groverK wrote:I'm sure BB is hoping they stay as such, buried that is!, in the dark vaults.

+1

Hey All, I've got me ticket for the Blues Festival, Saturday night. Maybe we can meet up for a coffee.

BTW I decided to go to me Mum's on the Monday and take her out for lunch

Hi Carolyn,
Great to have you with us and looking forward to some of your thoughts about long term ownership of a K and your tips for keeping them going.
Regards,
K-BIKE

K-BIKE wrote:Hi Carolyn,
Great to have you with us and looking forward to some of your thoughts about long term ownership of a K and your tips for keeping them going.
Regards,
K-BIKE

I'd be the first to admit that my K gave me very few problems. The only electrical type glitch was worn brushes on the starter motor - an easy replacement. The rear brake disc needed replacing at about 120,000km, and I put in a new clutch plate at about 150,000km. I think the shims were checked once or twice, but never needed to be swapped out.
Hmm.. what else?
My K used to chew through globes. The rear one would blow 2 or 3 times a year, the front maybe once a year, and the indicators every now and then. And when I say 'year' I mean about 20 to 25,000 km.
Oh yes - the rear brake master cylinder reservoir. I certainly hope they make them from a different type of plastic these days. Mine would be affected by the sun and get quite brittle. It would shatter into dozens of pieces when I tried unscrewing the lid. They'd only last 3 or 4 years.
I think the last thing that used to annoy me was the mirrors. The glass it self used to come unstuck and would fall out, or the whole pod would pop off the fairing - usually when going stupidly fast down a dirt road. If I was on the ball I'd notice it coming loose & would catch the thing and tuck it down the front of my jacket. LOL fun times.

So basically - my K was pretty much bullet proof. I was fastidious about keeping it clean and I made sure I did all the services at the times specified. My bike was always kept under cover and just generally well maintained. It repaid me by never breaking down.
Well - it did breakdown once - but that was my fault. Even an indestructible K will suffer if you ride it for day after day at over 200km/h out in the Northern Territory. The universal joint on the shaft drive wore itself out. Luckily it gave up close to home and not 500km north of Alice Springs.

That's about it. Look after your bike, show it some love and affection and she'll last forever.

Good on you for stretching the bike out, I for one would be interested in your impression of how the bike handled, wind behind the fairing, impact of the slipstream on the helmet, did you have to tuck in and apart from the risk from wildlife did the bike feel comfortable at that speed?
Regards,
K-BIKE

Auntie,
You didn't sell your bike to Phil Melliss at West Gosford did you? I only ask, as mine is also white, also ex polizei and does exactly what yours did with rear globes etc.
Sean.

I have a feeling it is a common problem as my K100 used to do it untill I bought a very expensive globe. I was buying whatever was handy usually at a servo and they were usually narva or similar but I invested in a Phillips at near 4 times the price and had no more problems.

Saxon7 wrote:Auntie,
You didn't sell your bike to Phil Melliss at West Gosford did you? I only ask, as mine is also white, also ex polizei and does exactly what yours did with rear globes etc.
Sean.

Hi Sean - no, my bike ended up at the wreckers on Silverwater Road.
This was the last time I saw my K-series. It was written off when my neighbour crashed her car into my garage. The TDM faired a little better & was repaired.

Tiz always sad to see them being taken for organ donation but it lives on in others

Did your neighbours insurers offer to write the bike off because of the cost of repair? I ask because it seems that often happens when another person is at fault. I found that if one wishes to just say "no I want you to fix it regardless of cost or replace it with one in the exact same condition which you Mr Insurer have to find and buy" they will pay up. I went through that with my wife's car and they ended up paying far more than the car value to fix it.

The contract to accept a write off payment exists only between you and your insurer not between you and their insurer, you have no contract with the other insurer or their insured who is the party you are actually going after. The other party that did the damage has a contract between them and their insurer for their insurer to cover the cost of all their damage, their liability is effectively unlimited. When you tell them you will take their policy holder to court (usually small claims) they fall over themselves to settle because they don't want to go to court and lose, the publicity will encourage others to do the same. Of course if you are at fault and if the repair cost exceeds purchase value then you have to accept write off.
Regards,
K-BIKE

I was quite happy for the K to be written off.
$5000 for an 18 year old bike with 220,000km on it that had been unregistered for two years.
I'll take the cash thanks