Old beemer twins..

[smegballs]

Last night I was reading about electrics and stumbled upon a page about old beemer twins, these bikes were late 70's to early 80's.

The thought occured that if I had one of these bike along with my GS400 that I would have bikes to cover all my conflicting biker wants.

So I'm asking how people rate oldies such as (i think) GS80, R100 etc?

Cheers,

Rich

[Suitor_Stu]

From what I've heard, people who are into that sort of thing ('modern classic' type low frills bikes) rate them highly and given that they hold their value pretty well (despite their modest power outputs, age and mileage) that seems to be reflected in their prices.

Seem to strike a good balance between build quality, performance (components etc.), longevity, design and ease of maintenance...may be why I've just bought myself one (an R100RS)...can't report on it yet though, still waiting for it to be delivered!

[The Shaggy D.A.]

I had a '79 R100RT :-

https://p1.bikepics.com/pics/2004/08/28/bikepics-202568-full.jpg

Heavy, thirsty, awkward to move around in the garage, but I loved it.
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Chances are quite high you are not in my Monkeysphere, and I don't care about you. Don't take it personally.
Currently : Royal Enfield 350 Meteor
Previously : CB100N > CB250RS > XJ900F > GT550 > GPZ750R/1000RX > AJS M16 > R100RT > Bullet 500 > CB500 > LS650P > Bullet Electra X & YBR125 > Bullet 350 "Superstar" & YBR125 Custom > Royal Enfield Classic 500 Despatch Limited Edition (28 of 200) & CB Two-Fifty Nighthawk > ER5

[Suitor_Stu]

[tatters]

l get 35-45mpg on my R100GSPD but thats got a really high ratio final drive for offroading so should be much better on other models
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Past:NRG50,AF1125(x2),NSR125RR,ZZR250,CX500,VFR400,KR1S,ZZR600(x2),CB400N,YZF1000(x2),KH125,Z200,FX400R,CBR954RR(x2)GPZ500S,GT550,VFR750F(x2),RD350N,XR650R,CBR600F,CB250,KDX250,YZF750R,CRM250,400EXC,KLR650,TTR600RE,DR350S,R100GSPD,RGV250,VMAX1200,DL650,KZ750 Present:G650XC,C12,CRF450X,1190ADV

[The Shaggy D.A.]

Might have just been mine, or the way I rode it, but I only got 40mpg out of it. I definately wanted more
____________________
Chances are quite high you are not in my Monkeysphere, and I don't care about you. Don't take it personally.
Currently : Royal Enfield 350 Meteor
Previously : CB100N > CB250RS > XJ900F > GT550 > GPZ750R/1000RX > AJS M16 > R100RT > Bullet 500 > CB500 > LS650P > Bullet Electra X & YBR125 > Bullet 350 "Superstar" & YBR125 Custom > Royal Enfield Classic 500 Despatch Limited Edition (28 of 200) & CB Two-Fifty Nighthawk > ER5

[G]

You have odd 'wants'!
I got my R100RT pretty cheap, but as a bike, the £1k SV650 and TRX850 I had would both have done everything the beemer did, but much better.

[tatters]

[G]

Designed to last for ever as an anchor, maybe, I'l accept that... something which the jap bikes would be 'junk' for .
So; I disagree.
Treat the jap bikes the same way many BMW owners treat their bikes and they can last a pretty damn long time too.
My BMW wasn't a great example of not being a great example, but I've seen plenty others with enough issues too.

[ToGGoT]

But god forbid they pack up.

My brother has a '91 R100GS, with a Paris Dakar tank, fairing, and mudguard.

So far it has been the single most expensive bike to maintain we have had to date. Mostly because BMW parts are extortionately expensive! He has had an alternator rotor, both carbs, hazard light setup, two loom electrical failures, and numerous other small things go wrong.

Also, some parts are now getting hard to get. His clutch cable snapped, and he lost the nipple holder barrel from in the clutch handle. None of the parts places have them apparently, so i've made one up. Similarly, i did his fork seals a while ago, and the previous owner damaged one of the washers. According to our local BMW dealer, there are 4 left in EUROPE - all in a store in Munich. And they have an 8 week lead time. For a £4 washer... I hammered his flat - it seems to work ok.

That said, it is a solid motor, easy to work on, fairly powerful, Very torquey - shaft drive, so no chain adjustment - looks good if you like that sort of thing, and his has a factory option stainless exhaust, and it sounds like a Messerschmitt!


