Hi

I have just brought this 1986 K100 RT, I was told it is an ex USA police bike (Maine State police).




I am planning on converting it to a cafe racer and have ordered a new headlight, handle bars, brackets and indicators. The front end will be converted before summer and I will chip away at the back end, new seat, tail lights etc. Next winter I will do a full strip down, paint and re-build. 

G'day rapt
                It's a pity you don't live Australia, as I'd give you a good project K for your Kafe project! and buy that one from you, as it looks way too good for a cut and shut job.

smithy wrote:G'day rapt
                It's a pity you don't live Australia, as I'd give you a good project K for your Kafe project! and buy that one from you, as it looks way too good for a cut and shut job.

Welcome Rapt,

It's a pity you don't live in the UK, as I'd (also) give you a good project K for your Kafe project!! 

At the end of the day it is your bike....but it looks like a finished project already and you probably paid accordingly, so why don't you want to ride her instead of reducing her to a custom unridable? 

I'm sure there are plenty of roads around Christchurch and beyond that would suit the K perfectly and while you ride and enjoy, you could look out for one of the many wrecKs that lend themselves to Kafe conversions.

But it is your bike, so do as you please and there are several Kafe threads on the site to help you with ideas.

ditto , just as the others said.
looks a very fine example , standing proud and tall.
I'm very much in favour of preserving the better examples of the original K's. once they are tampered with , it's very difficult to get them back again.
good luck with it anyway. keep everyone posted.

Welcome to the forum.

But....that K is much too nice to be cutting down. It looks so clean and has a 'Comfort' seat. Wish mine looked like that one!

My thought...keep it for touring because once you try it you will love it....and pick up another project bike for making a café racer. That way you have wheels to ride while you do the work.

Hi

I specifically brought it for a cafe conversion because I like the look of them after the conversion. I have been looking for one for a while now and this is the first one that came up. I would gladly swap for a rough one and some cash if you were in NZ.

It is in really good condition, although it leaks a little bit of oil (this will be fixed when I re-condition the engine next winter). The rear drive spline looks like new so hopefully the engine has been looked after. 

I will start a build thread when my parts arrive so you can watch the tortuous destruction of this nice K100. Or the great conversion in to a café racer depending on how you feel about it.

If it has over 400,000miles you may need to reco the engine but I doubt it on both accounts.

RicK G wrote:If it has over 400,000miles you may need to reco the engine but I doubt it on both accounts.

 
It has 70,000 miles, At this stage I only want to stop the oil leaks and give it a full check over when it is in parts to see if there is anything else that needs attention. Then it will be painted and re-assembled. So not really a recondition more of a tidy up I guess.

Hopefully someone will come up with a proposal. If we were nearer then yes an exchange would be on the cards. Not that mine is bad, just they your one seems so good.

As for leaking oil, the engines are good for lasting and its just possible [likely] your oil leak is at the sump plate or oil/water pump. Not sure you will need to rebuild the engine. However there are one or two seals that may be kaput but if you are doing spline lubes etc then you can deal with these at the same time.

Either way keep in touch with the forum. Everyone is very helpful and there is a good sense of humour about!!.

Hi Rapt
Welcome aboard mate. What ever you do with that lovely lady, there will be lots of wisdom and advice from the guys on the forum to be had.

I bought mine also specifically to do a conversion to a naked sport. The fairing on my RT while functional is pretty ratty. Just this week I've had most of the lower fairing off for the first time to attend to a few things under the tank. Unfortunately old epoxy repairs etc have given way to time and I now have quite a few pieces on the garage floor to now sort out. 
I'm not ready to strip my K down and modify just yet and to be honest with you I'm really enjoying riding my girl as is with full fairing for now as I'm using it daily as a commuter (I rarely get wet). I have to say its a dream to ride in any mode as it will take anything you throw at it.

Don't be too hasty in pulling the old girl apart. Ride it well for a few months and you will get a sense of what she would like you to do with her. There are plenty of other K's out there longing to be brought back to life in some form without original fairing.

Cheers

Typicial Kiwi, they get something real nice and want to change it.

BTW welcome to the Knuthouse.

Go the Wallabies.

Was thinking could you send this K over to Ireland, or even better ride it over.........it looks too nice! It would suit Squig60........

nice one mate, do your deeds lets see some bornagainks. horses for courses. Luve to see progress pics.
Rick

Ha Ha what's going on in NZ?
There are now 4 people chopping K100 that I know of. Me being one of them but mine was a pile of rust to start with.
This forum has been a great source of info for me and has saved me tons of time in finding fixes.

rapt wrote:Hi

I have just brought this 1986 K100 RT,  . . .I am planning on converting it to a cafe racer and have ordered a new headlight, handle bars, brackets and indicators.  . . .  I will do a full strip down, paint and re-build.

Nice . .  I did the same (converted) and am VERY happy with the end result.

Am in the middle of the Waikato basin so I have plenty of nearby destinations to keep me happy.

Couldn't stand the faired version of the K.

Too hot and felt way too bulky.

I like to see the road beneath me and feel the wind on my chest and head.

Good luck with the project.

I got an aftermarket headlamp off trademe and some bullet indicators and some old xs650 yammy headlamp brackets for mine. Modified the bike but not extremely. From a full LT to what my avatar is Now its just a great laid back 200kph cruiser :-))

madmal wrote:Ha Ha what's going on in NZ?

We are going K naked version mad

larrikin wrote:Typicial Kiwi, they get something real nice and want to change it.

Go the Wallabies.

He heeee . . . nah. we like NZ just the way it is. And . . to me . . a faired K IS nice, but not as nice as an unfaired one . . :-))

larrikin wrote:Typicial Kiwi, they get something real nice and want to change it.

BTW welcome to the Knuthouse.

Go the Wallabies.

If we something nice its only natural to want to undress it.

welcome aboard rapt

have fun with the build

quite honestly it is a good idea to get the beast running right .....with good tyres and all ....then start the chop job ...that way you wont be chasing faults that may or may not be a consequence of the modification .....

just the way I think anyway

good luck !!