Ongoing R100RT - R100T - R100RT Project

[Justin B.]

Years ago, probably 12 or so, I picked up a poor neglected '81 R100RT off fleabay.  I already had a '95 R100RT so I decided to make it into a nekkid summer bike - in essence an R100T.

After stripping it down I rode it for a summer (commuting) with one cylinder at about 50 psi compression on one cylinder and 110 psi on the other (straining to remember exact numbers...) but it actually ran OK for a commuter.

[Justin B.]

Once I had the engine up to snuff I decided it was a keeper so I had to make it not quite so embarrassing to ride so I cleaned up the frame and gave it a nice jet-black paint job.  I'd never owned a black motorcycle before so it seemed like  a good thing to do.

Those of you with an eagle-eye will note that I adapted a monoshock rear cowl and seat to the dual-shock.  I was then able to use the monoshock BMW Comfort Seat.

[Justin B.]

Alas, I let the '95 RT go after buying an R1150RTP and immediately started kicking myself for dabbling with the "dark-side" and yearned for my R100RT!

Late last year I decided that I would dig the busted up fairing bits out of the attic and properly clothe it once again as an R100RT!  I had to buy the two lower panels and lower center panel but was able to get out the fiberglass and save everything else.  About a month ago I got most of the "bodywork" finished and squirted on a coat of high-build primer.  After sanding that down I realized there were a lot of little nicks and stuff I missed but I figured I could nit-pick it to death and have it finished right before I wound up in an old-folks home.  After seeing the stunning contrast Marc Miller achieved on his R65 re-paint I decided that I would paint the fairing satin black which would give a stealthy look and also make the imperfections a bit easier to overlook.

I squirted the black on Thursday and started putting it back together yesterday.  I was really happy that I bagged up most of the original hardware in a somewhat logical manner and only lost a few screws.  I ordered a new "dash" (old one has some cracks) and windshield rubber from Max and as soon as it gets here I can finish assembling the upper fairing.  The shocking thing is that the clock and voltmeter work like a champ!  I never even tested these before tearing it down as I wasn't going to use them.

Here's as far as I got today...

[marcmax]

Great job Justin. I wish I had the time and space to do the same.

[Adrian]

Nice looking bike mate - thanks for the photos :-)

[BPT]

Nice job.
 From the time I bought mine, I wanted it to be black and was really leaning towards satin.  I decided I'd better get the running things taken care of before the cosmetics, but it's still on my mind every time I ride it.

What kind of set-up do you have as far as a paint gun?  A while ago, Montmil posted about his DIY paint job and made it sound doable, with some patience.

Do you have a lot of experience and/or proper equipment?

[Justin B.]

I have a nice set of DeVilbiss HVLP guns but I shot this with an old Harbor Freight HVLP.

I have painted for a long time although not so much in the past 10 years or so.

The fairing was painted with DuPont Hot Hues "Hot Rod Black."

[BPT]

Ah, ok. So you do have some background and skills then.  I may give it a try. Haven't decided yet but budgetary reasons might lead me on that direction.

Anyway, nice job on that.  Good luck on getting it all sorted out.

[Justin B.]

It'll be back together by the end of the week, as soon as my hardware order from McMaster gets here...

[Justin B.]

OK, almost there!  I got everything back together (that I could find), changed the oil and filter, and flushed the front and rear brakes yesterday afternoon and took it for a spin.  Went about 4 blocks then cam back and tightened a few things I forgot!  After tightening these few things went for a couple mile ride this morning and all seems great except I think I have the steering head bearings a hair tight.  It handles a bit sluggish at low speed and has a low speed "weave" unless I am really paying attention.  I really hate messing with this now that the fairing is on and I'm hoping maybe after a little riding it will loosen up a bit but I'm not going to hold my breath.  I'm still missing a couple of little bits (L/H side air intake vent mainly) but it can be ridden.  I'd forgotten how loud the engine sounds on an RT!

This is my second R100RT and I still think the design is still about the best looking motorcycle ever made.  I am going to call this "Stealth RT" as the satin black fairing gives it a bit of a sinister look.  Here's thanks to Marc for his paint scheme or I would never have thought of painting it satin!

[wilcom]

Justin............ Lamont has some RT fairing pieces on his site if you lost anything.....

[BPT]

Sweet!  Looks great, and I like the Stealth idea.

[Justin B.]

Thanks, BPT, I was going to paint it gloss black to match the rest but seeing how nice the satin came out on marcmiller's R65 I decided it would look wicked!

The only fairing piece I don't have is the L/H side air intake vent and I have one coming from fleabay.  When I bought the bike there was considerable "body damage" on the R/H side and I think I remember the vent being gone so I snagged one off fleabay.  When I went to paint them realized I "snagged" the wrong one so I wound up with two R/H ones!

[BPT]

Since I bought my bike I'd wanted it to be black. I wasn't sure what type but, like yours, figured it would be the shiny version.  Shortly after I got it I saw a car that had been done in the satin. It was a nice job, not the usual crappy looking flat black you see (or whatever that is that they use for the pseudo-carbon fiber hood look?).
I went to English paints and they showed me a version that looked pretty close to what I'd seen, can't remember what they called it.  But I put off changing the paint for a while.
When I saw Marc's I thought "Yes, that's exactly what I'd pictured, and damn that looks nice!".

But now I've waited so long I'll just be a follower in the crowd....

 

[Justin B.]

The "Hot Rod Black" I used was for the side covers on an R100S for a dude a number of years ago.  I only used a couple of ounces and I had a bunch left over so that was another big point in it's favor!