1980 vs. 1981+ R100RT?

[NC Steve]

Hi all. I have the opportunity to buy a very nice 1980 R100RT at a very attractive price. I know the meticulous owner well, and there are detailed service records going back for many years. My question is this: Apparently, BMW began making significant changes with their 1981 lineup, and the bike in question here is a 1980. Can anyone give an overview of what these changes are, and if they were actually improvements, or failures? Of course, then in 1985, BMW went to the monoshock suspension and tubeless wheels, among other changes.

Also, one thing that concerns me, is that there appears to be a good number of parts interchangeability among the 1981 thru 1995 bikes. Would it be much more difficult to find parts for the 1980? Does that bike share many parts with the /6 or /7 series?  It would seem that parts availability from the 15 years of 1981 -1995 bikes would much easier than the shorter time period for bikes of 1980 and back.

As I said, this 1980 is very solid, and is being sold at an excellent price; however, would the headaches of finding parts and working on the "older" bike make it significantly more troublesome? Would a semi non-mechanically skilled person like myself be better finding a 1981 or up R100? And, perhaps most importantly, I wasn't even looking for an R100RT, but came across this one at a price and condition too good to pass up, but maybe the value as a daily rider, plus maintenance and reliability issues, aren't as great as I would hope them to be?

Any info and input would be much appreciated!

[Tony Smith]

You will have no problems finding parts for the older bike.
 
The major changes are the 1981 bike will have a bean can hall effect ignition system, a single row cam chain, nikasil lined cylinders, flat pack air filter, improved engine breather.

None of the above differences of themselves warrant the 1981 over the 1980, but the nikasil bores are nice to have. BMW beancans come with their own fun and games, either model can have a ignition system incorporating electronic advance/retard (why BMW stuck to bob-weights when they were already using an ignition controller capable of looking after advance/retard is beyond me)

There is one thing that to me would be a deal breaker on the 1980 bike. Now I think that ATE swinging caliper brakes were changed to Brembo in 1979/80, but if the 1980 bike does in fact have ATE calipers, it would tip the scale to the 1981 for mine.
 
Having said that, my R100 which was recently mothballed pending a restoration has ATE calipers and they have never *quite* annoyed me enough to swap the entire front end to get Brembos, but it has been a near run thing on a few occasions.


PPS.
 
All other things begin equal and if they are both stock. The 1980 will probably be a bit quicker, if that is in any way significant in your thinking.

[steve hawkins]

That's the thing with these model years, the earlier bike will be more powerful, in theory, but the later bike will be much lighter, so I actually doubt there will be too much in it speed wise.

I too am not a fan of the old swinging calipers.  But I have it on good authority that they can be set up to work.  But they are not a patch on Brembo's.  But I don't even like them style wise irrespective on how well they work.

That said, I prefer a lot of things about the earlier model style wise.  Clam shell airbox, final drive, twin pull throttle, points ignition, etc.

Condition is king though.

Cheers

[NC Steve]

Tony and Steve, thanks to you both for helping me out with this information, and making me feel more confident about a possible purchase. The story on this RT is it belongs to a good friend of mine, who just purchased their 4th Guzzi, and it's not being ridden enough to justify keeping it. The owner was a Guzzi/BMW owner for years, but the scales seem to be tipping on the side of Guzzi these days. With all of the add-ons, such as a Reynolds Ride-Off center stand, Browns Side stand, brand new windshield, nearly new bags, newish tires, etc and etc, it's almost a giveaway. Now though, there seems to be a lurker in the shadows with cash, so I need to make a decision quickly, and of course, at the moment, I'm a bit financially lacking!
What to do, what to do... Ill keep everyone posted!