2001 BMW R1100R(L)

Activity Log:

20241201 -

I'd been looking for a project bike for sometime but having no luck.  Nothing I saw was exciting.  I was having trouble warming warm up to any particular make/model.   I wanted something unusual.  

My wife and I walk the neighborhood on a regular basis.  On one walk, a neighbor I didn't know well left his garage door open and I spotted a bike parked in the back corner.  I couldn't make out what it was.  I had been prattering on to my wife about needing a project bike and she encouraged me to ring the doorbell and find out the story. The owner was a delightful old fella who inherited the bike, a 2001 BMW R1100RL, from his brother.  He never rode it.  Never even started it I think.  He seemed excited at the prospect of moving it into someone elses garage and reclaiming his.  I believe the L in the model name signifies wire wheels, chrome valve covers and black paint with white pinstripes.  BMW offers very little information, like none, on the L models.  This one had some of the worst tires I've seen, Metzler Roadtec Z6, date code 2007, cracked like crazy and hard as rocks.  The tank was full of rust, the factory coating having mostly deteriorated.  The paint looked good.  The wheels were straight.  It was quite derelict having not run in a decade but the bones were all there.  As I looked it over I quietly moaned to myself about the decrepit state and the owner got uncomfortable that I might not be interested.  I decided I didn't want it.  Then I looked at his face, recognizing his disappointment, I thought, what the heck, and bought it.  

I'm not wild about the shape of the fuel tank but taken all together, with the Corbin seat, the style was intriguing, like what were they thinking.  My wife reminded me I did say I was looking for something unusual and here it is.  My wife thinks it's a retro-beauty.  Loves the black, white and chrome.