Copyright (c) 2008 GoodMotorcycles.com
Three years ago I came across a 1985 BMW R100RS with 80,000 miles on the clock. A tidy machine despite the mileage except for massive corrosion on the wheels and so much clutch slip that it wouldn't transmit power above 6000 revs. Stock except for a replica stainless steel exhaust, which was a bit blue around the gills but in a lot better nick than can be expected from the standard, quick rust job. Mine for £700, how could I say no?
Not my first BMW, so I was used to the shaft drive shuffle and the high speed wallows, not that it would go much above 70mph with the slipping clutch. The rain was pouring down most days for the first month of ownership, so I thanked the full coverage of the RS fairing. The screen was stock but was too low as standard, throwing up a lot of water on to my chest. I knew from past experience that fitting a higher screen would radically drop the top speed from 130mph to 110mph. BMW designers knew a lot about aerodynamics.
I used the bike for two months before having a new clutch plate fitted (£80). The gearbox action improved considerably after this, but it was still a noisy bugger. My considerable BMW mileage meant that I was able to keep the lurches under control. Third gear, and sometimes second, would fall into a false neutral under acceleration. The valves didn't seem to mind being bounced at 10,000 revs but the vibration was something else.
Boxer vibration, even on the smaller machines, is a bit disconcerting to newcomers to the BMW way. On the R100, with those gargantuan pistons, the torque reaction from out of line pistons causes a blurred chassis up to 2500 revs, but then smooths out, only to come in again once past 6500rpm. It's never smooth to the point where it's possible to forget there's a real motorcycle engine working between my legs. But then again, it's never so bad as to cause failure of any chassis components or intrude upon the long distance comfort.
The BMW has a contented feel to its motor that works its way insidiously into the subconscious and somehow transforms even a dreary day's ride. The more I used the R100 the further I wanted to ride it. The flat, narrow handlebars are not to everyone's taste, but I found them ideal for all but more than an hour in town; their compactness heightened the feeling of being part of the motorcycle as we growled around the countryside.
BMWs are lauded as long distance tourers. Cynics might suggest that with the way their cylinders stick out it is about all they are good for......whilst it's true that they can't take the same small gaps as a step-thru, in the winter their cylinder location gives off a welcoming blast of warm air which more than compensates. Anyway, the fairing was bright white with a few red slashes, so cars tended to move out of the way thinking it was a plod-bike.
BMWs are easy to service but need more regular attention than the Japanese stuff to the valves and carbs. Both needed attention every 500 miles (newer bikes will do ten times that) but as fuel and oil were reasonable I did not take this as a sign that the motor was worn out. It wasn't until the exhaust valve on the left-hand cylinder started tightening up, needing work every 100 miles, with 86000 miles on the clock, that I began to worry.
When the other cylinder was similarly afflicted and there was a lot of banging in the exhaust I decided I'd better whip the heads off. This is an easy job thanks to their location. Not so simple was salvaging the cylinder heads. The head of the valves had broken away in places, which had also left the valve seats deeply pitted. The intake valves were looking like they were going the same way. The valves are softer than the seats, which is a good bit of design if they're replaced early enough.
I had the seats recut, the ports flowed and fitted a new set of valves. The bores looked okay so all I did was polish the pistons and cleaned some carbon off the rings. The pistons were standard so it looked like the motor was still on its original bores. Just to be on the safe side I put in a new timing chain, although it hadn't started rattling (I doubted if it was the original). Whilst the bike was apart I pulled the wheels out, took a wire brush to them and painted them matt black.
The rebuilt bike started surprisingly quickly. I took it easy for the first 200 miles then started off on a London to Edinburgh blast on the M1. The BMW was laughably easy to cruise at 100 to 110mph. It would go faster but the back end weaved and the front forks shook. I'd had a few speed wobbles on BMWs in the past so only held on to 125mph for a few moments. The RS fairing has to be praised, the faster the bike goes the better planted on the tarmac does the front wheel feel. I've never come across a bike fitted with a big expanse of plastic at the front that works so well and it still looks modern after 15 years on the market.
The front brake could be a bit vague, but when the twin discs bit properly the forks dived and twisted. BMW suspension had always favoured comfort over tautness but even as the mileage crept past 95000 there was still a residue of damping that stopped the bike turning into a giant pogo-stick.
Eventually, a used pair of progressive springs turned up for a fiver. These went in after a bit of hassle tearing the forks apart. The difference was only really noticeable under heavy braking, high speed riding was still a bit loose. Putting a large pillion on the comfortable seat helped damp out the back wheel weave at 120mph but this wasn't always feasible and I had no intention of riding around with bags of sand on the back.
Fuel varied enormously. A pillion added 5 to 10mpg to the carnage. The combination of freer flowing, albeit slightly noisier, silencers, and some tampering with the carb jets meant it was usually around 50mpg. The stock bike was doing well if it gave 40mpg under high speed cruising. Gentle riding allowed it to touch 60mpg and as this permitted 80mph cruising it wasn't as boring as it sounds.
