Lookin' good TWB, but you've gotta get rid of those chicken strips!

robmack wrote:Lookin' good TWB, but you've gotta get rid of those chicken strips!

Yeah, it's true, in time that'll happen. For a bike that's travelled barely 300 or 400 discrete metres round my neighbourhood I'd say the tyres are doin' alright!

I've made a commitment to myself to have 'er rollin' this weekend, rain or shine.

I managed to get the upholsterer to understand my vision and as a result he made the seat not only in the shape I'd envisioned, with a dip at the subframe's midsection, but made it comfortable, and I can flat foot it, too! There's a slight reach from the seat to the 'bars and if I desire to carry a pillion (of course, she wouldn't have it any other way) there's heaps of padding on the fastback section for her to perch, and it doesn't slope too sharply off to the taper.

I dunno what mirrors I'm gunna use just yet. Probably some underslung minis to keep the 'bars and round speedo about the highest point on the bike - I like the profile. There are stacks of little details to finish to get it on the road, and the frame and tank likely won't be finished off in paint and final detail until the riding season around here has slowed due to the annual Autumn 'rain festival', but she'll get some local miles under her wheels this Spring & Summer.

Hey Dazz, what are we lookin' at and why is it bent in the middle?!

2/3rds of the indicators are 'running' lights as well as stop lights, and the outer 1/3 are indicators. slim. No need for a tail light. Just above the plate is a three LED illumination to keep it legal. If they require a rear-facing red reflector I'll whack a coupla circular reddies onto the bottom number plate holes.




Brethren

Clever use of the indicator lights, when do you envision the rego day being? Are you allowed like here in NSW to ride to the rego offices etc?

I have spare number plates...for the first actual burn.

The Washington State Patrol will have to do an inspection and I'll need to produce the salvage title for the frame and engine (which came from two different sources) and receipts to prove a rebuild. That should be no dramas. They really don't have a set test or standards like TUV or an Aussie roadworthy. As long as a few bits say DOT, the horn works, there are mirrors, and it looks like it can get away under its own power, and then stop, I'll be laughing.

This weekend she'll roll, but likely next week she'll get her official inspection, which I'll have to trailer to.

The 2.2 Motronic ECU and associated engine wiring loom went in today, still sorting some tail light wiring issues, but the headlight glows and the indicators flash as intended.

Connected the fuel hoses, attached the 12 Amp lithium ion battery, inserted the key, vroom, she settled into a loping idle until warmed sufficiently, then settled down and ran smoother - there's no 'fast idle' provision with the 38mm K12 throttle bodies - but when revved she crackles like a top fuel dragster. No one said it'd be a quietly muffled motor with that shorty 9" Dellkevic canister pointing up and out the back.

I whacked a 'valid' number plate onto it and set off down the roads round my neighbourhood. Jeezum Crow! She goes. Best part, not a lot of vibes through the seat, pegs or 'bars as I'd thought there might be. Of course, a good road trip will shine light on it better. That'll come soon enough. For now I can ride it to and from work to sort things out. If it karks it I'm 2kms either way from home. Nothing indicates it will.

woohoo

Such a cool bike. Nice one mate. Must have been a hoot.

That's brilliant, so does it sound like a K or something else now?

Thanks, mates. It difficult trying to hide the massive wiring loom away when there's so much more open real estate. In the end there will be some visible (it's was never meant to be a bikeexif show pony, after all), but the ECU resides tucked up against the rider's portion of the seat on two threaded rubber mounts. It's a quick disconnect using BMW Airhead battery tray plastic nubbins. I also have to work out whether to leave the Li battery exposed at the back on top of the gearbox or to hide it under the intakes...heat would be my biggest concern. It shall probably be visible.

The 'splash shield' you can see over the back tyre is the back half of an R1200RT front mudguard. It slips over the two rollpins on the gearbox and is held in place at the top by the same aluminium knob my mate Dan made for me to hold the seat to the rear frame crossrail. It's all very tidy how he did it. The seat pan of fibreglas is a special piece made by my man Bob (I like the way he got it to 'dip' with the rear frame rails - I can totally flat foot it) and the seat foam and cover is from a local watercraft/yacht upholsterer, only his second moto seat. I'm gunna keep him busy learning with other projects of my own and of others.

The next thing is to replace the plastic K12 fuel rail with a FPR and metal rail from a K11. The K12 thingy, while tidy and efficient, is right there in front of the stainless intakes and not only blocks the view but the fuel hoses can only be looped round to point in the direction of fuel travel. They're incongruous.

