Hello,
I'm new here but not to BMW's. I currently own a 2002 K1200LT. I was asked by a co-worker to "fix" his 85 K100RT..little did I know. He dropped the bike off and it was a total basket case. It had sat for 7-8 years WITH gas in it and at least 2 of the last years were outside. I have successfully ressurected the bike with the exception of the gear indicator. 1st gear and neutral read correctly, the others do not. 2nd gear shows 0 and usually the neutral light comes on, dimly at irst then it gets brighter. 3rd shows 1, 4th shows 0 and 5th shows 1. It also had an inop speedometer which I was able to fix by opening the cluster and cleaning all of the male & female pins inside (crappy design/construction) The gear indicator got "better" a bit, 5th used to say 1, 5, 8, 9 then back to 1. Now it just says 1. I rang out (ohmed) the switch first and it all checked good (of course sometimes the indicator reads right too) then went into the cluster. It seems I'm back to the switch...My question is; can the switch be removed with the engine/trans still "installed" in the bike? I've seen the pics of the switch disassembly & cleaning but not how to remove it. And is there anything in the trans where it mounts that has to be aligned when re-installing it?

Another question on another subject. I see where the 85's output shaft has problems with only having 6 rivits holding the gear to the shaft. I know everyone just looks for another used newer engine when they find the rivits loose or broken...But has anyone ever tried to re-shoot rivits in it and maybe add another 6? I work as an aircraft mechanic (with a structural repair background) and can get monel steel rivits in any size needed and was just wondering about the feasibility of doing a repair of that kind. Since you'd already have the engine open to confirm the broken/loose rivits...what is there to loose?

Thanks for any answers/advice you may have to impart.

Basically, you have to remove the swing arm to access the switch. You can check the procedure to remove the swing arm in the K100 rebuilt page.
This is a very simple operation and it should not take more than one hour to take it off.

For the rivets, ?????
If the rivets are loose, the output shaft will have to be redrilled to install the new rivets snug in the holes.
I don't remember their diameter, but if for example they are 6mm, you could replace them with 1/4 inch (6.35mm).
You don't want to go too big as they are also acting as shear pins.

Thanks for that. I was afraid it would come down to a semi-major disassembly. I had the bike all apart doing spline lube (drive shaft), tire change, etc and now it is all back together. The owner said he dosen't care if the indicator is right or not...so not going to fix it I guess.

As to the rivets..Why redrill? Just reuse the holes from the bad rivets. When I say rivets, I am talking about solid monel steel rivets that require shooting & bucking. They come in all different sizes and if you get it close they will swell to fit. From what I saw in the video demonstrating what loose rivets onthe output shaft look like, I would guess them to be a #6 rivet, or 3/16". Now, if you were to drill 6 more holes (between existing rivet holes) and shoot an additional 6 rivets there, you'd be on par with the later years output shafts. I know everyone says that if you tear the engine down and the rivets are loose or broken you should just get a newer year engine (with the 12 rivets) because it is too expensive to "fix" it. I'm thinking they are looking at getting a new output shaft as too expensive and wondered if anyone had ever tried to actually fix one with broken rivets. I'd like to get my hands on one and give it a try.

The reason why I say redrill is because when the rivets are wearing out and being loose, the hole has the tendency to become oval and you really want a tight fit on the new rivets.
I like the idea of replacing them, but sadly I don't have an old shaft to rebuild and test.
With my mechanical engineering experience, I agree with you that this is something that could be done.
Could you please tell us a place where we can buy the rivets (manufacturer name and part # would be nice)
We may be able to save a lot of money to a lot of K bike riders.

Thanks for your posting.

Bert

The rivets are under an MS spec. The button head rivets likely to be used would be MS20615-6M? the number MS20615 is the basic part number the -6 is the diameter in 1/32" incriments (a -6 is 3/16") the M is the material M for monel, a C would be Stainless steel. Don't get any B, A, AD, E or F rivets, they are all aluminum alloy the ? is the length in 1/16" incriments. The rule is go 2 lengths longer than the thickness of the material being riveted. So if the total thickness of the parts is 1/4" (4 16th's) you would order a 6 length (6 16th's) to allow for the buck tail or "shop head"
Even if the holes are elongated a bit, you shouldn't need to redrill the existing holes as long as you add the other 6 rivets. When you shoot your rivet it will tend to swell into the elongated area as long as it isn't too severe.
One source for rivets is: http://www.airimpressions.com/ProductDisplay.aspx?Page=&mode=&CatID=98&SubCatID=440&CatName=FASTENERS&SubCatName=RIVITS&search=&criteria=&CurrentPageIndex=4 The price is high but you are getting a pouind of rivets, that's quite a few.
Other places are http://rapidrivet.thomasnet.com/results/solid-rivets/solid-rivets-mil-spec?cid=1320&plpver=10&categid=1031&prodid=3001301&action=&forward=1&backtoname=

http://www.apexfasteners.com/page_5.htm

http://www.rivet.com/

For most of these you'd have to call the company and ask them what they have and how much. Luckily I can get them from work up to 1/4" diameter, but believe me, you don't want to be shooting 1/4" monel rivets, it takes a very large and expensive rivet gun. For everything up to 3/16" you could easily use a good aor hammer with the proper rivet set in it.

And wonder of wonders...the gear indicator is now working again and I did nothing to it. On that note though..WHAT was BMW thinking with their connectors? A motorcycle is exposed to all the elements and they put not ONE weatherpack connector in their harness. The connectors are all open to the elements. In 1985 GM produced their first true port fuel injected system (TPI) and the entire harness was weatherpack connectors.