The engine felt at its smoothest at 80 to 90mph, a speed range where high torque and power coalesced. The tank was good for 200 miles of tireless cruising at this rate of knots; the seat comfortable for even longer. I could do more than 500 miles in a day without any serious twinges of mortality. Serious touring was aided by a powerful headlamp and a horn that blasted into the consciousness of even the most sleepy cager. The panniers take all the hassle out of loading and unloading goods on a tour; I had one fall off on an earlier Beemer but the later design seems more robust.
Paint finish on the cycle parts is exceptional. Even as the bike went through 100,000 miles it would still polish up well. Frame paint went missing in a few places but when cleaned and touched up rust did not make a reappearance. I'd owned one Yamaha that shed paint almost as soon as I applied it. Because the RS fairing is still used from a little distance my bike could pass for a two or three year old rather than an old rat on its last legs.
The R100RS is one of those bikes that lets you look with disdain at those lesser mortals who change their hugely expensive Jap's every year or two. I've taken a couple of friends on the bike and given them a test ride..... despite its idiosyncrasies the way it still moves has convinced them to go the BMW way. They were a bit disappointed with their newish machines, they had thought if my oldster was so good at such a high mileage then their bikes should be heaps better - it's one of the BMW's virtues that it wears so well there isn't much difference between a 10,000 and 100,000 mile one.
Don't know how long my R100RS will keep rolling. The chassis is in excellent shape, the engine still good for 120mph on the unusually accurate clock and I've still enough faith in the machine to leap on board to head off for the open road.
Dennis Reynolds
The Beast lived in the rhododendrons, under a very mouldy green tarpaulin. It belonged to the guy in the flat next to mine, and every morning he would uncover it, haul it out of the bushes, fire it up and roar off to work with a noise like a Panzer tank, which in certain respects it resembled. The Beast had started life in 1980 as a perfectly respectable BMW R100RT, smoke red fairing, touring bars, Krauser luggage, the lot.
Over the years a series of incidents had completely altered the machine's appearance - the fairing and panniers had been badly damaged and subsequently removed; the rear mudguard and tail light replaced with Suzuki items; a police type single seat fitted, and the front indicators looked like bloody road-work lanterns. Probably were, come to that.
The silencers were cheap Campbell universals, which gave the bike a healthy roar, to put it mildly, and the handlebars were mounted on four inch Harley risers in a token effort at custom credibility. What remained of the pannier frames supported a small and tatty top box. A cracked windscreen off a moped kept a bit of the wind off the rider, along with a huge pair of handlebar muffs. The tank had been painted matt black, most of the chrome parts were rusty, the engine casings and barrels were well corroded and the cast wheels were painted red.
In short, the bike was a mess, a great big hairy, noisy mess. I have to confess that I coveted it - yet another commandment broken. Last summer, the Beast was temporarily replaced in its owners affections by a sodding great Scania artic, which he drove all over Europe. One weekend, when he was back in the UK, I persuaded him to sell me the thing for three hundred notes - well, it had done 91000 miles, was about to need a new MOT and had hardly any brakes.
Then I gave it a road test. Slowly, down to the end of the road, and stop. Only it didn't stop. The rear brake, a single disc, didn't work at all and the front, a twin disc operated by both cable and hydraulics needed a very firm hand and a lot of forward planning. Luckily, nothing was coming. I carried on round the block, the machine felt huge, like riding a supertanker, the lack of brakes only adding to the illusion.
But it did go. It didn't so much as accelerate, it charged. The gears were slow and noisy, the back end lifted up when you moved off. It had hardly any steering lock, and apart from not wanting to stop, it didn't like turning corners either. It took me about an hour to get the hang of it, probably the most dangerous hour of my life, but in the end I won. I made it go, I made it turn and I made it stop; I rode it home feeling like I'd just won a battle. I loved it. This was the sort of macho motorcycle I could live with. Then I got to work.
The windscreen and muffs I junked. The handlebar risers went back to the seller as part of the deal, they weighed about a ton anyway. I changed the oils and filter, replacing the silly front indicators with a neat Jap pair from my bits box. Rewiring the flashers showed up a number of discrepancies in the electrical system, which bore very little relation to the wiring diagram, even allowing for translating from the German.
I sorted it out in the end and then discovered that the rear brake light switch was mounted in exactly the right position to attract the maximum amount of crud from the back wheel, having almost corroded away. I replaced what was left of it. Then I tackled the brakes. The front brakes responded to serious adjustment but the back one had to be completely rebuilt, even then it needed a very heavy right foot to make it work.
Amazingly, it passed an MOT. The next problem was where to put my passenger and luggage. I slung out the old pannier frames and top box. A pillion pad from a pre-war Beeza went on behind the single seat, mounted on brackets made up by my nephew, who does things with metal. A rack, four quid from an autojumble, fitted neatly on the back to take my Rickman top box, which had been on several bikes and all over Europe. My throw-over panniers fitted very nicely. As the machine was described on the V5 as red I sprayed the tank with some old Duplicolours, converting it from matt black to matt red.
