The Carburetor Chronicles

Before Pictures

Here is the 1980 R100T.  This is what it looks like now, before doing anything to it.  I bought it in January of 2004 for what I thought was a more than fair price (thanks Jay).

It had been sitting since 1995 or maybe 1996.  It does not start, no matter how much I pray. When I brought it home in the back of a my pick up it was covered with dust and the signs of general neglect.  The original owner bought it new in 1981 and sold it to the second owner around 1990.  Around 95 or 96 the second owner changed religion and bought a brand new Harley Dyna.  In 2003 he bought a beautiful new black Road King.  He needed garage space, I wanted another motorcycle. I am the third owner.  

The bike has almost 27,000 on it right now.  It does not start.   It was purchased from Cycle Werks in Indianapolis, Indiana.  Cycle Werks is no longer in business (The current Indy dealer is Revard BMW, and they are great).

The equipment is all original to the bike when it was purchased.  The bike was titled as a 1981 but the VIN shows it was produced in March of 1980 and it has 1980 model year features and failings. The bike was a solid performer the year Reagan was elected and remains one over twenty years later.

The centerstand and rear luggage rack are original equipment and the bags and racks are Krausers.  The right side bag is busted up so the bags are not shown in the picture. I am looking for a right side bag.

The engine seems pretty solid, does not leak and it cranks over, but the carbs have had gas sitting in the bowls for years.  Much as I want to hear my new, twenty-three year old bike run I know it just ain't gonna' happen without some work.

The plan is to get it running just to make sure the engine does not need any major work and then tackle the aspects of daily rider rehab.

The links on the left will be in chronological order.  They will document some of the work done to the bike.  If you are using them as a reference use the photos only, because I am not even a shade tree mechanic.  I possess exactly zero skill, and I have even less training.  I work in an office all day and I live in the mid-west. That means lots of time indoors, and we have winter, serious winter sometimes.

I am going to go ahead and put in what I think I might do, even though it may not turn out that way. If someone is thinking about buying an old bike they can see the thought process, however scattered it may be.

I want a bike as much as a means to provide "garage therapy" as much as road time. It has to be reliable in riding season and simple enough for me to work on in the off season.  

This bike is perfect.  The R60/2 that shares the garage is just too nice a bike to screw up, so I will use this bike for learning curve development and fully restore the R60 later.

dp 01/04 

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