So, to sum up - if you want a reliable BMW "Charlie & Ewan" stylee tourer with off road capabilities, power, handling, etc, get an R1150, or R1200GS. If you like home maintenance, air cooling, long evenings looking for parts, and are 40+ and overweight, with a bad temper (Not required) then an R100 is probably for you!

Hehe, to be fair though, Rob is 20, and he loves his, when he isnt swearing at it, or calling me to come and fix it at the side of the road...again...

ToGGoT
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2005 BMW R1150R

[MaybeGuy]

Bittern is pretty stingey when it comes to bikes. i would imagine (from personal experience of him) that he's looking to spend about £300 tops on the bike.

all i can suggest is this:

stop buying shitty old bikes that have problems you cant fix, and save up for something half decent that isnt dying of bike cancer.
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Blue_SV650S wrote: it was a sh1te wheelie, but it proves that he can get it up in 3rd and can do angles. In summery, mattsprattuk is a gobby little sh1tebag, dopehead tw4t, but sadly for all of us, he probably isn't THAT full of sh1te!!
Kickstart wrote: Hi I tend to agree with Matt. All the best Keith

[Mellow Matt]

My dad's got an R100RS - I'd say it's quite fun to ride, but probably only as a novelty. It's pretty slow and tends to tramline a bit. It's also got one of those annoying springy sidestands which won't stay down!

Not ridden it too much so can't really be much of a judge, he seems pretty happy with the 200 miles he does a year on it though!

Oh and the screen directs the wind directly at your face.
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1999 GSX-R 600, 1999 TL1000R

[Endless Nameless]

[MaybeGuy]

enjoy paying full price for everything.

anyway, i bought the reliant (rialto, not robin you spastic) because at the time i thought you could ride it on a motorcycle licence.

lets reflect on your choice in old cheap machinery shall we?

ok here goes...

>your CG was in a worse state than my GSXR
>your GS550 ran about 4 times in your ownership and burned more oil than my RXS.
>your land rover you sold because it was too shit even for you.

then theres me.

>lifan? thats a given
>all the rest? i crashed them, fucked them up completely, and sold them on for more than i paid for them.

never had any of them break down or not start.

so i stand by what i said about old stuff being shit.
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Blue_SV650S wrote: it was a sh1te wheelie, but it proves that he can get it up in 3rd and can do angles. In summery, mattsprattuk is a gobby little sh1tebag, dopehead tw4t, but sadly for all of us, he probably isn't THAT full of sh1te!!
Kickstart wrote: Hi I tend to agree with Matt. All the best Keith

[Endless Nameless]

I like my old shit machinery. I'm aware that it is shit, but that doesn't bother me. You seem to buy tat then brag about it... even the Reliant (Robin, Rialto, whatever- it's newer than a Regal so I don't care) warranted a thread on here, smeg knows why!

The CG was fine, it lunched the ballast resistor but that took out everything else. Spent £90 on it recently and now it not only looks dead smart (mostly thanks to Adam) but is going just fine, Matt is riding it. I admit the GS wasn't as good as I'd hoped, low compression = PITA to start. And the Landy was fine, I just couldn't afford to run an old Land Rover on a student budget.

And you seem to have forgotten your 250 Superdream, didn't that sell for pence? And I'm sure you got a lift home on the big yellow taxi at least once when you were riding the Gixxer 400
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A2 passed 22/07/08; restriction up 22/07/10 (just so I don't forget)
'79 Suzuki GS550E. Yes, that's a GS550, not a GS500.
Supersports "In a video editing competition I'd kick your sorry ass"

[MaybeGuy]

so what you've just said, in summary, is that old stuff is crap.
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Blue_SV650S wrote: it was a sh1te wheelie, but it proves that he can get it up in 3rd and can do angles. In summery, mattsprattuk is a gobby little sh1tebag, dopehead tw4t, but sadly for all of us, he probably isn't THAT full of sh1te!!
Kickstart wrote: Hi I tend to agree with Matt. All the best Keith

[Endless Nameless]

Just that in life you tends to get what you pay for... Cheap old stuff is shit, but it is also cheap. Doesn't mean all old stuff is shit.

Also, your bike still looks like it belongs to dyno- rod, so I win anyway
____________________
A2 passed 22/07/08; restriction up 22/07/10 (just so I don't forget)
'79 Suzuki GS550E. Yes, that's a GS550, not a GS500.
Supersports "In a video editing competition I'd kick your sorry ass"