Here's a quick clip of how she sounds at idle. As you may be able to tell from the ultra short clip, there's a low down rumble along with the familiar K whine. I've picked up a secondhand GoPro recently and will work out how to capture some footage over the road.

I wasted a coupla hours digging through my wiring loom looking for a break or bad connection. The issue was a lack of tail and stop light function....then I twigged to it and did some homework.
 
Per Duck's suggestion from last August to a bloke who was trying to sort out his LED rear lamp, I jumped the appropriate connections in the BMU socket.
 
This is what Duck stated:
 
"Short the front brake switch wire (grey/red) and the rear brake switch wire (grey/green) to the rear brake light (grey/yellow.)
 
Short the tail light power (grey/white) to the tail light wire (grey/black)."

I made some jumpers as KH described in the same thread and plugged 'em in. Results? It freakin' well worked! Doh! I shoulda done my research beforehand.

Thanks again to those members who provide this invaluable source of information to make our K bike lives a little bit easier. I'm the worst at not looking first before leaping.

Flash work TWB, it does sound like a K but its um tuned or tighter in sound and there is that rumety rump sound in there, its got a deep idle hey.

K75cster wrote:Flash work TWB, it does sound like a K but its um tuned or tighter in sound and there is that rumpety rump sound in there, its got a deep idle hey.

Def. It's deeper, more resonant, a bit too loud when on the boil, actually, but it goes away out on the road. Speaking of on the road. Sorted the lights out. They work a charm. Check this sequence.








Snow-covered Mt Rainier in the background...what a ride. Fast, nimble, and at a steady rumble the vibes are minor, less than my K100RS back in OZ. The only place I could feel them was (barely) through the 'bars. Perhaps my long intake tracts have essentially changed something...

Ah yes very envious

The shorty Delkevic was a tad loud. It barked more than I like. I don't mind being anti-social at times, but. So I went with a 13" can instead of the 9". They both have a 'quiet core' which is removable, but I leave them in. This new longer 'silencer' is mellower, but still throaty. I've put about 100 miles around town and to and fro work on the bike thus far. It grows on me, so flickable and eagre to rev. I can see why BMW reinforced the K11 chassis with extra tubes from steering head area to mid-frame. At 75 coming out of a corner whilst accelerating hard in third gear, it wiggles ever so. This may be down to 130bhp as compared to about 90. Vibes? less than my K-RS 8V back in OZ, or my mellow '85 K100 standard, by far.

I rode up to Tacoma's monthly Grit City bike night yesterday. I was asked why there's a Gerber baby bottle acting as a coolant overflow reservoir. "That's for the wankers who complain about custom Beemers", was my cheeky reply, delivered with a smile.


We sell Fiat Ducati where I work, too.

G'day TWB , I think the longer can looks better , longer flowing lines , nice work

John Re

Looking better with the longer silencer, I'm not a fan of shorty silencers, they just look wrong. 
How's cooling on the older K radiator?

Motorbike Mike wrote:Looking better with the longer silencer, I'm not a fan of shorty silencers, they just look wrong. 
How's cooling on the older K radiator?

Three row rad with a 6-1/2" SPAL fan, no worries. Still fiddling with possible rear located oil cooler and 4" fan...

Longer, tri-oval can is better in all ways. Cheap, at $154.95 delivered, too. Look at delkevic USA . com

Two Wheels Better wrote:

Motorbike Mike wrote:Looking better with the longer silencer, I'm not a fan of shorty silencers, they just look wrong. 
How's cooling on the older K radiator?

Three row rad with a 6-1/2" SPAL fan, no worries. Still fiddling with possible rear located oil cooler and 4" fan...

Longer, tri-oval can is better in all ways. Cheap, at $154.95 delivered, too. Look at delkevic USA . com

How about in front of the water/oil pump like mine?
It's out of the way and in the air flow.

Thanks for the link, riddle ♫. I had a good squiz at the cooler's specs. At 160mm (at minimum length) combined with the fact that you'd also have to work out how to plumb one of the coolant hoses from the radiator in order to make it work leaves it a bit of a head scratcher, still. Where could/would it go!?

I have some extra-long hoses with fittings already attached to a nice little cooler and I reckon the back is the place. The serpentine nature of their placement would be a riddle in itself, but heaps of fun to try. There's room, it'd increase the oil capacity a useful fraction, the 4" fan is ideal for the cooler's shape, and it's not commonly done to whack one out the back like that. I remain inquisitive.

It's gunna be near 28 round here this weekend, the first actual warm weather since last 'fall'. I have some other bikes that needed their exercise. I'll put this one to bed for the week, catch up with it later on, as you do.

