the smaller side covers under the buddy seat. In 1987 the R 100 RT in '2.0' version was also released. That did not differ much from the RS on its spacious touring cockpit. A more luxurious version, of which little is known, was called R 100 LT (Luxus Touring). We recently saw one of them for sale in The Hague. For € 1.200. The production numbers of both models together amounted to barely 10.000 units. Despite the appearance of the R 1100 series in 1993, the R 100 RT Mono to 1997 remained available. Because customers wanted that.

The BMW R 100 RT: a lot of engine for a reasonable price

In comparison with an R 69 S or an R 90 S you have such a 'new' R 100 RT for change. Think from around € 3.500-4.500. We saw a freshly taken copy from the crate offered for just ten mille. For machines with 100.000-120.000 km on the clock you have to include a head overhaul at the purchase price. That's just the way it is. The front brake discs are about an 100.000 km. And the best way to see at a glance whether such a BMW has run more than a ton? That is to look at the 'pyramids' on the brake pedal. If they have lost the sharpness of their tops, then the BMW has not run 26.000, but 126.000 kilometers.

Whatever a BMW boxer has driven: the parts supply is excellent and the prices of the parts are human-friendly. And for quiet, well-working people, working on such a Bavarian is a party.

So those needles in the sump pan

Our photo model was chosen on the basis of a critical eye and an extensive test drive. The approach was that the machine had run 126.000 km. After all, there were new discs on it and there was a musical tap in one of the cylinders. Further investigation showed that the engine had really not run more than 26D km. Only at that time apparently a needle bearing of a tumbler had fallen. The repair was not done at the level of standard BMW repairs. Key turns were made of the kind that you usually only find with older Harley's. But everything went well.

With 26D km on the clock

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3 comments

  1. 12 with great pleasure drove R100RT for years, which at that time was (only) 10 years old and had turned a ton.
    With the exception of broken needle bearings, every day a party to ride with. Only in very hot weather sometimes I would rather not have a full tub but in rain and cold: delicious!
    Nice motorcycle.

  2. De Mensch (M / F) likes to sit in front of the well-known 'duppie in the front row'.
    That a good revision simply costs money is a certainty.
    Which reminds me of the verse “fast, good and cheap”;

    'What has to be cheap and good is not fast,
    what is cheap and fast is not good ..
    But what has to be done quickly and properly is not cheap '

    The fact that so much is wasted in the classical (r / Harley) world is mainly due to the above facts.

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