Dead BMW for fun and profit?

[Scud]

Howdy boys - 

 

Yesterday I picked up (literally, as in by using my pickup truck) a too-good-to-refuse 2000 BMW R1100RT for $600. Why so cheap? transmission/driveshaft spline stripped - catastrophic failure after close to 100,000 miles. Cost for dealer repair is more than cost of buying a similar bike that works (about $3,000).

 

 

I'm going to see just how bad the damage is first - depending on what I find, maybe try to repair and sell. But I think it might be easier, more fun, and more profitable to part it out. I think I can get my $600 back just by selling the 2 seats (leather Corbin and stocker), saddlebags and the brand new rear tire (installed right before failure). PO was thinking about parting it out - but only sold the windshield.

 

Like our Guzzis (and probably like many bikes) they are worth more (financially) in parts than complete. But converting a BMW to cash to buy Guzzi parts and help fund daughters' college .......that's priceless.

 

Something about my shady past:  In my college days one of my jobs was to dismantle wrecked Datsun Zs for a Z-car specialty shop. That's where I learned "If it wasn't melted and poured into a mold, you CAN disassemble it." 

 

So... anybody done this and have advice? What do you do with the pile of crap at the end that nobody wants to buy? How do you get rid of the title if nobody buys the frame?

 

Who wants four new BMW oil filters and a filter-wrench?

 

I'm keeping the BMW tool-roll for my LeMans. 

[Paradiso]

If the rest of the bike is fine and in good condition, might it be worth seeing if you can pick up some second hand parts from a breaker or Ebay?  100 000 isn't a lot of miles for a BMW like this. 

They made quite a few of those bikes so parts should be relatively easy to come across.  Imagine the sense of satisfaction of bringing something dead back to life.

[Scud]

I had a 1996 RT for a long time.  The motor is a workhorse, but the driveline is the weak-point on the R1100 series. Plan A probably should be: repair, ride around, resell. It's been down on the left (the side pictured) and damage is purely cosmetic. PO says everything was working before the driveline disintegrated.

 

I just ordered a battery - gonna see if the motor actually runs before doing anything irreversible (like selling a body panel). Just considering my options.  One worry with dismantling is that the bike takes about 3 times as much garage space when it's apart - and it's sort of hard to move after you sell the wheels...

 

Need to go to San Francisco again soon... 

[Cabernet]

Trouble is, this is a common fault around 60k and many bikes will have also suffered the same fate. Good luck.

[Scud]

Trouble is, this is a common fault around 60k and many bikes will have also suffered the same fate. Good luck.

 

Yeah - that's one of the factors that favors the parting-out approach. Uncharacteristically for BMW, the first generation oilheads (the 1100s) don't often get to use all 6 digits in their odometers, because of total driveline failure - tranny, driveshaft, AND final drive. And I believe the improved 1150RT drivelines are not compatible. I'll probably join a BMW forum for a little while. 

 

I'm still speculating at this point, because I haven't assessed the damage yet. Either way, I think I'll do alright with this and end up with some extra money for more Guzzi goodies.

 

Anybody done a part-out? How did it go for you?

[Cabernet]

I did a part out on a Honda Deauville. I bought a stolen recovered. Made the kind a money you pad and some on the plastics and lights. Still got the basis for a cafe ratter

[fotoguzzi]

I have parted a few bikes.. use ebay... don't sell anything you can't find a big enough box for shipping.

start the bid at the minimum you'll take and let the market decide value.

anything that fits in a flat rate box from USPS should be listed "shipping world wide" you'll get more bids and

higher sale prices.

always have buyer pay shipping costs. get insurance from Post office..

take photos of part and packaging, save receipts from PO, you need good proof (pics) to make a claim with Post Office.

sometimes FedEx is a better way to ship but a little more $'s.

[Scud]

Thanks guys for sharing your experience and advice. I just joined http://bmwsporttouring.com/under the same name as I use here. 

[Scud]

I decided to part it out - I bought the bike with a profit motive and the parts look to be much more profitable than net proceeds from a repair/resale. FYI, the problem was, in fact, the transmission input/clutch interface. Plus, I think it will be an interesting experiment. It was already cool to get way deeper into this bike than I ever did when I had one.

 

Stripping the RT really made me appreciate the V11 (and was good practice for when I need to do a clutch job on one). Total strip time was about 16 hours including research to figure my way through a few disassembly puzzles. Only the frame, engine, centerstand, and forks/wheel are still together (so I can still move it and maybe sell that assembly with the title). The BMW has a very densely packed network of wires, cables, and hoses to support the electronics and ABS. Although I would imagine the current Norges are similar and would require the removal of lots of bodywork to do any significant maintenance. I think there were 15 body panels on the RT.

 

As points of comparison: The transmission housing serves one function the same as our porkchops - big pivot pins for the swingarm. Look how clean the driveshaft is after 100,000 miles. There's some value in having that sealed up inside a swingarm/housing like the CARC bikes do. A mechanical (not hydraulic) clutch means one less reason to potentially have to break the bike in half for maintenance. One semi-entertaining surprise - you have to disconnect the shock and almost remove the subframe to remove the airbox. No wonder you don't see a lot of pods or other airbox mods the BMWs...

 

 

[czakky]

Sort of opposite of a v11 airbox.

[Scud]

Sort of opposite of a v11 airbox.

 

Yeah, was thinking that too - except that changing the BMW air filter is a 2-minute job:  just remove the seat and unscrew the lid. I think part of the motivation for pods on a V11 is ease of maintenance.

 

It really was interesting to see how much the BMW has in common with the Guzzi - just in terms of basic mechanical layout. And how BMW and MG solved some things similarly and others differently.

[footgoose]

I used to buy a lot of stuff from http://www.beemerboneyard.com/. might be a good reference anyway.

[Scud]

I used to buy a lot of stuff from http://www.beemerboneyard.com/. might be a good reference anyway.

 

Thanks - I got some stuff from them when I had my 96 RT, good service. Prices and availability (or lack thereof for some parts) on their site helped me decide to part it out.