Where are you tapping into the oil circuit for the cooler?

riddle the sphinx wrote:http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorcycle/oil-coolers-accessories/mocal-laminova-oil-cooler-water-cooled

The issue with that particular oil cooler is that it loads the water cooled side with more heat and as the K's cooling system is only just adequate, I think that would be a bad move.
BMW used an air cooled cooler for a reason.

Surely that would depend on whether it's a two-row or three-row radiator? If a three-row can deal with Texas in the height of summer than it should be adequate for TWB's purpose? Unless he wants to go to Texas of course!

True Dai. I have never thought of my various K bikes as having inadequate cooling with that big old fan and even the two row rad. In OZ the heat can be quite intense and aside from the heat thrown over the rider, to which there are some simple remedies, they don't overheat as a matter of routine. 'Course, I ain't racing!

The three row I'm using on BB will do the job nicely, I'm confident.

Two Wheels Better wrote:True Dai. I have never thought of my various K bikes as having inadequate cooling with that big old fan and even the two row rad. 

Barely adequate I think I wrote
I've had a 16v K100 overheat after a very hard ride in an English summer. It was OK on the move but once I slowed down, that's when the problem occurred and "yes" the cooling system was fine. Two row rads  on those UK bikes.

riddle the sphinx wrote:Where are you tapping into the oil circuit for the cooler?

I missed this question entirely until just now.

K1200GT/LT & RS have oil cooler inlet and outlet with thermo ntegrated into the oil/waterpump, just below it.

Aye, I forgot we're dealing with the 1200 engine here.  Theoretically if you wanted to install one on the 100 is there a good point to tap in? I know you get a in line attachment to go on the oil filter but this wont fit where the filter on the 100 is,

riddle the sphinx wrote:Aye, I forgot we're dealing with the 1200 engine here.  Theoretically if you wanted to install one on the 100 is there a good point to tap in? I know you get a in line attachment to go on the oil filter but this wont fit where the filter on the 100 is,

Have a read about my Flying Brick to see how that's done.

https://www.k100-forum.com/t9549-jj-cobas-k100r-flying-brick

Enjoy,
Mike.

Bugger,  anothet project,  thanks.

It's a pleasure.

I've had an opportunity to place the BB on an industrial warehouse scale used for weighing parcels for shipment - accurate to less than a pound. The result was interesting, though not totally unexpected. During the build process I attempted to record the weight of the various items used, and, when I had them lying about, to also add up the combined weight of the typical K100 pieces I'd not use. The basis of the motorbike is a 1989 K100RS, but merely in frame and miscellaneous components. The tank and forks are K11, the wheels K12, the brakes R1100GS and F800GS, etc. Adding and subtracting proved futile in the end. It had to be whacked onto a scale when completed.

Given the two main components of chassis and engine come from two widely varying weight averages*, a bog standard 1985 K100 at 239 kgs wet (527 lbs) and a 1997 K1200RS at 280 kgs wet (617 lbs), and everything that didn't have a purpose towards road legality, proper running, handling/ridability, was removed or omitted.

I've saved 21 kgs (45 lbs) over a standard K100. BB weighs 218 kgs (482 lbs). Pushing it around the garage or car park it feels diminutive like an Airhead in my hands.

While no lightweight as compared to, for example, a naked roadster Ducati Monster 1200S at 207 kgs (453 lbs), its approximately 130+ bhp makes up for the relatively weaker 90 bhp original horsies of the significantly heavier K100, combined with modern tyres and brakes, and an uprated HyperPro rear shockie, nevermind the portly tonnage of the downright lardy in comparo, K1200RS!

* [url=http://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/bmw/bmw_k100 83.htm]K100 specs[/url]

 * [url=http://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/bmw/bmw_k1200rs 97.htm]K1200RS specs[/url]

It seems the links don't work using Windows 10 and Edge, either.

While the bike goes and stops, in corners at speed it's a handful. This Winter I'll weld a coupla braces from the steering head to the outer edge of the frame's midsection to reinforce the frame against the side forces which happen under load. To quicken the steering I've hoiked up the back end 15mm on the HyperPro shockie, used a 120/60ZR17 (instead of 120/70ZR17) front Pirelli, and just this week slid the fork tubes up in the triple clamps about 15mm as well. It does give away a few mils of clearance when in peg scratching mode but I've not built it for that. It turns in much better now and as a result of that 'drop' has reduced that Hyena humped back stance since the front end sits in a lower plane.

Wow the increased tyre grip and the squirtability have over powered the head stem, and you think its coming from the back of the section, perhaps the triangulation of the three frame tubes and the top tube would do it. maybe just in front of the earth point, though I would add that, you could fill in the triangle area in front of the ignition mount to stop that area from flexing, if it did in fact flex there.
I must ask is this something we would feel just tootling about not going hard in corners????

