New member, my name is Mike Hyde. I own a 1987 K100LT. I just bought it a couple of months ago and have been having all sorts of fun modifying the lighting and electrical on the bike.

• Modified Tail Light for LED 1156 bulbs
  
• Added a "Back-Off" module to tail light
  
• Swapped out the filament bulbs for LEDs in the turn signals
  
• Added in an auxiliary fuse block
  
• Added in a cigarette lighter 
  
• Added in a 12v and USB power port
  
• Converted the front and rear reflectors to LED lights
  
• Upgraded the Bosch 32 amp alternator to a Bosch 55 amp
  
• Added 200w per channel amplifier (Pyle marine amp)
  
• Added 2 ea. Jensen 2-way black marine grade waterproof speakers
  
• Added LED 12 watt (125 watt output) driving lamps
  
• Added new wiring harnesses to support upgrades
  
• Added MP3 port
  
• Added stereo on/off/volume control
  
• Added heated grips
  
• Added the optional Hazard Switch (that was a pain in the you-know-what to find as a part and where to connect it to
  

I think my next step is removing all of the body/fairing parts and prepping them to be painted and going from the Alaska Blue to a pearled candy apple red (3 coats of paint, 5 to 7 coats of clear coat using acrylic urethane

I just got to this place as well....live way west side in Jeffco...

Just copied down some of you mods...that's legal right ?

uh... a 200W per channel amp?  Did I read that right?
Is this a new twist on the old saying "Loud pipes save lives?"

Welcome!
That's quite the mod list!

Quick question; Is a better battery needed for it all, too? I understand that LED's draw less power but am curious as to the effect on the battery.

Thanks.
mtndv8

mtndv8 wrote:
Quick question; Is a better battery needed for it all, too? I understand that LED's draw less power but am curious as to the effect on the battery.

Most of it is just ancillary power drain. The 200w per chanel amp, driving lights and heated grips will require more amps which the 55amp alternator should manage ok.

Some great mods there to bring this machine into the 21st century.

I kind of am suspect on the whole 200w per channel amp now that I have played with it. The sound level really isn't as high as I expected. I suppose if it were 200 Class A tube watts, I'd be ecstatic. The sound is "okay", not what I've had on my old Goldwing, which was outstanding, even at 80 to 90 mph. I upgraded the horns on the bike to something a bit (a lot) louder :-)

I ran all of it on the 32 amp alternator and had no issues at all. I still upgraded to the 55 amp just to be safe. The LED mods have driven the BMU crazy, but I had read that it would anyway prior to moving ahead with the mods.

I went through the jumping modification on the BMU, the light still comes on so I will probably just terminate the BMU warning light as I always check my lights before I ride anyway.

I have the stock BMW battery, but I plan on replacing that with a Lithium ion 24 cell battery that will fit in the same space (it's not as tall as the stock battery).