A quick word about tyres - the front was a tatty Dunlop with an interesting tread pattern caused by erractic braking whilst the back was an Avon SM, a superb tyre both tough and hard wearing, with much better roadholding than its somewhat square section would suggest. I replaced the front with a Conti, which improved cornering by about a million per cent. Finally, I fitted a riding light. I don't like using a headlight in daytime in case it gets mistaken for a signal that I'm giving way to traffic, nor do I like riding without any illumination at all.
So, I copied an idea from a certain Swedish car beginning with a V. Incidentally, have you noticed how many Volvo estates have Labrador dogs in the back - they are the drivers' guide dogs. Anyway, I used a Halfords car reversing light (very cheap), put in a ten watt bulb and mounted it on top of the headlamp (facing forwards, idiot!), connecting it to the parking light circuit. The result was a good clear riding light.
During these mods I had been piling up the miles riding to work and was now ready for some serious motorcycling. The first long ride was to the Kent Custom Bike Show.
Remember Kent '91? Mud, mud, glorious sodding mud. The bike ended up looking like a hippo and I ended up eating, drinking and watching the girls. Motorcycle Show? What motorcycle show?
Next, I took the Beast to France. I spent several days on the beach trying to take photos of the sea, but every time I pressed the button some girl with hardly anything on walked right in front of the camera. After about a week I got really pissed off with this and left for home. Then disaster.
Just south of La Rochelle, a little red light came on. Normally, I ignore warning lights provided the bike is still running but close scrutiny seemed to suggest that the electrical system wasn't charging. Brilliant! I was only about 300 miles from the ferry, with no breakdown insurance and very little cash.
There was only one thing to do - switch everything off except the ignition and press on. The indicators packed up, the tacho packed up....I refuelled at Vannes with the engine still running, and still the beast kept going. Finally, just outside a small village called St Pierre de Something, it ground to a halt. I removed the battery, legged it to the village garage and in my rusty French asked if they could charge it up. They could and did, boiling it for two hours on a large industrial charger for free.
The charge got me the 180 miles to Cherbourg, on to the ferry, off at Portsmouth, through customs and home to Surrey. Panic over.The next day I took the Beast round to my mate Del. Del is the absolute whizz on Beemer Boxers, he doesn't reckon Ks - too much electronic trickery. He had a large workshop with loads of tools and fancy diagnostic instruments with complicated dials. What is even more impressive, he knows all the correct technical terms to describe the various electrical malfunctions that can beset a motorcycle.
''Your generator's f...ed,'' annouced he.''And the rectifier!'' These he cheerfully replaced for me with ones he just happened to have in stock. And even more cheerfully charged me for. But in all fairness, a lot less than I would have paid for new parts and without the worry of going to a breaker.
In the Autumn I did a day trip to Cornwall. I came back up the M5 at a speed which could best be described as autobahnesque, which I held for over an hour, my arms getting longer by the minute. The beast didn't like it.
Almost as the mileometer turned over 99000 it started making very nasty noises and the clutch started to slip. I got home okay but I soon realised that, in economic terms, the illness was terminal. When Del offered to buy it off me for spares at a very good price, I reluctantly agreed.
Running costs - it always did exactly 46mpg however it was ridden. It needed quite a lot of oil, a litre every 200 miles - the more expensive the oil the quicker it was drunk. In 8000 miles the pads wore a bit but not that much; the back ones not at all as I never used it much. I've never had a tyre do less than 12000 miles and often a lot more than that.
Why was it called The Beast? Well, I made the mistake of parking it next to my brother's brand new 1200 Sportster, which he calls Beauty. The comparison was thus fairly obvious. Would I buy another Beemer? Yup, definitely. The Beast was terrific to ride once I'd mastered it and it oozed street cred. I'd like one with a few less miles on it next time, though.
Jim Peace
I chopped in the Nighthawk which was having trouble going far enough without rattling, sold the Cortina Estate and had the £1750 that Riders of Yeovil were asking for the W reg BMW R100T that I bought about 15 months ago. Not the R100RT that everyone thought I meant whenever I advertised it, The R100T came out after the R100/7 around 1980, and only seems to have been in the showrooms for a couple of years.
It was the basic 1000cc unfaired BM. Narrow handlebars and almost nothing in front of you. The centrestand has to be kicked up deliberately, the first few times I rode away I thought that the engine had fallen out, but it was only the stand. It still had the heavy flywheel which means you have to get it just right in the lower gears, but gives a nice free surge changing up into top at high revs.
The gearchange had been improved by fitting a spring damper in the drive shaft to isolate shocks from the gearbox, and the change could be smooth and quiet if you were considerate. It was also possible to find false neutrals amongst the top gears when changing down at high revs and not getting it just right. The R100T had a higher final drive ratio than the previous R100/7 but they still reckon the older ones were faster than the new range of boxers.
The bike cruised easily at about 70mph, at 4000rpm. Another 1000 revs saw 90mph on the clock, the bike feeling just as relaxed - this was where the huge Bing carbs stopped grumbling at each other, going quiet and sweet. This was the speed at which the bike was most happy. With no screen or fairing the wind speed took all the weight off my arms, all you had to do was hang on until you got earache.
There was still some spare power to the redline at 7500rpm, acceleration up to about 110mph on the clock. After that it would get up to 115mph but it would all feel a bit busy and bouncy.
