1991 R100GS Derelict GS Build - Novembre' 2007
This bike sat in the back of my friend Gary Krieger's shop RPM Cycles in Ventura, CA. for some time I 'spect.
It seemed like a derelict left out in the weather, having been used and forgotten. The PO had moved to New York
and left with Gary to "dispose" of. The odo had an indicated just under 17K.
...hard to believe looking at the poor old girl. I shed a tear right there, made an offer, and within a week it was
a done dealio.
The day I went out with the trailer to pick it up, Gary put the key in and it fired right up. Yes...
I had no idea it even ran. I was ready to do major surgery on it if need be. Turns out the motor and driveline are tight
as a drum, no leaks, no squeeks, no issues.
Gary also told me the shop had installed a Rennesport cam at one point. It had the Ohlins shock too...
........................................
!!!
Got 'er home...she runs...and I gots parts and pieces...
...Ohlins!...
!!!
The general Photoshop concept I worked out in my lil head...
First things first, drain the fluids......
...then a good once over ...crusty...
...first scrubdown...
...some minor damage
...internally greezy...
...and grimey...
...electriks look priddy goot....
....signs of nasty corrosion...
Pete came by to see what the fack I was doin'...sorry sport, to grimey to ride...
... besides, right now I'm thinkin' o' this...
...so down to business...clean clean, prime, clean prime, paint, clean some mo'...
...fluid slookin' good, no nasty goobers in the stuff. all in all the mechanicals look real tight and no leaks!
... the more I take it apart, the deeper I go, the more I find I want to clean and/or replace...
...dooch out the inside of the airbox and starter compartment too...pull the hanging starter, clean and clean some more.
Have the starter rebuilt and now she looks spankin'...
...fresh paint on the airbox and new rubber where needed. New carb tubes and clamps while I'm at it....and plug all the
extraineous holes in the airbox. A fresh clean and coat for the battery box and a kustom aluminum sheet battery case...
Off mit der carbs....cleansing and new kits and diaprams+Bing enriching jet kit. New throttle cables and accelerator springs too.
Deciding just how far to go was half the fun...I was getting to the point of deciding restoration or refurb. The more I cleaned the deeper I went. Finding out this bike wasn't a factory PD, rather it's a GS with a PD kit set my mind at ease for whatever reason. no guilt from not making it completely original.
I want to have fun with this bike, so...I took my dad's approach. He restored many a vehicle in his backyard shop after retiring, not concourse standards, but to his own liking. Yes, I want to have fun.
So I clean and paint and clean and paint...
The wiring was a challenge. Besides cleaning and re-wrapping the main harness, I added a HID headlight, three extra running lights, and heated grips. I pretty much stripped it down to the base harness and rebuilt.
And the fairing needed a complete overhaul..a real learning curve....
Hell. I pretty much stripped the bike down to the base running hear by the time I was done.
Searched the world over for parts and pieces...upgraded to Thunderchild diode board, and charging system.
Dyna III coil, etc. etc. etc.
...nice work Boeing dude...clean install...
...fairing guts in bondage...
...meantime, the painting was goin' down as you can see by the new fairing color...that's black, yes...
...Flix the Polish came in handy...
I used it to polish paint and metal and opted to install the Supertrapp system cuz I had it, so I tested the FLIX on it.
...but first a little heat shield for the heat shield...
Nice!
...now, das buffenzei!
 of paint and polish0057.JPG)
...unt mit der PD tankenzei...
...unt a lil touchemuppen...
Reflektieren!
...wheels needed the treatment as well, mucho corrodo en rustico con spokes 'n hubs...scoring pads, a drill motor,
Flitz, and elbow grease made the stock wheels look up ta snuff...
Thorough going over of the brakes was in order as well, cleaned and flushed, and painted the OEM caliper and rotor.
Rebuilt levers, new steel brakeline, clean and paint rotor and take some emery cloth to the rear hub and rebuilld and
grease the assembly and install new shoes.
....levers...
In the end I built a second set of wheels for more streetability and added an updated the rotor and pads (EBC) and
caliper (R1100 Brembo).
...flashback to the present...clean, prime, paint, clean, prime, paint...
...ditched the automotive cooler for an OEM unit, me likes traditional too...
...some geegaw coolness, picked up a PD fender in black from a IBMWR guy...
... and a new, yes new set of these babies and a cast forkbrace form SJBMW...
...new TKC dualsport knobbies, new OEM windscreen, new Napoleon mirrors, new Fastway pegs, ditched the Renthal bars
for the more layed back stock bars and installed new bar risers, and some other like-new farkles and she's ready to roll....
Oh, also rebuilt the forks and the Ohlins was sent of to PPS for a rebuild and tweeking.
..and a RaceTech Gold Valve up front.
A new Westco battery, and a long list of OEM bits, new handguards, fork gaters,
yadda yadda...
Oh, and keys where an issue...
...progress...
What started as a funbike turned out to be a complete refurb. Everything rubber was replaced, all the wiring gone through,
all the paint and cosmetics spiffed, and every nut and bolt was either cleaned or replaced with new.
In the end...3 to 4+ sold months of week -ends and week nights and a pile of receipts later it was complete and ready for me
to go out and dump it on the first ride...but that's a story for another day.
Is it a trailer queen?
Hell no!
I ride the snot out of this old mule and love every minute.
I'm realizing t's the Beemer that I should have bought back in 1981 when I got the R100/7.
An R80G/S would have been just fine. I seem to remember seeing an R80ST in Ozzie's BMW and wondering why...
It just didn't seem to click, little did I know that it made complete sense.
It's all been worth it...so now Mister, how much did you say got in your pocket???
Badass Mule II today...
