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By Rattlebattle
#90173
The easiest bikes to service that I've owned in fifty-odd years of riding and over 30 bikes were the CZ, Jawa and MZ two-strokes I had when times were cruel hard after starting a family. Apart from setting the points and cleaning the spark plug(s) occasionally and changing the gearbox oil every now and then there wasn't much to do. They were all very reliable too. They really did what they were designed to do without fuss. I had a couple of K series Beemers too. They were easy to service and dead reliable, which is more than can be said for modern offerings from the Fatherland. But of all the bikes I've owned the one I kept the longest and liked the best was my R850GS, which was an R1100GS with the R850 motor. They were made for only a couple of years, to use up the remaining stock of frames etc for the R1100GS when the 1150 replaced it. Nothing I've owned before or since has had such brilliant handling and road holding, matched with easy servicing and good build quality - a Tonka Toy-like indestructibility.
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By windmill john
#90174
You’re not Julian are you!

I bought an R850GS with 50,000 miles on and yes, it was a fantastic handling bike. Commuted on it, went to Portugal. Went to Italy, couple trips to Belgium; superb.

Had a couple of issues on it around 80,000 miles and didn’t want t to throw more money at it. Sold it to a guy who rectified it with new injectors! I’d checked they were spraying, but they were not spraying correctly. I’d replaced the HES, fuel filter... again, leads etc.....
But as you say, as a riding bike, superb.
Servicing the fuel filter wasn’t a two minute job....... was on the Ks though.
By Rattlebattle
#90175
No, Alan. My R850GS didn't need to much beyond routine servicing, but my older R1100RS did. You probably know that it took BMW three goes at producing an acceptable gearbox on the 5-speed oil heads; my 1100 had the M94,the middle one. Eventually a friend and I installed the better M97 that had been refurbished by Scriminger, only to find that it,too, skipped in third gear. The final straw, so I sold it. Having changed two HES I could do it at the roadside. Yes, I did the fuel filters on both. Like you say, much easier on the K. Air filters easy on both, if you knew how on the K and did' follow Haynes or Clymer...Just remembered; the only biggish job I had on the 850 was the paralever pivot bearings, not to difficult if you had a heat gun and some nail varnish remover....

Happy days
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By windmill john
#90192
Two points:

I doff my cap to you for doing an Oilhead gearbox swap. I’ve done it a couple of times on an Airhead, but luckily, got away with not having to break the back of an Oilhead. No garage by the way.

And.... re the rear bearing on an 850GS..... mine collapsed coming back from Portugal. We limped into Salamanca in Spain with two inches of left to right movement when you gripped the top of the tyre!!!
As there is only one ferry a week from Spain, the dealer did it there and then.
435 Euros and eight hours later we were in our way. It’s the reason I’ve always preferred real swinging arms or at the most the monolever BM design.
By Rattlebattle
#90202
Ouch, that was a pain in the wallet! I assume you mean the big bearing in the final drive went. I used to carry one of these and an oil seal with me on trips abroad. Apparently they're not hard to fit and could be done by any competent mechanic. Re the gearbox change my friend has a bike lift - like my work on the RE now it wasn't hard, just time-consuming. The big key was in exceptional condition, which helped as there were no seized or rusty fasteners etc.
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By windmill john
#90212
I’m not sure which bearing, but I can tell you that the paint was scorched round the large hex when I got it back. You know the one, the one you are meant to heat to remove the final drive. I guess they got carried away! Not complaining, great to have the bike back.
By Rattlebattle
#90247
Yes I know the one. I’m surprised a BMW dealer scorched it though. I used a heat gun on the nut itself and gradually loosened the nut which has a very fine thread. BMW put some sort of thread lock on it, which is why it needs heat. BMW forum members recommended not bothering with thread lock on reassembly, so I didn’t. I simply made a witness mark on the nut and paralever arm so that I could see if the nut slackened off. It never did on either the GS or 1100RS. No scorch marks or paint burnt off on either.....
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By windmill john
#93374
Well RB, I might still be in the honeymoon, but enjoying Ari, my Classic 500.

Coming home from work today, we almost had a tiff. Okay, it was pretty wet and I’ve ridden him before in the wet, but I found the front brake the worst disk brake I’ve ever had! Not massively different to Gupta, my 350 front drum.
Surprised me how bad it was. No different, actually worse than a 70s Honda solid disk.

Still love the bike, I just had to really change my, normally front brake only as an aid riding style, to include more use of the back brake. After decades of riding, it’s hard to change.
By Rattlebattle
#93375
Well, at least you (presumably) have a decent rear disc brake....The front disc on my heap is ok up to an indicated 60mph, after which it’s white knuckle time. It also now pulses just a little, but not enough to get an MOT advisory. Early on I fitted braided hose, something I do to all of my bikes unless already so equipped. That helped a bit but really I would say a softer brake pad compound would improve it. It has always been a bit wooden but it works ok. The front brake is the least of the issues with my bike and I have to say that I’m tempted to try to trade it in against a rebuilt 350 iron barrel advertised locally. I really don’t feel like throwing more money or time at the C5 and will probably cut my losses. I’ll see what it’s like when I service it after the engine rebuild in a few weeks time. Like I advised ages ago in this thread, you either get a good one that’ll be little bother at all and do a good mileage before needing any attention or a rotten one which sucks you dry of time, money and patience. It depends who built it. The later REs built on modern production lines are probably as good as most, given that there is no single manufacturer of which I’m aware that never produces a single bike with faults. With the earlier ones it can go either way.

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