When I bought the R100T, it was a nine year old bike with 12000 miles on the clock. It sounded and felt like a good one compared with some other boxers I'd tried. I serviced it by the book, starting with a major service at Vincent & Jerrom in Taunton, who were prepared to let me do all I could and then bring it in for them to set it up and balance the carbs before I bought my vacuum gauges.
The boxer engine must be one of the most straightforward and accessible, the low state of tune tolerated my amateur mechanical interference without complaining until I sold it 15 months later with 27000 miles up. The bike was totally reliable, never breaking down, always starting, which inspired a deep sense of security when it was acting as an umbilical cord in countries across the Channel.
The only time it didn't get me home was a few weeks after I bought it. I went for supper in Laugharne, left the bike in the car park ignoring the warning sign about seasonal flooding and was interrupted halfway through the meal by someone talking about the tide coming in and my bike being under water....I didn't understand at first, he didn't seem to be making any sense. I remember running down the steep, twisting street to the car park which was under water - salt water!
Earlier, there had only been a river and a bit of estuary about half a mile away. My new dark blue and stainless steel BMW seemed about three miles out to sea and totally submerged except for the mirrors. The group of Welsh spectators cheered as I took off my boot and jeans, wading into the sea in Y-fronts. A group of kids splashed out with me. In fact, the water wasn't up to the exhaust outlets, although I did get water in the pipes on the way out. It was up to the sump and the front engine cover.
I had to strip half the bike off, clean off the salt water and spray everything with WD40. I'd finishing sluicing the machine down, with no sign of the AA, so started it up with the silencers off and the WD40 coming out in flames. Recalling the way the people of Laugharne had failed to warn me or rescue the bike, I rode it up and down their streets in an explosive mixture of sudden rage regained and glee and jubilation at getting it going again.
I was back at Vincent & Jerroms the next morning after the AA had finally taken me home. They told me they left their BMWs in the sea all the time; they're made to get wet. Change the oil, stop worrying about it. I calmed down a bit, stopped gibbering, went home, changed all the oil, ran it around for half an hour, then changed the oil again. The gearbox oil had emulsified and I had to change it three times but that was all. I ran it another 14000 miles without any problems until I sold it.
I'm not sure if there's a connection but 12000 miles after this, checking oil levels before a trip to France I found the gear oil emulsified. I don't know why. I changed the oil and that was that. I always checked all the oil levels before long trips, having pretensions towards thoroughness. Sometimes the drive shaft level was down, or seemed down, as the means of checking isn't very precise. There is a problem, on some bikes, of oil migrating from the shaft drive to the gearbox.
The clutch started slipping after 3000 miles, in Brittany. But it got me home and through most of the winter. At first it was intermittent and adjustable, it was replaced at the 20,000 mile service - it's unusual for the clutch to need replacing at such low mileages. Other niggles were a couple of electrical parts. Also, at 20,000 miles, just after the service, coming home late at night the day before leaving for a work trip to Norway, the regulator went - usefully indicated by the standard voltmeter and, more luckily, noticed.
Late last summer, on an incredibly hot day, I stopped in Cornwall, to sort out the incredible directions to where my brother was staying. A policeman stopped and I wondered how long he'd been following me. He asked if I was lost and when I said no he told me to follow him, sonny. When I started up the engine sounded like shit, nails rattling around in a bucket.
I switched off but the engine and the starter motor kept on going! I pulled the plug leads off and it kept going. I switched the petrol off, although that wouldn't make any difference, whilst the brain went into warp drive and dislocated again as logic didn't work. Eventually, I gingerly disconnected a battery lead, push started the bike and carried on.
The solution was to have the starter overhauled at an auto-electrical shop where they didn't touch bikes. I took the starter in anyway and pretended it was out of a car; it was big enough! I'd previously checked the starter relay and the solenoid but both were okay. Just a starter jamming on for unknown reason. I wondered if I'd been too liberal spraying WD40 under the tank in the winter, and the lubricant had settled around the starter and just gummed up.
The speedo was, I suppose, reasonably accurate up to 90-100mph where it became erratic; eventually the needle gave up all pretence of giving a legal reading of road speed and just skittered about like a Jack Russell on a leash smelling a rat. I renewed the cable at some point but it didn't make very much difference, and apparently it's a common and accepted boxer trait.
The fuel consumption was about 45mpg, or more if I was out with a pillion and riding considerately. The five gallon tank regularly went on to reserve at 180 miles on the trip mileometer and then would go to 220 without causing me to panic, and once to 230 miles. You can get a get a couple of extra petrol tanks from Harman Services that fit into the space where the sidepanels usually are - each tank takes a gallon which would give seven gallons in all, giving a range of 350 miles taking it easy, which is almost enough to make me want another boxer!
I put Metzelers on instead of the mixture of Continentals and Roadrunners that were on when I got it, and they did about 5000 miles on the back and 10,000 miles on the front - the bike's very sensitive to worn tread and tyre pressures; it wobbles and skips about if things aren't just right.
