Selling Bikes: BMW R1100R sold on eBay

Selling Bikes: BMW R1100R sold on eBay

by | Jul 26, 2020 | Classic Bike Valuations, My classic bike collection

Although I love to sell and my career has taken me through selling all sorts of things, I don’t particularly like selling my own bikes. I buy old bikes to ride, repair and enjoy them, but occasionally one just ends up with too many motorcycles and a few have to be sold to make room for more. I sold one of my BMW R1100R models on eBay in the depths of winter last year. Here’s some information on that one.

First registered on June 6, 1997, the bike had good history. I had serviced it the previous year. At the time of selling, I owned seven other BMWs and all were underused: this one had covered just 220 miles since it was serviced and I would prefer it to be used and enjoyed, so I prepped it for an MOT with a new steering head bearing and all the usual checks and adjustments and it was sold ready to ride away with a year’s test. 

I’d bought the bike from Geoff, a pastor down in Sussex. He had owned it for several years but was selling to pay for some work on the church and the adjoining family house. I spent an enjoyable morning with the family when I bought the bike and it had a great vibe about it. My use of this bike had centred on riding out with my daughter while she was riding a Piaggio 50 to college and back: a thirty-mile round trip. I had done quite a few miles with her over twelve months, building her road sense in the run up to doing he car driving test.

The torquey engine makes the R100R huge fun to ride. This bike was sold with the BMW touring luggage panniers not seen in these photos. All the cases, seat lock and ignition worked with one key (there were also two spares).

BMW R1100R Specification and Equipment

Finished in Dolphin Blue Metallic, the paintwork was all original and in decent condition. Non-servo ABS was fitted and worked fine. The bike also had factory-fitted two-stage heated grips, which work very effectively, complimenting the ABS to make these bikes an ideal winter ride to keep expensive summer bikes off the salty roads.

Older oilheads are a great introduction to BMW flat twins for not a lot of money. R1100Rs ride very well. They are a beautiful fit for my size and shape: the seat height is highly adjustable, the brakes and suspension are excellent and that punchy, fuel-injected engine is a joy to use. I think these bikes are amongst the best blend of classic riding qualities with modern-day conveniences that the airhead models don’t have.

Service History

The bike benefitted from many new parts, including a new rear shock absorber at 42k miles and a new clutch at 52k miles. A replacement transmission from a low-mileage 1100R had been fitted and the gearchange was excellent. Both tyres were in as-new condition – Dunlop Supermaxx up front and Bridgestone BT023 in the rear – and the brake discs and pads front and rear were also nearly new.

The service book was stamped up to 35k miles, after which it was home serviced by keen owners, with receipts showing some help from experts on more involved jobs like the clutch fit and gearbox swap, changing the throttle cable (43k) and balancing the throttle bodies. As I enjoy working on my bikes, I carried out quite a bit of work including repairing the common ignition switch wiring faults and going through the loom to find any other issues, a full fuel tank rebuild including later fuel pump and new filter, new air filter, changing the dash bulbs and fitting new BMW hand grips.

Some signs of age were inevitable, including the usual BMW corrosion to powder-coated engine parts, which any oilhead owner will be familiar with. Irrespective of the cosmetics, the bike was a very usable vintage BMW in good mechanical order at a sensible price. It would make a fun commuter, great base for a classic scrambler or a just winter weekend fun bike to keep a newer machine safely tucked up indoors, away from the salty roads.  

The bike sold online and was collected by a friend of mine who delivered the bike to its new owner. eBay is a good place to sell bikes. This one went for £1700 and was just about the cheapest R1100R I have seen in recent months. I was happy to pass it on to a good new home.

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I bought a 2005 Ducati Monster 800 S i.e.

I bought a 2005 Ducati Monster 800 S i.e.

by | Jul 26, 2020 | My classic bike collection, Classic Bike Valuations

I added a 2005 Ducati Monster 800 S i.e. to the stable last week. I owned a very late carbed 750 Monster a few years back, which was a lovely bike to ride but it suffered from chronic carb icing, was a little low on straight line grunt and had also been used in London and stored on the street, so condition was not great.

I have ridden a few bigger Monsters – both air- and water-cooled – and came close to buying an S4 once upon a time, but really they are a bit too front heavy and the air-cooled bikes feel ‘more proper’. I think the 900 is a little heavy also, so the short lived injected 800 has a reputation as the sweet spot in terms of weight vs power amongst anoraks.

Anyway, about ten years ago, a seed was sown to find an 800. Like Ferraris, most Monsters are sold in resale red. The Metallic Blue bikes used in the press shots were made in very small numbers – just 5 of the 88 bikes that came to the UK were finished in blue. I love that look, so an 800 Monster in Blue has been on my list for a very long time.

Looking on and off for several years, I recently found one of the five: a two owner example with 12k miles, engine paint a bit scruffy as it lived on the street for a bit (like all old Monsters really) but wearing a pair of Remus cans and a Power Commander. Also had a pair of rare Monster panniers matched to the bike.

Negotiating and buying the bike was not straightforward. The price was a little high given the condition, plus it was up in the wilds of Scotland, so I set a max price and made the guy an offer. Patience paid off and a month later we agreed a deal. I paid a deposit and booked a courier to collect.

He got there at 8pm in the evening and then it turned out that the seller’s bank would not accept incoming transfers from any of my banks after 6:30 at night. It took some convincing but, after doing the transfers and sending him screenshots, the guy released the bike to the courier, his bank sorted the transfer issues the next day and all was good. The little blue Ducati arrived with me a week ago.

I’ve been tied up with valuation work on several court cases for weeks, so left the bike in the garage and set my first ride as a reward. I finally shipped my last report yesterday, so wheeled out the Ducati for a late evening ride. It did not disappoint! Beautiful pickup with the Power Commander watching over things and such a sweet power to weight ratio.

I’ve bought some adjustable Showas for the front and the cosmetic bits can wait until winter. My mission for the rest of the summer is to wear out the old tyres and just enjoy being back on a Monster. Good times 👍🏻

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