hey floyd, et. al., just had to join because - well - of my rebuild - and to give thanks to all you gents for the wealth of information that you've all provided floyd - thanks all and I hope to reflect upon this pool of wisdom for my rebuild..

KUDOS!!

merps wrote:hey floyd, et. al., just had to join because - well - of my rebuild - and to give thanks to all you gents for the wealth of information that you've all provided floyd - thanks all and I hope to reflect upon this pool of wisdom for my rebuild..

KUDOS!!

Cheers merps and welcome aboard mate. Hope you find some nuggets of gold in this long winded ramble.

And I will join you in once more thanking the incredibly generous and knowledgeable old souls who (at times) baby stepped me through alot of this journey. 

Im bored in the arvos now that I dont have a bike to rebuild so let me know if you need a second set of hands, as I see your in Sydney. Ive just moved to Maroubra. Loving the beach again. 

Cheers

WOW!!!


WOW!!!


WOW!!!


Yesterday I had the greatest motorcycle ride of my life....on a brand new bike.....for free.....wanna know more??

Well, i just finally got around to messing with my RAM shock and stiffened the sucker right up and MY GOD!!! I now have a brand new bike!!

I can not believe the massively dramatic difference it has made to the entire bike. IT CAN NOT BE UNDERSTATED. my mind is blown!! I can see why people spend heaps on good suspension and set up. (confession time - I had the Mrs and some luggage on the back and the bike was handling like a pig. I pulled over, cranked up the preload and off we went again. Was great. Returned home, unloaded mrs and gear and went riding again without touching the suspension from my previous adjustment. AND IT IS FREAKIN UNREAL! Cant wait to see what its like when its really setup properly!)

The last week has also been a week of 'set up'. I stripped the bike down, throttle bodies off, fuel lines out, wiring all exposed, and got down to fixing all the hundreds of tiny things I had noticed could be better, or I had done wrong the first times. 

Stuff like re routing the switch gears wiring, 
re routing the clutch/choke/throttle cables to more suitable paths etc. 
painting and fitting side covers
insulating fuel lines
adjusting TPS
adjust all control cables 
sort out some wiring issues
cut down the sides of the front fairing even more for less potential area to get damaged in a drop (pics to follow)
Pulled the plugs just for a look, they look pretty good.
Got some new odo gears to fix mine ($100 for 4 gears!)
Ordered a Jensen MS30 marine stereo to be dash mounted. Need to fabricate an aluminium dash plate/box to hold it and the ignition. 
Wiring in car lighter charger and USB charge ports. 
Wiring in aux fuse block to handle headlights, stereo, chargers etc

One of the biggest issues I discovered had to do with the K1100 throttle cable that actuates the K1100 TB's. The outer plastic and wound metal sheath of the cable had to be shorted to enable the set up to work on the K100 engine. I did this back during the rebuild but a few days ago discovered I had not trimmed off quite enough and the TB butterflys were not closing all the way to the stop. The slightly to long sheath was not allowing the cable to return all the way and thus was holding the TBs open ever so slightly when the throttle was closed - resulting in a slightly high idle (1100rpm) that I couldnt tune out. Well, now thats all fixed and the throttles operate perfectly. 

Fitted a Hepco and Becker pannier and rear rack which is fantastic. Very happy with this acquisition. Will be welding on some modifications and some strengthening bits. 

About to go by some camping gear and then the next few Summer months will be spent travelling the countryside looking for farm and harvest work while generally pointing myself toward Indonesia.

Bob just decided to take a piss by the looks of it....
I lost the front section of the K1100 front fender at speed some where? New one on the way.
Only had matt black rattle can on hand for the side covers, but it looks better then the factory blue did with my absurd combo.
Need to repair the cracked fairing (how?) and repaint all the green bits.


For the life of me I just can not find either one of my two lefthand side engine protection bar mounts....? when one turns up my chrome 'drop' bars will go on.

good onya Floyd

have fun mate

Not laughing at you Floyd; just your reaction to fiddling with the suspension. Way too many people throw shedloads of money at a bike to make it go/stop faster and ignore the twisty bits in the middle. One of the first things I did to LFB was to junk the original BMW suspension and fit Hypro progressives at the front and a made-to-measure RAM Shok at the rear. As you say, new bike... plus regularly scraped boots and I'm sure that with a bit more effort, scraped footpegs too.

feck sorry..just realised you have 15 pages..sorry ignor me, I think I ll just crack open another one

I notice that you don't have an outer support for the lower bolt on the rear shockie. Where you are apparently planning to go it would be a good move to fit one. Just a bit of insurance.

floyd wrote:Need to repair the cracked fairing (how?) and repaint all the green bits.