There are things about the boxer that you don't miss until after you've sold it. Those huge cylinders sticking out each side do keep your feet warm. A huge fishtail at a roundabout on my next bike as I gently touched the back brake lever made me realise that the R100T doesn't have much of a back brake. The plunging boxer forks made planning ahead much more comfortable than actually using the power of the twin front discs, although they were relatively old fashioned in design and action.
After getting back from Norway with a pillion and luggage on the back along mountain and fjord side roads that sometimes weren't wide enough on the hairpins for the bike and the tanker coming the other way, I washed the bike and found a leaking oil seal with one fork half empty; taking it as further evidence of my ignorance and the forgiving nature of the bike.
Later on, I tried different weight oil in the forks when I imagined it was bumping about a bit more than usual on long, fast bends, but it didn't make much difference, so I went back to the oil recommended. I thought about fork braces and upgraded suspension but finally sold it instead.
The headlamp was okay and you can reach over to adjust it whilst travelling if you've got a pillion and don't want to dazzle other drivers. The switches work okay once you become used to them. In spite of its idiosyncratic little drive shaft wriggles, the way the rear skips about on white lines or other road imperfections and the wobble at the front at about 40mph if the tyre's worn, I found its handling easy and forgiving. For a Rubber Cow, anyway.
All the weight is low slung, it's easy to balance in traffic. I used to rub my feet down on the ground without trying and know others who've worn the pots away touching them down. At least once I was grateful for all the inherent stability and tolerance, when a coach came out of a tunnel and I had to do everything wrong to get round the coach and round the bend into the tunnel.
Some people thought that I was always working on the bike, and that might have been because it was ten years old and some bits were just getting tired; or it might have been that I enjoyed working towards getting one small circumscribed area of life just right and reliable. The despatch rider with the R80 used to come round and just chuckle at me. I always felt it was a bike that benefitted from regular attention (like everybody) but I know others who like them because you never have to touch them.
I thought about buying all the goodies for it to make it faster and better handling but decided that wasn't the point of the boxer twin. I've stayed fond of it, though, and if I could afford six machines the R100 would be one of them. But I can't, so it isn't. Now, there's a D reg GSX1100 hunched up outside in the especially extended garden shed. I've had flu ever since I bought it.....
There are few bikes that wear as well as BMWs. That's what I thought, anyway, when I viewed the twelve year old R100CS which looked like it'd only done 5000 miles rather than 35000, and only had one owner rather than four. My feeling of happiness was intensified when I swung a leg over the Beemer, a superb riding position that made me feel at home straight away.
I stalled the motor first try. It felt really fearsome, the engine shaking in the frame and the heavy clutch very vicious. When first gear engaged the whole bike trembled as it clunked home. My left hand strained against the force of the clutch. When it stalled the mill had a terminal reverberation that hinted that the engine had seized but it fired up okay.
The 1000cc boxer engine knocks out about 60 horses. Not much but it was immediately apparent that there was a wide spread of power, although the motor felt disgruntled below 2000rpm. The legendary gearbox was as awkward as I'd expected, but to be fair it wasn't difficult to engage gears just that there were a lot of noises, lurching and the general expectation that the box was about to lock up.
Test rides are always a bit dubious. Short of time and on a new machine only the most obvious problems are noticed. As well as the gearbox I found the twin front discs were having screaming fits and were wholly lacking in smoothness. The vendor reckoned they were an acquired art, a concept I completely destroyed when I cleaned the dirt off the carrier to reveal a big crack! A hundred quid off the price and I took it very easy on the ride home.
BMW discs are not the longest lived in the business and it took a few days to track down a replacement. The next hurdle was a new MOT. The bike failed on shot steering head bearings although I hadn't found any movement when I checked it over. The tester reckoned the steering stem was done up too tight. Sure enough, when I whipped the forks off the bearings were all cracked up. It was just as well that I found the fault at this point as it could've turned the BMW a little wild at speed.
Disgusted by the past owner's bodging, I checked the valves out (electronic ignition had been fitted) - the exhausts' were tight and the inlets' were miles too loose. I also balanced the carbs and changed the oil. I found the bike needed a service every 3000 miles, which I thought reasonable.
The clutch and gearbox took a lot of getting used to. Town work, in the early days, was a series of lurches and frantic braking that bounced the forks on their stops. The width of the engine was also very limiting. I had to stop myself charging through narrow gaps and taking a snake-like path through traffic was a definite no-no. On the plus side, the riding position was comfortable and the grip of the newish Metzelers reassuring. It took me over three months to become used to low speed running and I still can't keep up with small bikes in traffic.
Luckily, my commuting route is mostly on reasonable A-roads, twenty miles each way which gives the engine a chance to warm up and myself to blow away the cobwebs. Top gear needed 50mph before the engine and transmission stopped grumbling, which encouraged me to ride a little faster than I really wanted. Again, with that engine width I had to take a bit of care with the gaps between cars when overtaking, but flashing the headlamp seemed to help.
90 to 100mph was a reasonable cruising speed, topping out at 120mph. The handlebar fairing worked well with the riding position except in the wet when I received the usual soaking. As the wet weather arrived I began to lust after an RS or RT set-up but their used prices were too high, a comment on their popularity.
