Category: The RT

all about the 1982 R100 RT

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Airhead Revival

Airhead Revival

Slowly but surely I'm making progress on the Project Bike - the 1982 R100 RT. I decided to start from the back of the bike and work my way forward. I started by removing and disposing of the Luftmeister top case. The previous owner had a motorcycle riding friend get rear-ended once upon a time. As he didn't want to get rear ended either he decided to install lights in the top case. The cuts were too large to patch so the top case went into the bin. I am hoping to find a more usable Luftmeister top case of the appropriate vintage to install on this bike (or, possibly, install on Otus?).

With the top case out of the way, and because the back-to-front work requires I make some room, I decided the next course of action was removing the tractor battery. The problem with the tractor battery was that I couldn't get it out without removing the air box. With the air box out of the way the battery finally came out (thanks Garrett!). I also drained and removed the fuel tank so I could get a better look at what lies ahead.

The next step is going to be to drain the final drive and drive shaft so I can replace the shaft boot and check the final drive for wear. I'll also give the bike a good spline lube while I'm in there. We'll see where this all takes me.

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The RT - Featured

BMW R100 RT – Reise-Tourer

Not As Vintage as Otus Airhead

I love my Airhead. People who know me know this. I try not to talk too much about Otus but sometimes I can't help myself. I've also come to understand that a 42 year old motorcycle, like a veteran ball player, needs some time off during the season. With these thoughts rolling around in my head I stumbled upon a 1982 R100 RT - Reise-Tourer - hiding in a garage in Manhattan, KS. The seller had retired from riding in 2016 but made it official when I bought this machine.

The motorcycle has been sitting since at least 2016 as that's the most recent renewal sticker on the license plate. It appears this was a soft retirement as the fuel tank is nearly full of vintage gasoline and the top case and panniers are also full of the bits and pieces a rider collects over years of riding. The bike is rough around the edges and needs a bit of love, but the bones are good.

There are, at least right now, two possible outcomes for this machine:

  1. clean it up, catch it up on all service and fluids, makes sure it runs right, and I re-sell it.
  2. do everything in #1 but I replace the BMW RT fairing with my Don Vesco Rabid Transit fairing and keep the bike as Otus' understudy

There's also the crazy notion of making this a sidecar rig. Regardless of the final outcome I'm focused on #1 right now.

P.S. - the helmet came home with me too!

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