Use the techniques outlined in this West System fibreglass repair manual to fix the crack.

I've had a quick read through that Rob and I'd like to add one thing to make life easier: where it recommends scraping out a shallow crack with a modified can opener (or similar), I found that a Dremel with a ball grinder in it is perfect for the job.

RicK G wrote:I notice that you don't have an outer support for the lower bolt on the rear shockie. Where you are apparently planning to go it would be a good move to fit one. Just a bit of insurance.

Yeah Rick, I totally want one. I will buy one off you if you can make me one. Also one of your tank filler cap riser mod thingys too. Seriously. Also, how are you with sheet metal work?... see bellow  

robmack wrote:

floyd wrote:Need to repair the cracked fairing (how?) and repaint all the green bits.

Use the techniques outlined in this West System fibreglass repair manual to fix the crack.

Cheers mate.

If anyone has any ideas on some 'fairing protection bars' like on modern big enduro adventure bikes, let me know....

Design ideas sought....



(To clarify my ramblings....I dont care where the stereo/USB/ignition mount in relation to each other on the dash. Also, the stereo has 2 female threaded mounting points on its base. )

Hey Floyd,

Have you considered mounting the radio in one of the lining panels that go between the fairing and the tank. Say the marine radio on the left, ignition (although it would require extension) and USB OPs on the right.
Honestly dunno either the ergonomics you're seeking or the do-ability, but there's one thought either side o' the box.
Good luck with it.

Jez.

Floyd,

What's the back of the stereo receiver (?) look like? Through up a pic, if you would. 

The former ignition hole: affix a stem through it and mount a ball mount swivel? Ref. 'Ram' products. 

You're idea utilizing the 'bar mounts to support a mounting bar could work but take care in maintaining proper bolt thread depth and torque. 

Best of luck and keep us posted.

Kyle10 wrote:Floyd,

What's the back of the stereo receiver (?) look like? Through up a pic, if you would. 

The former ignition hole: affix a stem through it and mount a ball mount swivel? Ref. 'Ram' products. 

You're idea utilizing the 'bar mounts to support a mounting bar could work but take care in maintaining proper bolt thread depth and torque. 

Best of luck and keep us posted.

Hi mate,

Back of stereo is flat, with 2 x 4mm (approx) female threaded holes. 

Ive had a few idea over night. If I had some bits of scrap laying around like out at the farm it would be much easier to figure out. But when you have nothing on hand to make use of...then the design becomes as much about figuring out to acquire and use as it is about the actual design. 

Thinking im just going to go uber simple for the time being, until I get around to install an AUX fuse block and some other bits and bobs.

Will get some flat plate or some angle iron, bolt that down using the handle bar mount bolts. So, picture this.....just a flat plate bolted down onto the top of the handle bar mounts....then, the stereos rear mount threaded holes can be used to bolt the stereo to the flat plate. (well, i guess You would attach the stereo first, then bolt the stereo/plate combo onto the bar mounts. 

Still not sure how Ill mount the ignition switch as I need to figure out a way of grabbing hold of it. Is there a name for round clamps that could be used to grab the ignition barrel?


Jez, I have significantly hacked back my front RS fairings and dont think the 'liners' will fit anymore. dont really want to use them anyways. However, it does make alot of sense what you suggested....

Maxiloc Tube Connectors (AU)

Excrement loads (family site) on the referenced page. 
Hover over prods. for images on the right. Nice machined stuff; avoiding the 'threw-it-together' look, perhaps.

Kyle10 wrote:Maxiloc Tube Connectors (AU)

Excrement loads (family site) on the referenced page. 
Hover over prods. for images on the right. Nice machined stuff; avoiding the 'threw-it-together' look, perhaps.

Wow! Thanks mate.


This will do for now.....

Coat hanger left behind on road in the aftermath lf the garbage pick up...
Love the colour 

Going to set up an auxilliary fuse block today, along the lines of ducks guide.

Before I start cutting and soldering, will this work?