After three months I was generally happy with my purchase. Then the battery went flat. The CS was no fun to bump, with dragging discs and 450lbs to overcome. BMW batteries are far too expensive so a Varta replacement was fitted. The battery has a hard time in cold weather, the engine churning over on the starter for a few minutes before it fired up. Thinner oil helps in the winter.
The front forks were stock, dived under braking but were good at absorbing bumps and potholes. Any vagueness in the handling came from the back end, and then only above 80mph when the swinging arm mounts seemed to be flexing. As the rear Metz wore out (about 8000 miles) the weaves became much greater in amplitude and I became frightened of doing more than 80mph. A wimp? Well, the frame felt like it was turning to plastic. There wasn't any movement in the swinging arm bearings so I was forced to fit a new tyre which removed the weaves up to the ton.
I had one speed wobble that left me a gibbering wreck. I was pushing the R very hard down some fast A-roads. The speedo was flicking between 100 and 120mph; I was close to scraping the cylinder heads in the bends. Hitting the top speed also brought in some vibes, even the petrol tank was gently thrumming. Flicking up for the next straight, throttle to the stop and head down behind the screen, the wheels suddenly hit a rough bit of road. The bars went wild in my hands, the CS going all over the shop. I thought I was going to die but we lost some speed and hit some smoother tarmac, a combination that pulled us back from annihilation.
Weaves and wobbles came in with a vengeance if too much mass was placed in the capacious panniers, although it was okay up to about 80mph. A large tank bag was used to carry all the heavy stuff when on tour. The seat was comfortable for 200 miles at a time, the bike being implacable when touring and safer than most when the weather turned bad.
Except for those twin discs, which always seemed to need attention. Whether it was the pads only lasting 5000 miles, the calipers seizing up or the lever going all spongy. The wet weather lag was predictable but once or twice a month the braking power would fade away, leaving me frantically pumping the lever, whilst stomping on the back brake and changing down through the box. That left the BMW hopping around like an irate kangaroo.
After six months I was deeply in love with the CS. It had really grown on me and I could be found, every weekend, polishing it up until there was a deep sheen and happily doing the regular services. Pads and back tyre aside, it was also quite cheap to run, with about 55mpg and minimal oil consumption. The shaft drive needed a yearly change of oil and grease of the splines when the rear wheel was taken out but was otherwise way ahead of nasty chain drives.
After about nine months I had some problems with the handlebar switches. WD40 worked for a while but in the end I had to buy a newish set. The next electrical hassle was a naff generator, fixed by exchanging it for a renovated one, although if I'd been feeling brave I could've repaired it myself. The front light and horn, by the way, were excellent.
I've now had the CS for just over a year and added 22000 miles to the clock. The engine runs beautifully, the finish is as new and I find it the most practical bike I've ever owned. The only cloud on the horizon is that I've fallen for the new R1100RS. Betrayal? Nah, I'll keep the CS as well!
J.L.
I tweaked the throttle like I used to do on my RD350LC, give her hell and ride out the consequences. Okay, the big Bavarian lump was in neutral and I just wanted to see what happened to a huge horizontally opposed twin when the throttle was snapped open. The bike's one and only owner, an ancient army type, cringed and would have gone for me if he'd been younger.
The 124,000 mile engine tried to leap out of the frame, the noise caused about half a dozen burglar alarms to go off and the vibration had me fillings about to pop out. Gor, this could be fun, I thought, until the old geezer nearly broke my hand when he slapped down his walking stick. He looked hopping mad, the way the senile get, so I thought I'd better hand over the 600 sovs. I'd already had a mild blast on the pillion, which turned up no surprises.
What was an ex-RD jockey doing looking at a fifteen year old BMW twin? It was the only thing going cheap within a hundred miles and I'd had half a dozen four strokes since I crashed the Yam. The BMW wasn't even on my shopping list but that's what happens when desperation sets in.
BMW's marketing hype would lead you to believe, unless you read the UMG, of course, that their twins are highly sophisticated pieces of machinery that only the elite can aspire to. My 124000 mile R100 was a pile of shit. It had the world's worst gearchange, a cantankerous shaft drive, disc brakes that were on/off switches, a mind bending weave every time I tried to hit 80mph and softly, softly suspension that did the pogo-stick dance every time the brakes or bumps were hit.
Thus the 20 mile ride home was somewhat revelatory - I never thought I knew so many swear words. Out of all this I concluded that the only things the bike had going for it were astonishing longevity and a marvellously comfy perch, that made a mockery out of the usual limitations of naked bikes.
A product of the engine noise was a lot of tapping and rattling from the mill, which back home seemed to quiver in the frame like a dog in search of a bone. Bloody thing was getting to me already. It was a bit faded around the edges but no actual rust or corrosion, the old guy probably spent half his time keeping it clean.
As I didn't have any spare dosh I rode around on it for the next few months, doing little more than adding fuel to the tank, which was quite often as it was turning in 35 to 40mpg during my urban commuting. The most obvious flaw in the design's the way the bloody big cylinders stick out, threatening to kneecap pedestrians and rip the sides off cars.
