This table lists vendors who provided parts and excellent service to me on my various projects. Of course it’s only a partial list out of the vast number of excellent vendors – but it’s the ones I’ve had the opportunity to use so far.
| VENDOR | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
| MAX BMW www.maxbmw.com |
BMW Motorcycle dealership in New England with four locations. Excellent online ordering with OEM fiche enhanced with photos and technical information. On a trip to Maine last year I dropped into two dealerships. In North Hampton I got to meet Drew Batson and Rusty Gill. Drew has handled most of my internet orders, and is very responsive to any special requests regarding availability and shipping. Rusty Gill has been a great resource in researching the few questions that have surfaced about OEM parts. In one of their two Conneticut locations I was impressed by the wall of beautiful parts drawrers – where their parts man found exactly the wiring harnes component I wanted for my R1200ST. |
| moto-bins www.motobins.co.uk |
BMW parts vendor in the UK with good pricing, availability and international shipping. Common OEM service and alternative parts for most BMW models. I’ve had some trouble on how their website links to PayPal, but their sales staff responded quickly with a manual order via email. |
| Ted Porter’s Beemer Shop www.beemershop.com |
I’ve been amazed at the level of personal attention and service that Ted Porter has provided me. I’ve had both a bike serviced in his shop and ordered custom Wilbers shocks. Few do it better. |
| Spiegler Performance Parts spieglerusa.com |
Top quality stainless brake lines and other performance parts. Excellent customer service with very knowledgable and helpful staff. |
| BING Agency www.bingcarburetor.com |
This is the factory authorized franchise in the USA for OEM carburetor parts, upgrade parts and technical information. They’ve been very helpful with my telephone inquiries. |
| Northwoods Airheads www.northwoodsairheads.com |
Tools and parts for common BMW Airhead services. A good selection of upgrades and reproduction parts. |
| Duncan’s Beemers www.duncansbeemers.com |
An amazing assortment of used BMW motorcycle parts. I had the pleasure of meeting Duncan at his shop – I was impressed by his inventory, knowledge and helpfulness. |
| Cycle Terminal www.cycleterminal.com |
A vast selection of hard to find electrical components. Fast and helpful service. |
| Eastern Beaver easternbeaver.com |
Excellent headlight relay kits. Many other electrical parts and tools. This vendor is in Japan, but is as easy to work with anyone domestic. Very responsive to technical inquiries. |
| Wiring Products www.wiringproducts.com |
Huge selection of wire and related products. My wire orders were custom packaged and labeled with my name and wire specifications. Impressive. |
| Clips And Fasteners www.clipsand fasteners.com |
When I needed longer 3mm screws to make it easier to install the clamps on the drive-shaft boot on my R100RS, this vender had exactly what I wanted – stainless with an allen head. |
| Mr Injector www.mrinjector.us |
I used this vendor to clean and calibrate the injectors on my K100RS. I also purchased substitute injectors originally used on the Ford Ranger. The owner was helpful with my technical questions and provided good parts and service. |
| Battery Mart www.batterymart.com |
I’ve had good luck with AGM batteries from this vendor. They offer a battery that is almost a perfect size match for the OEM BMW flooded battery. Free shipping and great prices. |
| Overseas Speedometer & Instrument Service speedometer.com |
When the speedometer in my ’84 R100RS striped a nylon gear, this fellow did a great job repairing it. I can’t remember how I found this vendor – I’ve seen almost no on-line references to this vendor. |
| Race Tech Suspension www.racetech.com |
After reading Paul Thede’s book, The Motorcycle Suspension Bible, I am much better informed about how to equip and set-up my bike’s suspensions. I’ve also visited their factory, shop and warehouse in Los Angeles. I’ve had great success with Race Tech “Gold Valve” cartridge emulators on my K100RS and other bikes with damping rod forks. The Race Tech website allowed selecting proper spring rates to achieve correct sag for my weight. The Race Tech website and tech support make it easy to find the right parts. An article in Motorcycle Classics detailed Race Tech’s upgrade to the forks and sliders of an older Laverda. Similar to my K100RS, this Laverda’s sliders don’t have bronze bushings, and rely on metal to metal contact between the fork tube and slider. Race Tech had the sliders on their Laverda project hard annodized to reduce friction and stiction. I’ve had them do the same on my K100RS and will likely do the same on my R100Rs. |
| RKA Luggage www.rka-lugghage.com |
Several years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Richard and Kathleen (the “R” and “K” in RKA) at their home while they were temporarily without a storefront. RKA is a big supporter of the BMW community – and had just the right tank bag for my new-to-me K100RS. Richard was super helpful helping me get the bag installed – which as a newbie to the bike was very appreciated. |
| Twisted Throttle www.twistedthrottle.com |
I mention Twisted Throttle because I’m a fan of SW-Motech products and I’ve had good luck with them sourcing both SW-Motech and Givi products for R1200ST. I hope to adapt an SW-Motch “ALU RACK” to my R100RS. Revzilla also sells SW-Motech products |
| BoxerWorks www.boxerworks-service.com |
Nathan Mende’s shop is always a beehive of activity – and it’s fun just to walk through and see what’s going on. There’s a treasure trove of used parts up in the attic – I bought a speedometer there to use while I was getting the one on my R100RS repaired. I don’t know the mechanics presently working at BoxerWorks, but when Dean Graham was there, he did an excellent job overhauling my R100RS’s bevel drive and installing time-serts to repair striped threads on the filler plugs. |
| Blue Moon Cycles www.bluemooncycle.com |
This was my local go-to shop for OEM parts until they sold their dealership to Hourglass Cycles. Its presently where Dean Graham works – so it’s likely to be my local go-to shop for jobs beyond my skill and experience. |
| Euro Motorelectrics www.euromotoelectrics.com |
This shop had just what I needed – a replacement plug for my ignition sensor. I got a quick response back on a Sunday! |
While the list above is primarily a source for “products” – many vendors are sources of both parts and services. I was forwarded these two links to lists of vendors who service to Airheads like my ’84 R100RS.
www.airheads.org – Airhead Capable Vendor List
ibmwr.org – Independent BMW Motorcycle Wrenches
Following #6 of the Airhead Club Cannons, I try to do as much work on my bikes as possible. But I couldn’t succeed without some of the extraordinarily talented mechanics and their shops.
You should add Rubber Chicken Racing to your list as he is the encyclopedia of things BMW since 1970 when he worked for them. He also posts to the Airlist often
My post was only intended to report on the vendors I’ve had the chance to use. As soon as I have the opportunity to purchase products from Tom Cutter’s Rubber Chicken Racing, I’ll be sure to add it to my list. In the mean time – I greatly appreciate all the input from Tom and the other Airhead gurus. It would be much harder to succeed without their tireless contributions.
You have no one to apologize to, thanks for compiling this list. I buy my parts from many of the same vendors. I’d try others, but have either been put off by their attitude, or their lack of a decent e-commerce web page. Every hobby has forums, and every forum has gurus. If they wish their business ventures to succeed they should not rely on their status on an email list to be a substitute for proper marketing, and keeping up with the state of web commerce. Completely agree about Ted Porter. Great guy, even called me personally on a Saturday to deal with a hiccup on an order. bmw2valve.com is another good choice, great customer service. I’ve heard Ted used to contribute to the Airlist a lot, but finally got sick of it, as am I.
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