Bonneville America Forums Forums General Motorcycle Forums Other Bikes BMW Airhead of GL1000 Goldwing?

I've been thinking about picking up a new toy, to fill a void in my stable. Between the BA and my Sprint, I want something that has a full fairing that I can really ride year round - a very good commuter (my commute is 100 miles a day) with good wind protection, and sit-up seating position. I also want something that is reliable enough to be used as a commuter, gets decent gas mileage (40+) and something that is dead easy to wrench on.

I have seen some 75 - 78 Gl1000 Goldwings with full fairings and bags for less than 1500 bucks that, cosmetically, look in pretty decent shape and have less that 100K on them, but I've done some reading and am not conviced that these first generation Goldwings have quite the longevity of their more evolved family members. Does anyone have any first hand experience?

But today a friend of mine who works at a local Triumph/BMW dealer let me know that they just took in a 1983 R80 with less than 50K miles that has a full fairing, hard cases, and is in excellent condition. I could probably get it for a little over 2K. I have heard nothing but good things about these BMW airhead boxer motors but wondered if anyone here had any experience with them?

The down side is that both bikes are ugly as sin, but if they meet my needs and the price is right, some sins can be forgiven. After all, if I want to be seen I have the BA; if I want to have people seeing my tail lights I have the Sprint.

I had a GL1200 Aspencade (85) for years. Nice on the highway, not so much in town. After riding a newer GL, I realized how archaic my 1200 was. The older GL's were good in their day, but I wouldn't want to go back.

Early GL's had stator problems if they were pimped with too many lights. Other than that, I don't recall any issues.

You may want to inquire at the GWRRA forum.

My dad has a few, (well now a couple) of old BMW R80's and R100's. The 100 has a full fairing. He just sold a 74 (I think) R100 to a guy in Oregon who is riding it back. We on the coast of Virginia, so if it makes it all the way back, I think it speaks a lot for those bikes. You can find some great older ones online. I learned how to ride on an old R80 and how to wrench on them too. Great Bikes!! And pretty quick.

Had a 76 GL1000 wing...TOP HEAVY POS....well thats just MY opinion...your actuall mileage may vary

I had a 79 R100RS, one of the best bikes I had, nothing to complicated to work on and parts easily avalible here in the UK. I believe that the 800cc engine was actualy alot smoother than the 1000 that could be a bit lumpy, seen quite a few with very high milages.

I had a couple of bummers. They ran and handled well enough and held up rather well. Not much personality though, nothing like the Brit and US made bikes I've owned and loved. I sort of rode a friends leadwing once. Well, I got as far as riding it out of his garage, turned around on his drive and rode it right back in. I hated it. Next nearest encounter was with a guy on the side of the road with a leadwing that was making strange noises because it was out of oil. I had a couple cans with me, and when it had oil, it poured out the side of the crankcase just below the left front cylinder. If it were a bummer I would have thought he had a split pushrod tube.

Those early 80s airheads have a lot of fans. You should Google it and see what comes up.
I've read that there were some problems common to these that can be a PITA (alternator, I think, for one), but the fixes are known.

No personal experience, but I have a friend that has a 73 that he has owned since new. He has had chronic problems with the valves. They require constant adjustment (every 600- 1200 miles). The airhead specialty shop told him it is because of the material used for the valve seats and the lack of lead in today's fuels. they have the heads and are pressing new seats in for him. I will sat, he loves that bike as much as we do the Triumphs. It has been a solo bike, and a tug for a sidecar. He ebay'ed the s-car last week and is returning it to a solo bike and buying a s-car for his Roadking. He is a USA Marine helicopter mechanic from the Vietnam area that holds a MBA and a degree in History, so I believe him when he says he knows what he is talking about.

It's amazing how cool these Airheads run. I did a run with a buddy who had an R100RS. At a rest stop, after about 250 miles, he took off his glove and grabbed the rocker cover with his bare hand! It still ran like a champ at 90k.