It was dead easy to forget they were there, saunter up to easy gaps only to suddenly realise that they weren't wide enough to accommodate the massive engine width. Jamming on the brakes and slamming the throttle shut turned the bike into a huge rocking horse that tried to spit me off.
I soon concluded that the bike was a bit of a no-hoper as a commuter, felt almost as wide as a small car and needed much effort on the bars to keep it under control. I usually ended up swearing my head off and going a bit psycho on the throttle, which helped matters not one jot.
The first long run started out in the sun and was full of joy and anticipation of the journey ahead, mostly motorway trawling. Theoretically, the R has a top speed of around 120mph, but my worn out example was limited by horrible handling and vile vibration to no more than 75mph (at which it turned in around 50mpg). This meant everyone and their dog tried to run me down...one cager weaved all over the shop as he screamed abuse at me for sticking to the speed limit on the M1!
Neither did things improve dramatically on A-roads, where the bike felt hinged in the middle when floating through the faster bends, cars trying to cut me up on both the inside and outside, more abuse from their horns. Amazing, considering the thing was weaving across one lane of traffic.
I know it's not really fair to complain about a bike with so many miles under its wheels but it's probably typical of most high mileage Boxers, so worth stating and you always feel better after having a bit of a moan, don't you?
I cut short the journey and headed back for home, tail firmly between my legs. No point suffering when you're supposed to be enjoying yourself. For the next couple of months the commuter mileage piled up (about 40 miles a day) and I did little else to the bike, though I kept my eyes open for a replacement.
Then the timing chain went all clattery. A common problem with Boxers. The clutch was also starting to drag and slip, whilst the top ends were pinging away like there was no tomorrow. But it was still rideable so I rode it some more. I just knew that if I started to take the engine down I'd find a long list of expensive mechanical horrors. That I needed like a holiday in Iraq.
The next little trick up the Beemer's sleeve was a propensity for oiling up the spark plugs. They never went together, but the sudden absence of motive force on the one side, caused the bike to swing sideways with a sudden death-wish. This amused cagers and pedestrians no end, finding a bloody great cylinder suddenly flying at them. Luckily, I'm a pretty good off-road rider and I used some of those techniques to keep the mad monster from going completely out of control. The solution was pretty simple, a new set of spark plugs every 500 miles.
Even new plugs didn't help the starting on even mildly cold mornings. BMW's have and need huge batteries but there's so much inertia involved in turning over those two dinner plate sized pistons, that it's dead easy to end up with warped battery plates and no choice but to hit the wicked bit of machinery with the largest hammer available.
All that does, though, is sprain your wrist just when you need it to carry the used battery home! The breaker tested the battery by putting a screwdriver across its terminals, thus assuring me with a pat on the head that all was well, though at a mere ten quid it didn't carry any kind of guarantee. Luckily, it worked okay.
By the time that happened the bike had clocked up all of 141,000 miles and really sounded like all the bearings were shot. My mate came round, who's an expert in these matters, changed the oil for SAE10 treacle and told me to get the amazingly quiet motor down to the nearest dealer's for a trade-in before it seized up!
That turned out to be a new, naked 600 Diversion at £3650, with a grand off for the BMW despite the fact that the thick oil made the clutch drag and thus the bike hop along like a kangaroo. The clocked R100 was polished up and given a £1600 sticker price! The XJ600N's a relatively brilliant piece of kit compared to the old Boxer.
Stephen Edmongton
There's nowt so funny as folk and the guy on the BMW was a real laugh a minute. He looked about seven feet tall, making the flat twin seem like some Dinky toy way beneath him. He was all bone, no muscle or fat on him - reckoned he had to sell the BMW, a machine famed for the excellence of its ergonomics if nothing else, because his spine couldn't take the riding position. It fitted my more modest dimensions like a glove.
What I didn't like was the godawful torque reaction in the shaft drive every time I used the throttle or gearchange. It could only be described as agricultural, if not outright dangerous, though newer bikes with less than the R's eighty thou might be more sophisticated. Worth checking to see if you can take it, anyway. The owner reckoned they were all like that, I reckoned that they couldn't be or BMW would soon have gone out of business. Perhaps I was being a little bit naive!
Ended up paying £1200 rather than the £1750 demanded. Not bad, as it had new rubber, stainless steel exhaust system and a complete electrical rewire, including all the black boxes. I rumbled home on the bike, still in two minds as to whether I'd made a wise choice. The general condition was of a well looked after machine, but the mileage was very high in motorcycle terms and that wretched transmission held me all agog.
To be fair, the cogs always went home, if with a rather loud bang and horrifying lurch. The owner reckoned it was an acquired art, though I don't think it was one he'd mastered judging by all the lurching I'd felt on the pillion. It was a bit discouraging to find a machine I'd always lusted after was so fundamentally flawed. The engine also shook away to itself, never really finding a range of revs where it smoothed out, but unlike the gearchange this soon faded into the background.