Speaking of big blocks...or is that bollocks?!

I took this one out for a burble at lunchtime. It's the S version of the new XDiavel. It's nice. It's extremely fast, has significant vibration one can guess was 'managed' so it feels like the cruiser it's modelled after. It has a launch mode where you press a button, crack the throttle wide open, then drop the clutch. It works. You move ahead rapidly with no wheelie and zero back tyre spin. My tailbone rammed up against my backbone causing some discomfort, and I didn't care for the wind up my trouser legs feel, sit up and beg riding style, though my cojones* dropped at least an inch due to the stretched out riding position and the head turning down by other motorists. I felt self conscious, good thing I was wearing a dark tint visor on my helmet.

 
I reckon it's one of those look-at-your-badself in the window as you go past sort of bikes, but then you can go fast AND go round corners on it. Is it me or does it look like two surgeons with tweezers fighting a martial arts weapon in the middle of the engine?!





*Pronounced ko-ho-nayz, and commonly misspoken as Kahunas in OZ, which is actually the name of a Hawaiian king.

is it me or does it look like two surgeons with tweezers fighting a martial arts weapon in the middle of the engine?!

Yes, it looks like this 

I haven't liked the 'looks' of the plastic K12 fuel rail, so I found a metal version on eBay. Now I've had to add a fuel pressure regulator so I found a compact, aluminium, adjustable unit with a dial, also on eBay. I got it set up all nice and hidden under the throttle bodies and ran it for a few hours here and there. At 60 to 70 psi she runs like a champion. Then I remembered to connect the vacuum connector on the FPR to one of the ports on the TBs. I'm standing on the right hand side of the bike stabbing at the throttle, bending down to view the gauge on the FPR. In that moment two of the four injectors blew off the rail and sprayed petrol (gas, gasolina) towards me, across the garage, all over my jeans, and nearly into my eyes. I've never switch off a bike faster than in that moment. Adding vacuum and revving hard increased the psi to the max, or so it seemed.

In attempting to analyse the problem - too much pressure - I discovered that with a plastic fuel rail one must use a different injector clip because the plastic rail has a wider ridge to the top end of the injector where the seals seats. The injectors would spin in their bore and also move up and down a few millimetres more than they should, which allowed them to 'walk' a bit sideways when under pressure, a truly dangerous scenario as fuel, like blood when spilt, spreads far and wide. The earlier, K75 through K1100 injector clips are far narrower to seat against the thin, metal rim of that type of fuel rail. With luck I discovered I have both early and later types of retainer clips in stock. Problem solved.

Just for fun I cranked 'er up to 80 psi and nothing came apart, fuel stayed inside and the bike revved like a banshee! A stock K100 is 2.5 bar or 36 psi. A K1100 runs 3.0 bar or 43 psi. A stock K1200RS/GT runs 3.5 bar or 50 psi, and the hotrod Hexhead R1200S-Sport delivers 4.0 bar or 58 psi.

I'll keep it at a more sedate 60 for the time being.

Two Wheels Better wrote: A stock K100 is 2.5 bar or 36 psi. A K1100 runs 3.0 bar or 43 psi. A stock K1200RS/GT runs 3.5 bar or 50 psi, and the hotrod Hexhead R1200S-Sport delivers 4.0 bar or 58 psi.

I'll keep it at a more sedate 60 for the time being.

I was under the impression that a K1100 ran at 3bar but according to our resident guru IngeK they run at 2.5 bar.
How come you are running at 60psi. I don't see the point to it.

More fuel during the squirt cycle = bigger bang = more work for TWB's SOTP dynamometer.

Effectively runs rich so a piss poor fluffy bit of combustion with lots of soot from what I know about making Horsepower.

An, but the beauty is in the adjustable part. I would never say I'm gunna leave it there. I'll dial it back until that sweet idle and instant rev diminishes. The engine was running lean with the intakes, empty exhaust and K&N filters...

Talk about deja vu, TWB. I visited Larry at SpecialKs this past summer and we worked together on his Beast which was acting up with backfiring and poor idling. He did the same swap as you - adjustable aftermarket FPR with a swap from round to square section fuel rail. Same clip problem, same failure. He adjusted the FPR to 2.5 bar if I remember correctly, and swapped the injectors which eventually cured the problem (I presume the failing injectors needed cleaning).

robmack wrote:Talk about deja vu, TWB.  I visited Larry at SpecialKs this past summer and we worked together on his Beast which was acting up with backfiring and poor idling.  He did the same swap as you - adjustable aftermarket FPR with a swap from round to square section fuel rail.  Same clip problem, same failure.  He adjusted the FPR to 2.5 bar if I remember correctly, and swapped the injectors which eventually cured the problem (I presume the failing injectors needed cleaning).