Move the fuse to the leg between the start relay and your switching relay.  Otherwise OK.

Hey Floyd,
Sorry bit off topic at the mo' but your front indicators are LED yeh? I'm assuming then that the BMU will deal with the different loads fore and aft and not give a "bulb out" double rate indicator indication?
Just looking ahead for going down the LT bar route and ditching the RS rearview/indicator pods.

Jez.

May have been asked before but . .  where to get this cover ??:

Just came across these,

https://app.box.com/s/j2qqn2hvzau8jqhk1d1j

just a thought for an army green K from Oz doin' the OS rounds. Not that I'm a jingoist.

robmack wrote:Move the fuse to the leg between the start relay and your switching relay.  Otherwise OK.

Thanks mate

Jez wrote:Hey Floyd,
Sorry bit off topic at the mo' but your front indicators are LED yeh? I'm assuming then that the BMU will deal with the different loads fore and aft and not give a "bulb out" double rate indicator indication?
Just looking ahead for going down the LT bar route and ditching the RS rearview/indicator pods.

Jez.

LEDs up front, stock indicators in the rear. As soon as you change even one of them over to LEDs the BMU knows and flashes faster....

Be made wrote:May have been asked before but . .  where to get this cover ??:

Motorworks Injector Cover UK

Found this ABS 'safety case' at Jaycar that looked to be about the right size for my new 'dash'.

Mounted up pretty easy but required cutting which means its no longer water tight (which I may remedy) but the stereo is waterproof.

Used the mounting points for the original dash pad.

Next is to cut a 3'' hole for the stereo and holes for the ignition switch and the USB charge ports. 

Pretty happy! Its solid as bro. 








Got these puppies fitted up today too...didnt think they would fit but I got them on. Very solid. Should same me a few levers. 







Also got my brand new odo gears correctly installed and the odo is now working correctly! Just need to remember this engine has 126,000 kms more on it than indicated.... 

- Starter brushes added

- Wiring done for stereo/chargers/driving lights

- Dynamat installed

floyd wrote:Going to set up an auxilliary fuse block today, along the lines of ducks guide.

Before I start cutting and soldering, will this work?

Ok, for those interested in attempting something like this.....

The single inline fuse should be moved to the leg between the starter relay and the new relay. (thanks robmac)

The switching wire for the new relay should come from the green/black wire @ fuse #1 
(if its done like I have drawn above, the relay will only switch the new fuse block on if the parking lights are switched on too.

looks good Floyd ,,,bit bulky ...but functional for sure ....

love mods that fit the riders needs

cheers

bit bulky indeed. but in the flesh it doesnt look out of place (to me).

for now....it will do

for $30.... it will do

i my friend....have some riding to do!



Cheers Charlie

Dai wrote: Not laughing at you Floyd; just your reaction to fiddling with the suspension. Way too many people throw shedloads of money at a bike to make it go/stop faster and ignore the twisty bits in the middle. One of the first things I did to LFB was to junk the original BMW suspension and fit Hypro progressives at the front and a made-to-measure RAM Shok at the rear. As you say, new bike... plus regularly scraped boots and I'm sure that with a bit more effort, scraped footpegs too.

Dai,

This very valid comment brought back some memories.

Many many years back when I had a Honda CB500-4 I loved to read bike tests penned by a certain L J K Setright. Fast forward 30 years to about 2001 or so I purchased a then new magazine called 'Mercedes Enthusiast' to discover one of their team was the very same L J K Setright. I was addicted again. Not so many years pack I was saddened when he passed away. His articles were always so very well written and although he might be riding/driving machines that were exotic to the majority of us he always wrote in a way that did not make you feel small for having something less exotic.

In one of these there was a serious article about high performance cars and the cost of achieving the performance. Very wise words written said that it was much more productive to learn to put what you already have on to the road instead of lusting after more power. Two things, one being driver training [on the track] and the other was simply making sure your power train and suspension were fully up to the spec. A few simple suspension/tyre mods were all that might be needed and the rest was on learning to put down what you already have through training and having confidence in your machine. Those of us who had the Honda CB500-4 had rapidly discovered on the twisty Irish roads of west Cork and the Atlantic seaboard that they were significantly faster than either the CB750 or even the Kawasaki Z1 that followed, simply because the 'less power' could actually be used to its full potential. You could deliberately take a curve with the sides scraping and not feel tickles up your spine.