The BMW had a couple of fundamental faults. Though horizontally opposed, its pistons were offset, allowing a rather large torque reaction. This combined with the crankshaft being in line with the frame, led to all kinds of jerkiness in the shaft drive. Every time I tried to ride off hard, the back end jack-hammered upwards, trying to kick a hole in my spine. Softly, softly on the throttle was the order of the day, feed the power in like you were taking a hot little virgin, or something.
Unfortunately, I never really mastered the gearchange, slow speed work a series of lurches. I thus didn't enjoy riding the BMW through the capital. The most obvious other worry being the sheer width of the Boxer mill. A couple of times I almost forgot myself, charged the machine through a gap that would've impacted the heads. Hard on the brakes and pray...
Braking wasn't that brilliant either. Twin front discs that needed a handful of muscle but then made the forks turn into pogo-sticks. With the back end jack-hammering and the front pogo-sticking I began to wonder about riding a buckling rocking horse - some helpful cager stuck his head out of his window to tell me I was a stupid prat to ride a bike with loose wheels! Hitting the rear disc didn't help as it was halfway to being seized solid - not surprisingly, later Boxers reverted to a rear drum that's much superior.
The famed ergonomic perfection of the BMW series at first appeared most commodious but half an hour in traffic, fighting the bars into submission, had too much weight on my wrists, which ached in protest and tried to seize up my digits. The clutch suddenly became very heavy, which made my already pathetic attempts at a clean gearchange even more derisory.
Although the front end was long travel it tended to bottom out when confronted with the deeper pot-holes, even if it rumbled over the minor abrasions in a thoroughly reassuring and civilised manner. The forks seemed to become coil-bound, stick momentarily then come loose with a violence that threatened to whack the handlebars deep into my jaw!
The first few weeks were pretty fraught with all these horrors. Soon, though, my wrists toughened up, the gearchange became a touch less traumatic, the shakes went into the background and I began to compensate for the engine's width when rushing through traffic. Even so, I managed to dent and scrape a couple of cars with the cylinder heads. I didn't stay around to swap insults, most of the cagers in London are deep into a psychotic road rage that results in massive violence.
Having spent a couple of months in the daily commuting grind, I decided the bike needed some fresh air. The best place to ride this kind of BMW's on wide, fast A-roads or motorways. Despite being naked, 90 to 100mph can be held without much body strain and the ability to dump it in top gear, just using the prodigious torque to vary speed, came as a blessed relief.
Comfort was excellent at high speeds, the forward biased perch being radical enough to brace me against the wind. My only worries were fuel consumption of less than 40mpg and the back end weave that came in every time I went over 90mph. BMW's are famous for this, probably down to a weak swinging arm mount. If you look at the frame closely enough you'll see a strong resemblance to the old Featherbed trellis, though it's odd given the sheer bulk of the engine that BMW didn't do away with most of the frame.
Whatever, ton plus work could become very edgy indeed. On two occasions, when heavily loaded up at the back end (thanks to the excellent Krauser panniers), the bike went into a speed wobble around 120mph! I know some brave UMG contributors think nothing of such wild moments, but yours truly dropped a brick or two and slammed the throttle shut, with the result that the bike almost jumped off the road! It didn't die out entirely until 80mph was back on the clock.
After the second time I gave up going over the ton, it just wasn't worth the risk - the engine also vibrated like it wanted to leap out of the frame. Sometimes I wouldn't go over 90mph, when the road was so bumpy that the normally moderate weave threatened to escalate into a speed wobble. Below 90mph, though, the BMW was very secure even in treacherous conditions.
I would've quite enjoyed riding in the rain, save that those front discs were very vicious and could induce some lag. Slamming the throttle shut made the back wheel hop in a threatening manner and the rear disc just gave up the ghost. So how do you stop 500lbs of lumbering machinery in the wet? Well, sometimes you don't...I ended up sliding off when the front wheel locked up on me.
The right-hand cylinder dug in, flipped the bike over the other way where the same trick was repeated. After that I parted company with the bike, a 40mph human missile that barely missed being crunched by an artic and landed with a terrifying crunch that almost broke my neck.
Just as I was going to stagger to my feet, a red faced, twenty stone cager held me down on the floor, screaming that I shouldn't move. I saw him off with a knee to his groin and managed to get upright. The bastard BMW had somehow ended up propped on the side of a well battered Volvo (revenge!) and was still ticking over in its unique grumbling manner. Damage was superficial. I declined the kind offer of the ambulance crew to be ferried to the nearest hospital - they turned quite nasty, threatening that I'd have to pay for the ambulance anyway! After an hour's interrogation by the plod - some seven cages were damaged - I was able to ride off on the BMW.
That happened nine months and 6000 miles into my ownership. Routine maintenance every 2000 miles was all I'd done to the bike, there still being some tread on the tyres and, of course, no chain and sprockets to replace. Only the heavy fuel consumption, rarely better than 40mpg caused any great expense. I decided the old wreck had to go before it killed me off.
No trouble selling the bike for £1500. You know what, the new owner - some lifelong veteran of the marque - shot up the road with beautifully precise, smooth and quiet gearchanges, as if the bike was waiting for someone worthy of it to come along before it behaved! At least I came out ahead financially.
Cecil Jay