BMW K bikes (Bricks)


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Bjornie

Bjornie
active member
active member
I have a "silly" question,since I have just started driving the brick,and that is regarding the sparkplugs,since last time I had a big bike in Europe it was a 750 sportsbike,and I had to get rid of it since it demanded me to drive it with quite high RPM ever so often,and since my driving style is somehow more relaxed since I tend to spend a lot of time on Royal Enfields,and since I didnt give it 9000 + RPM it kept sooting/clogging the sparks etc...

So I wonder what is the expected style of driving in relation to RPM on the K100-RT,and is this something I have to consider while driving my BMW ?!?

    

92KK 84WW Olaf

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Life time member
Life time member
Ks don't tend to soot up the plugs, just make sure to have the right ones in. Use the revs, you will be nicely surprised.


__________________________________________________
1992 K100LT 0193214 Bertha Blue 101,000 miles
1984 K100RT 0022575 Brutus Baja Red 578 bought 36,000 now 89,150 miles
1997 K1100LT 0188024 Wotan Mystic Red 689 58,645 now 106,950 miles Deceased.
1983 K100RS 0011157 Fricka 606 Alaska Blue 29,495 miles Damn K Pox Its a Bat outta Hell Now 58,200 miles. 
1996 K1100LT 0233004 Lohengrin Mystic Red 38,000 miles currently 48,061 miles.
1983 K100RS 0004449 Odette R100 colours 58,000 miles. Sprint fairing now 61,190 miles

Past:
1968 Yamaha 80 YG1
1971 Yamaha 125 YAS-1
1968 Honda 125 SS
1970 Honda CD 175
1973 Honda CB500-4
Honda CX 500
    

Point-Seven-five

Point-Seven-five
Life time member
Life time member
Welcome!  I also have a somewhat sedate driving style, it's probably why I have lasted so long without any serious injury to myself or my machines.

I do most of my riding with the engine running between 2500 and 4500 rpm.  My plugs do show some signs of carbon when I check them, but so far I have yet to notice any faults in the running of the engine. 

I have three K bikes, and two have temperature gauges.  The temperatures on those bikes are identical and slightly below the reading described in the manuals so I suspect either the thermostats are opening too much or the gauges are reading too low.  The temperature is not significantly below normal, so I am not concerned enough yet to start tearing into things.


__________________________________________________
Present: 1991 K100RS "Moby Brick Too"
 
Past:
1994 K75RT "Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS"
1988 K100RS SE "Special Ed"
1994 K75S "Cheetos"
1992 K100RS "Moby Brick" R.I.P.
1982 Honda FT500
1979 Honda XR185
1977 Honda XL125
1974 Honda XL125
1972 OSSA Pioneer 250
1968 Kawasaki 175
    

Bjornie

Bjornie
active member
active member
Thank's for the replay =) 
I feel the bike to be both ready for some serious "rev'ing" and the more laidback riding style of my own,I will find out after I have had my check-up in Germany next week....Autobahn next.... Wink

    

92KK 84WW Olaf

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Life time member
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Make sure not to have the oil level too high as that can cause other problems. The sight glass red dot is the level, but make sure you do not go above the red circle. Since the bike is new to you there is no way of knowing if it uses any oil so keep a good eye on it. Ks don't necessarily use much oil and I rarely need to add any. A blast of blue smoke on start up is not a sign of trouble, its a sign of normality. Due to the design if you park on side stand oil gets into the combustion chamber. If you are going to be leaving bike on side stand turn engine off before you lean the bike over and that helps reduce the blue puff.

Like Point Seven Five most of my riding is in that rev range too but I get on the motorway often enough. A K is a different animal if you let it up through the gears. It will sit all day at 5,500 - 6,000 rpm and you will feel you can do it all day too. They are mile munchers too. You will enjoy the autobahn although my last experience on them was so much traffic we didn't get about 100kmh!

A very important place to lubricate. Your clutch lever has a pivot pin and when you pull the clutch lever you will see the cable and the nipple on the end. The nipple is suppose to rotate as you pull the lever. A drop of lubricating oil on that nipple is important, also check the cable at that point is ok and undamaged. Probably worth putting a new cable in when you are doing a service, and by the way the nipple does not come with the cable so you must get that separately. If it does break there the nipple will fall out and be lost....

Let us know what tyres are on the RT too....you will see the date on the side of them as a 4 digit number.

Some K100s [not the K75] get a vibration around 4,000rpm. Interestingly my 84 RT does not have this and is silky smooth all the way in the same way as a K75 I tried out recently. Its one of the reasons I chose to keep and do so much work to it.


__________________________________________________
1992 K100LT 0193214 Bertha Blue 101,000 miles
1984 K100RT 0022575 Brutus Baja Red 578 bought 36,000 now 89,150 miles
1997 K1100LT 0188024 Wotan Mystic Red 689 58,645 now 106,950 miles Deceased.
1983 K100RS 0011157 Fricka 606 Alaska Blue 29,495 miles Damn K Pox Its a Bat outta Hell Now 58,200 miles. 
1996 K1100LT 0233004 Lohengrin Mystic Red 38,000 miles currently 48,061 miles.
1983 K100RS 0004449 Odette R100 colours 58,000 miles. Sprint fairing now 61,190 miles

Past:
1968 Yamaha 80 YG1
1971 Yamaha 125 YAS-1
1968 Honda 125 SS
1970 Honda CD 175
1973 Honda CB500-4
Honda CX 500
    

Rick G

Rick G
admin
admin
I find that just chugging around town you tend to get some soot build up due to the unleaded fuel but once out on the highway and at 4000rpm they should burn much cleaner.


