What sould I do ?

[sdemeyer]

Hi All, just purchased my first BMW, 99 1100RT. The bike has a lot of miles, 72,000 but seems to run well. After looking at all the maintenance receipts since the bike was new, I don't see any kind of "major" service.

 

My question is, is there anything I should check or replace now to avoid a very costly repair later ?

 

The only two problems I can tell are, a slight rattle , maybe from the clutch area, when the engine is at idle and the bike is in neutral and a weak battery.

 

Thanks,

Scott

[ShovelStrokeEd]

Replace the battery, inspect the brake pads and go ride the thing. If the previous owner was meticulous enough to keep maintenance records, chances are the bike is fine. There are maybe 3 things that can go wrong on these bikes that could give you grief.

 

Final drive bearing failure - easily caught most of the time by inspection.

 

Clutch disk/input shaft spline failure - unpredictable and not practical to perform any meaningful inspection. Chances are, if it hasn't failed by now, it will be good to ca 100K miles anyway.

 

HES wiring failure - not typically a problem on these earlier bikes but can be fixed as a prophylactic measure for not a lot of bucks.

 

BTW, 72K is not all that high a milage. Depending on how far/hard you ride, the bike should give you many good years of service.

[John Ranalletta]

The simplest things to fix that can leave you stranded are the control cables. Check last replacement date. If never replaced or >25k miles, order a set (throttle & clutch) and replace at next service.

[brinkjm]

The only two problems I can tell are, a slight rattle , maybe from the clutch area, when the engine is at idle and the bike is in neutral and a weak battery.

 

Thanks,

Scott

 

Hi Scott. Welcome!

 

The rattle you hear is most likely the throwout bearing or some movement inside the gearbox - perfectly normal from what you describe.

 

Lots of battery options are out there for these bikes. Personally, I like the convenience (and lack of maintenance) of the BMW Gel battery (flame suit on) but you still have your choice of the classic lead cell stocker from BMW and many aftermarket offerings.

 

Like Ed said, do some snooping around and ride the thing. When I acquire a used vehicle and am not sure of the maintenance history, I'll usually just perform a major service to establish a baseline to satisfy my own curiosity.

 

When you have the bodywork removed from the RT to perform maintenance, you also have a chance to get a good look at the rest of the bike in general, i.e., wiring, potential leaks, etc.

 

Good luck and have fun with your right wrist!

[fatbob]

Scott:

You should replace the alternator belt, if it's not noted as being done. I also replaced the front wheel bearings at 50K, just cause i'm anal. Fuel filter may also need to be replaced. If the maint was done at a dealer, these items would maybe have been done.

 

Bob

[dhb]

In addition to the stuff mentioned, at 72K the stock shocks are gone. They are not rebuildable.

Bob, BTW my R11R was an early HES failure at about 15K--so it's been known from that vintage.

Dave

[sdemeyer]

Thanks for all the quick responses! I guess I'm in good shape as at 64,000 a new alt belt, new cables and new brakes were done. AT some point in time Ohlin shocks were installed on front and rear. I don't know how many miles ago. How long do those last?

 

Put on a few hundred miles today.. sure is fun to ride! A lot different than my old GS850 though. Took a while to get the feel.

 

[Rinkydink]

Scott, just get on it and ride. When you start complaining on this board about the handling of your scoot, you'll know its time for shock rebuilds.