The correct clips did the trick. As soon as I pulled them from the cabinet I knew that was it. But it's really not a problem for most unless you're doing the K12 into a K100/K1100 swap and you want to use a mixed bag of components. In addition (glad for the wisdom of folks like RickG) I fiddled with the fuel pressure this morning before work, even before brekky, (less is more sometimes) and found that I can get the most even idle and a willingly eager rev (not to mention less swelling of fuel hoses) in the 3.75 bar range. The needle of the gauge on the FPR does some quick but not erratic bouncing, and she's hovering above 3.5 but less than 4.0 bar. If I screw the needle up (less fuel pressure) the engine's note gets a bit fluffy sounding like a secretly emitted, juicy fart in church. The K12's injectors are the same cc flow rating as a K11 so no change needed there.



This things rocks. I'm enjoying it more each day. It's a lot of fun to rip round town and back country roads on a naked bike with minimal extras on a warm Spring day - been getting up to 28, 29 round these here parts lately. I am using my Android phone in a RAM mount with an X-Grip and a speedo app. I tested it against a school zone radar speed sign and she's dead nut on at 30mph and at 55mph (the speed camera only flashes you during school entry and exit hours). Instead, and for the longer term, I've bought a Trail Tech Vapor speedo/tacho with the optional turn, oil pressure and high beam warning lamps to each side of the 'dash'. That'll go in over the weekend.



Tonight is Grit City Moto Night and I'm gunna ride the Big Block.

Two Wheels Better wrote:Tonight is Grit City Moto Night and I'm gunna ride the Big Block.

  Onya Dazza..... Great stuff!

Fuel injector clips, its amazing how many things you have to contend with when hot rodding a bike.
Yes the black bike looks like there are two medical forceps trying to find a tooth to pull, weird graficks dem duke people have

Just read the whole thread, kudos on building a really nice K hybrid.
But what caught my eye is your intent to run the Vapor.
I've had one on my plated XR650R since they came out and really like all the features it offers.
So I was planning on using the Vapor on my project K.
I've been scouring this Forum for days now and found the info on the resistor to make the charging system work as well as using an R1100 neutral switch for getting the neutral light sorted out.
So, have you installed yours yet ? If so, how is it working for you ?
Any tips would be appreciated, I wish I could reciprocate but I haven't even ordered mine yet.

Kai Ju wrote:Just read the whole thread, kudos on building a really nice K hybrid.
But what caught my eye is your intent to run the Vapor.
I've had one on my plated XR650R since they came out and really like all the features it offers.
So I was planning on using the Vapor on my project K.
I've been scouring this Forum for days now and found the info on the resistor to make the charging system work as well as using an R1100 neutral switch for getting the neutral light sorted out.
So, have you installed yours yet ? If so, how is it working for you ?
Any tips would be appreciated, I wish I could reciprocate but I haven't even ordered mine yet.

Thanks! I've been away since the end of May so I'm only now able to answer some of your questions. Nope, have not fitted it but have a good mate who is using the same model on his K75S with no dramas, and is as he says, easy to fit and makes most of the connections function. I've no useful info to impart to you as to what doesn't work at the mo' - I'll see him tomorrow and will enquire as to its function. I can live without a neutral light, and already know that the charging system works without the instrument cluster's main plug connected to the wiring loom. What I'm very excited about is this which was waiting for me when I returned home from Alaska:




I wish to minimise the chassis wiring loom and remove the main fuse/relay box for even more see-through, simplicity and weight reduction. It's the size of a small packet of cigarettes, and man-o I hope it helps to keep the smoke in!
:smoke:

I can't envision that the m-unit will reduce the wiring bulk much. The K-bike harness still has all the ignition wiring that's going to be required whether you go m-unit or not. So you can't really eliminate the harness unless you plan to rewire the EFI & ignition. You'll end up eliminating half the relays in the relay box which might be an accomplishment. I think the target market for the m-unit is vintage carbureted bikes with simple wiring harnesses and impossible-to-get parts for the aging electrics.

Keep us up to date as how things go.

Stuntex Club M-Unit example
Corrected in my original post. As we know early Ks have essentially two (some would say three) wiring looms. I should have stated that I plan to remove whatever excess and unnecessary wires I can from the chassis loom which controls headlight, stoplight, tail light, horn & indicator functions.