__________________________________________________
"Man sacrifices his health in order to make money.
Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health.
And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived."   Dalai Lama


Bikes 1999 K1100 LT with a Big Block 1200
    

duck

duck
Life time member
Life time member
Don't let it sit at idle or "warm it up" before riding. Just start it and ride. (As mentioned in the owner manual.)

K75s are even worse than K100s for plug fouling if idled for too long.


__________________________________________________
Current stable:
86 Custom K100 (standard fairing, K75 Belly pan, Ceramic chromed engine covers, paralever)
K75 Frankenbrick (Paralever, K11 front end, hybrid ABS, K1100RS fairing, radial tires)
86 K75C Turbo w/ paralever
94 K1100RS
93 K1100LT
91 K1
93 K75S (K11 front end)
91 K75S (K1 front end)
14 Yamaha WR250R
98 Taxi Cab K1200RS
14 K1600GT
http://www.ClassicKBikes.com
    

audibob

audibob
Life time member
Life time member
I started my 89 k100lt from cold twice recently just for a minute,  to show a couple of guys who happened to be passing my garage whilst I was cleaning her. 

She was a real pig to fire up the day after on both occasions.

Mutter mutter mutter, I must try reading the manual sometime...

As Duck says, do not let her idle until thoroughly warmed up, just start her, then ride straight away.

I also agree with Olaf, inspecting and  lubricating every aspect of  clutch actuation , including the pesky actuating arm , together with the correct clutch adjustment,  will result in a smooth and surprisingly light clutch action which you will benefit from during town trips.

My K is as wonderful around town as she is at higher revs on the motorways.

My riding style is the same as Point-Seven-Five with regards to Longevity , but now and again when the road is clear from Idiots and plod, I will wind her up through the gears, just to remind myself of what lies below..

K bikes are up there with the best in my view. 

Enjoy her 

Bob


__________________________________________________
Yamaha 90
Honda CD 175
Honda CB 360 
Triumph T 140V Bonneville
Triumph T150 Trident
Honda CB750 F1
Cz 175
Yamaha XS 750
R 100/7
R 80
K100 LT
K100 LT current bike
    

Holister

Holister
Life time member
Life time member
Riders new to K-Bikes seem to feel that it's revving too high and go looking for another gear and so tend to ride around at about 2500 - 3500 rpm relying on the low down torque. While that's ok, you'll get better performance and smoother ride and (by my calculations) better fuel consumption if you use the gears and keep the revs up, as PointSevenFive said, to around 4000rpm. I think the rider's Guide recommends not applying too much throttle below 2000rpm.


__________________________________________________

1989 K100RT     VIN  0097367 (naked)  
1996 K1100RS   VIN  0451808
 Is "sooted plugs" a issue on the K100 ?!? Austra12    Fuel:  95 Octane
Engine Oil: Nulon Full Synthetic 15W50
Gear Box Oil:  Nulon Synthetic 75W90
    

Michael Sydney

Michael Sydney
Silver member
Silver member
Holister wrote:Riders new to K-Bikes seem to feel that it's revving too high and go looking for another gear and so tend to ride around at about 2500 - 3500 rpm relying on the low down torque. While that's ok, you'll get better performance and smoother ride and (by my calculations) better fuel consumption if you use the gears and keep the revs up, as PointSevenFive said, to around 4000rpm. I think the rider's Guide recommends not applying too much throttle below 2000rpm.
I will put my hand up to that. I find myself around town using 5th gear and taking roundabouts in 3rd or 4th. So much torque and still smooth with light throttle below 2,000 rpm. I guess it is a trap.

I will try harder next time !


__________________________________________________
Living in the past! K100 '83 and R65 '83.
    

duck

duck
Life time member
Life time member
Actually, one can think of a K bike as two different bikes: one sedate below 4,000 RPM and one that's much more fun above 4,000 RPM. If you like to ride aggressively and have more torque coming out of turns then you should run it a gear or two lower than you think you should in order to take advantage of a K bike's power curve.

For example, on a K75:

Is "sooted plugs" a issue on the K100 ?!? K75_po10

Since K bike engines are "bulletproof" you can quite literally run them all day long at 6,000 or more RPM and they won't skip a beat. I know, I've done it.

I recommend that one of the first things that new K bike owners do is to put it in 3rd gear and run the bike all of the way up until the rev limiter kicks in. It won't hurt anything on a well-maintained bike.

"Ride it like you stole it."

Disclaimer: I do not recommend riding beyond your skill level.


__________________________________________________
Current stable:
86 Custom K100 (standard fairing, K75 Belly pan, Ceramic chromed engine covers, paralever)
K75 Frankenbrick (Paralever, K11 front end, hybrid ABS, K1100RS fairing, radial tires)
86 K75C Turbo w/ paralever
94 K1100RS
93 K1100LT
91 K1
93 K75S (K11 front end)
91 K75S (K1 front end)
14 Yamaha WR250R
98 Taxi Cab K1200RS
14 K1600GT
http://www.ClassicKBikes.com
    

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