The K probably only has 50-60% of the power that some newer bikes have but most of us find its so much more usable. All that's needed is to put more of it on the road with less rider effort. That suspension post sums it all up and its a lot cheaper than trying to get more out of the engine. Funny now I enjoy the K a lot and after changing a dodgy rear shock for a new one the day before going to France last year am thinking of going this road too. Not to get more speed out of it [a few sighs of relief over here] but simply to improve it and make longer trips even better.

I would sum it up as getting the balance right. As in balance between power, road and rider. I think its referred to as Nirvana. Its lovely to read when someone discovers it!

A word of warning though. On the way you dumped the missus off the bike......!! You might need to retrace the steps a small bit. On that I have a great memory of a 2 up trip up into the Wicklow mountains on that same Honda, with a good friend after midnight as we were going to watch a night stage of the Circuit of Ireland car rally. We knew the mountain roads so very well and had serious lights and so we made good progress. Footrests and side scraped on the way up [he was a great pillion, each of us well under 10 stone] and it was one of those iconic trips you remember for life. His comment after we got home was the bike trip was much better than the rally. When we meet so many years later he still talks of that trip with a gleam in his eye.

Mlostly all back together again....and geting better all the time.

Been working on it for about 2 weeks doing all manner of little tweaks, mods and fixes. way to many to list....but the result is a bike I love to own and ride more and more

A bit agricultural...indeed. A tad ugly...you bet. But thats exactly the point! ; :afro:

4

well done Floyd ...

Nice work Floyd,   

Friends made this and put it on top of my birthday cake!



KLR - at least there is a K in there.

Happy Birthday.

Looks great!  the windscreen looks like it would work fine...

happy birthday Floyd

enjoy mate !

Having done nearly 10,000kms up and down the east coast of christmas and the start of the year, Im now back in Dural to do some minor repairs and upgrades....

The bike performed flawlessly and I love it more then ever....a few niggling things that shit me though....

Just a quick list of the things ive done this week.

- full service, replacing all filters and oils
- checked torque on many nuts and bolts
- FINALLY got the clutch cable routed correctly.
- rebuilt the GPI. now works beautifully
- My RT instrument mount shattered on a corrugated road, so I welded a K1100RT mount onto my K100 headlight brackets. The 1100 headlight bracket had been butchered by P.O. This now works great.
- Installed my Apmlirider Amp into my stereo box (love this thing)
- Checked valve clearances - all in spec


My biggest complaint at this stage is the pathetic fuel range. Im lucky to get 280kms to a tank. For an 'adventure bike' this is faaaar from adequate. 

When fully loaded and riding hard I get 14.5kms/L and when unloaded I get 15.5km/L. Hows this compare with you lads?

Unfortunately. . . Its about right. I had some posts a while back about increasing range by placing a 5 litre secondary tank in the battery location. Not done it yet.

92KK 84WW Olaf wrote:Unfortunately. . . Its about right. I had some posts a while back about increasing range by placing a 5 litre secondary tank in the battery location. done it yet.

Yeah Rick is doing something like this, and it would certainly be something id like to do, but its a rather large project involving relocating the battery, EFI computer, and re doing the wiring to enable this....Id be up for it but its a big job.

The other option would be getting the tank modified like this one:




Make it taller and wider I suppose. Then one day do the aux. tank mod too and get closer to a GS's range....

I wonder:

A) how expensive it would be to get the tank modified (as I cant weld aluminium or do anything sheet metal related...

B) modify a GS tank to fit....

I was not planning to move the computer. Too messy and risky. Metal tank with a recess or space on top for it roughly where the storage space is. Li battery in rairing or behind seat. Also relocate coolant bottle.

I was going to use a lithium battery until I found out about the explosion and resulting fire which is difficult to extinguish without a foam extinguisher. Not that this happens very often but I was going to use one so it could be placed in the same sealed box as the electronics.
I have been told that if you split the tank down the centre through the cap hole the tank can be opened out easily. I'm not too sure of this but have a few old tanks and one will soon be given the treatment so I will let you know.
I am considering using a 8-10 ltr tank in place of the relay box etc and turn the battery sideways to make more room.
Seal the main tank and vent it to the aux which will make the aux syphon into the main as fuel is used and also make a no loss system for the overflow. The electronics all but the ICU will be in a sealed box under the carry rack behind the single seat with the frame work for the carry rack being to protect the electronics box, strengthen the rear section of the frame and mount soft panniers and top box.
I would like to use a motronic ECU but have yet to figure how to make it work with the 3 cylinder ICU. The motronic ECU only ever was used with a 4 cylinder so has only two ignition channels where the K75 would need 3.
And I will be painting it yellow and black but have fears of a giant bumble bee attacking me.

