I have an R100RS, 1982, which has only done 55,000 miles and I'm thinking of an European tour; should I renew anything before setting off? A local BM dealer said that it should be OK for at least another hundred thousand, but, what about a new cam chain, perhaps (is split link really ok?), and according to MotoBins's hints & Tips section in their catalogue the heads of my exhaust valves will soon come off, and lots of other tales of doom.

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Johnefyn

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Johnef

A lot of it depends on how hard the miles have been. If you ride it like an RS should be ridden, yes, it's coming due for some work.

Dropping a valve is possible but unlikely - yes some did, but percentage wise, very few, and generally ones that were thrashed pretty hard.

Gearbox bearings should be renewed around 60,000 mile mark. The gears should be fine, but the bearings do fail. Rebuild yours before it breaks or does damage, don't do an exchange. (Exchange ones have generally broken something...)

Many people have done 200,000 on the original bearings, but many have only done 50,000 before catastrophic and expensive bearing failure. 60,000 is a good time.

Timing chain should be listened to by the dealer, if it's quiet it's fine, but somewhere in 50-75,000 mile area it should be changed. Link type is fine (installed with the link right way round.

Other than that, normal servicing and it will go for a long way. A friend has a 79 with I believe around 250,000 miles, still runs perfectly.

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Grant Johnson

Seek, and ye shall find.
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One world, Two wheels.
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

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Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
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Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

I've just posted the following as a new topic, but it might be appropriate to add it to this thread as well........"I've just come back from a 200-mile ride on my '82 R100RS and for the last 50 miles I was finding it increasingly hard to find neutral. The gearchange was fine while moving, but at traffic lights etc. the gearshift got stiffer and stiffer. Thanks to the local(North Wales) neurotic anti-speeding campaign my speed was limited to 65mph or so, so there was no question of my having thrashed the bike at all. I checked the gearbox oil level when I got back and it was OK. I've just tried the gearchange, some three hours after getting back, and its fine once again.
In response to my query a couple of weeks ago regarding what to check/see to/renew before a possible European tour (it's done 55,000mls) Grant did say that it might be an idea to renew the gearbox bearings; could somebody suggest what to look out for while I'm doing that to cure the neutral problem?

Also I've seen in the Threads somewhere that BMW bearings are of variable quality; should I use another make of bearings instead?".......
As regards the actual job of changing the bearings, are there any other points I should know about beforehand, eg will I need a hydraulic press or special tools?
Many thanks in anticipation,
John

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Johnefyn

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Johnef