I’m going to powder coat the wheels, so I remove the disk brake rotors. I refurbish the three rotors to remove grunge and get the patina on the disk carriers back to factory condition. I also clean out the holes and sand the disks so the new disk pads will bed in and not get fouled from brake pad grunge baked onto the rotors or the dirt and grunge lodged inside the disk brake rotor holes.

Here are all the details about how I do this work and a short video summarizing the work.

• 34 BMW 1983 R100RS Remove, Refinish, Install Disk Brake Rotors

VIDEO: 1983 R100RS Remove-Refurbish-Install Disk Brake Rotors

Here are a couple pictures of before and after.

Rear Wheel Left Side

Rear Disk Brake Rotor Mounts To Wheel With Five Bolts Secured By Tabs On Retaining Strips

Rear Disk Brake Rotor Mounting Hardware Detail

Use Wood Blocks To Protect Front Rotors From Damage When Working On The Wheel

Front Left Side Disk Brake Rotor Has Locking Nuts

Front Right Side Disk Brake Rotor Has Allan Head Bolts

Front Wheel Paint Is In Bad Shape

Rotor Carrier Front Side Grunge

Front Side Carrier After Bead Blasting at 40 PSI

AFTER: Powder Coated Wheels in White

Brake Disk Rotors Installed On Newly Powder Coated Wheels

When I had the heads rebuilt by Randy Long I had him modify them for dual plugs. I have made that modification on two other bikes and I like the improvement in gas mileage and the smooth running even on lower octane gas. So I have to replace the stock coils with coils that have two secondary ports so each coil connects to two spark plug wires.

This bike came with a BMW electronic ignition that includes a “bean can” with Hall effect sensors that act like mechanical points.

BMW Stock Ignition Sensor (aka “Bean Can”) with Hall Effect Sensors

The Hall effect sensors use a rotating magnetic field to open an electronic switch in the Hall effect sensor to stop current flow in the coil primary triggering a large voltage in the coil secondary. This is exactly what mechanical points do to trigger a high voltage spark in the spark plugs.

There have been some issues with the BMW electronic ignition. One in particular is that Hall effect sensors do not like heat and fail over time. When they do, you are stranded unless you have a second bean can with you. You can’t remove and disassemble the bean can by the side of the road.

I decided to remove the stock BMW ignition system and install a system that uses an optical switch for the points and a electronic ignition control module from Euro MotoElectrics. The ignition control module has three different ignition advance curves you can select from including one that works well with dual plug engines.

EME Optical-Electronic Ignition Kit

Since I have dual plug heads, I also install dual port coils.

EME Enduralast 1.5 Ohm Dual-Port Coils with Hardware

You can read about how I do this work here:

• 12 BMW R100RS Install EME Optical-Electronic Ignition System

And, this is a video summary of the procedure.

VIDEO: 1983 BMW R100RS Install Euro MotoElectrics Optical-Electronic Ignition System

Here is what the final installation looks like.

Optical Trigger Assembly with Timing Wheel Mounted On Alternator Rotor

Ignition Control Module Mounted On Top Of EME Electronic Voltage Regulator

Dual Plug Coils Mount Where Original Coils Mounted

The steering head bearings are roller bearings. But, roller bearings rely on the roller rotating to keep distributing grease between the roller and the outer race to prevent metal-on-metal contact. However, the front forks spend most of their time in one position and are subject to shock loads as the front end goes over bumps. This means grease gets extruded from between the rollers in the inner race and the outer race allowing metal-to-metal contact, and the shock loads pound the roller against the outer race creating grooves in the race. This creates notchy steering, and when it’s really bad, you can feel resistance when trying to turn the forks from the center position.

When I removed the steering head bearings, they showed the distinctive vertical stripes indicating the outer race has Brinelling, which is the groove pounded into the outer race.

Original Bottom Outer Race Showing Moderate Brinelling

I use the Cycle Works tools for removing and installing the steering head bearings. See the “Replace Steering Head Bearings” section below for a link that shows the Cycle Works tools are assembled and used.

Cycle Works Outer Race Puller Plate Parts

Cycle Works Steering Stem Lower Bearing Puller/Install Tool Parts

Cycle Works Outer Bearing Race Installation Tool Parts

I removed the old outer races and the inner race on the bottom of the steering stem. Then I refinished the lower fork brace and then installed the new lower inner bearing race and then installed the steering stem in the steering head.

Cycle Works Draw Bar Top Cover Detail Used To Install Top Outer Race

Looks Like Wheel Bearing Grease Was Used and Melted Making A Mess

Pulling The Lower Inner Race

Refinished Lower Fork Brace Looking Like New Again

Steering Stem Nut Installed on Steering Stem

Here is a link to the description of how I do this work

• 31 BMW 1983 R100RS Replace Steering Head Bearings

And here is a video summarizing how I remove and install the steering head bearings.

VIDEO: 1983 BMW R100RS Replace Steering Head Bearings

I get questions every now and then that are along the lines, “How did you get that so clean  … looking like new …”. So I posted a page that I will keep updating as I go to collect information about how I repair, refinish and paint parts during this project. You can find it here:

• 51 BMW R100RS Repair, Refinish, Paint

Here are a couple before and after pictures from the work I’ve done so far.

BEFORE: Brembo Rear Brake Caliper

AFTER: Repainted & Rebuilt

BEFORE: Left Carburetor Top

BEFORE: Left Carburetor Choke Side

AFTER: Choke Side of Carburetor

AFTER: Top Side of Carburetor

BEFORE-Inner Timing Cover

BEFORE-Inner Timing Cover

Finished Inner Timing Cover

Front Engine Cover with Corrosion

Refinished Front Engine Cover

Rear Drive Was Painted Black

Rear Drive Was Painted Black

Refinished Rear Drive

Refinished Rear Drive

I removed the drive shaft so I can get the swing arm powder coated. You can read about how I removed it here.

• 33 BMW 1983 R100RS Remove Drive Shaft

Now that the swing arm is back, it’s time to install the drive shaft and new swing arm bearings.

Powder Coated Swing Arm

I use the Cycle Works drive shaft spring compressor to install the drive shaft by compressing the spring as I did when I removed the drive shaft so I can install the new snap ring that secures all the drive shaft components on the shaft.

Cycle Works Drive Shaft Spring Compression Tool Components

Drive Shaft Parts

All Done-Rear Drive End

I installed the new sealed swing arm bearings using a large socket. I remove the dust cover and drove the bearings into the swing arm with the socket and a hammer.

Front Face of Bearing With Dust Seal

Dust Seal Removed

Front Face Of New Bearing Has A Sleeve

Driving The Bearing Into The Swing Arm with Just The Socket Was Easier

You can read about how I do this work here:

• 33 BMW 1983 R100RS Install Drive Shaft
• 33 BMW 1983 R100RS Install Swing Arm Bearings

And here are two short videos summarizing how I do the work.

VIDEO: 1983 BMW R100RS Install Drive Shaft

VIDEO: 1983 BMW R100RS Install Swing Arm Bearings