Hmmmm

fuel economy woes.

on one hand it seems my 15.5km/L (6.45L/100km) is about average....but then there are people getting 19-22km/L....

So I guess I need to rebalance the TB's as I didnt get it perfect last time...new Bosche plugs, new HT leads (mine are ancient) would be a good start.....

Then eventually getting the head refreshed....

Then maybe learning more about the dark workings of the AFM....

Any other obvious things Im missing?

Rick,

Have you thought about using the Aux Tank as a trap tank and installing the fuel pump in it, being the lowest point for fuel pick up?  Then routing the pipe work through the main tank, as per usual.  It would all depend on the size of the aux tank and if a fuel pump would fit inside.  Even though the aux tank would be above the gearbox, I don't see excessive heat as a problem as there is plenty of airflow without the side covers fitted.  There is still protection for the fuel tank in case of crash. 

Years ago I saw a CB750(?) with an aux tank in place of the ducktail behind the seat.  Made just so he could ride straight through to Bathurst and did not interfere with the stying of the bike.  No good on a chookie during a crash though.

I have thought of that but there is more involved with making the aux tank and not a lot of space as the tank will be about 5 in wide at the widest point.

You might look into a fuel cell to get extended range.  There is a person (Gwen) on Motobrick that fitted a fuel cell to her K1100RS.  The thread is here.

I did see that when Gwen was posting here but that is where my top box will be. I don't want the range for non stop riding that Gwen does but to get between fuel outlets so I can do more remote places. I am sure you get the same in Canada as we have here like 400km between roadhouses and more if you leave the well travelled routes.

floyd wrote:Hmmmm

fuel economy woes.

on one hand it seems my 15.5km/L (6.45L/100km) is about average....but then there are people getting 19-22km/L....

So I guess I need to rebalance the TB's as I didnt get it perfect last time...new Bosche plugs, new HT leads (mine are ancient) would be a good start.....

Then eventually getting the head refreshed....

Then maybe learning more about the dark workings of the AFM....

Any other obvious things Im missing?

hey floyd 
have you checked the temperature sensor on the aluminium stub ,behind the radiator on the left side ?

k-rider

floyd wrote:.....

My biggest complaint at this stage is the pathetic fuel range. Im lucky to get 280kms to a tank. For an 'adventure bike' this is faaaar from adequate. 

When fully loaded and riding hard I get 14.5kms/L and when unloaded I get 15.5km/L. Hows this compare with you lads?

Hi Floyd. Firstly, if your odo is out you won't get accurate fuel consumption readings. I check mine periodically against Google Maps. I know some will say Google maps is unreliable but I've used it over a few years in various vehicles and found it to be pretty accurate. Over 1,000 klm my odo and Google maps are within 1 or 2 klm.

The biggest gain in f/c I've got was from setting valve clearances. My exhausts were way out tho.
I also cleaned my injectors and got nearly 0.5 lit/100 better.
BMW say that a K100 should get 5.1 lit/100 and I've heard some say they get that and better (??) but BMW also recommend the use of fully synthetic engine oil ( uh oh ) and 100% synthetic can better f/c by around 5% (I've no proof of that apart from what I've read).
My f/c is a constant 5.6 lit/100 (5.6 to 5.7 loaded up) in freeway mode and providing I ride sensibly.   I'm coming up for an oil change next month and I'm switching from Penrite MC4ST 10W-50 semi synth to Shell HX7 15W-50 synthetic. I'm hoping to realise about a 2.5% gain that will bring my f/c down to about 5.4 and a realistic range of over 370klm with a couple of litres to spare.

Another thing to consider is the battery. A lower spec'd or under performing bat can load your alternator which will affect engine output and f/c.

Also have you considered if the off road tyres you're running are affecting f/c? For your setup 6.45 lit/100 might be about right.

Just some thoughts... every little bit helps.