BMW K bikes (Bricks)


You are not connected. Please login or register

View previous topic View next topic Go down  Message [Page 1 of 1]


1Back to top Go down   When is a brick not a brick Empty When is a brick not a brick Thu May 09, 2019 12:38 pm

tinyspuds

tinyspuds
Life time member
Life time member
Two things:

Finished saving up for my first can of DeoxIT. Very impressed and now ready for a proper go through of my undertank connections etc as I can see it will do a much job than the ordinary Earthling contact cleaner I previously used. That said, and I don’t pretend to know what underlies the manufacturing costs, it is silly money. Does anything else come close but sensibly priced?

Second thing. I wouldn’t contemplate selling my RT as we have become very close over the last few months. However I have only managed a couple of thousand miles or so over Winter due to the amount of preventative maintenance I have had to take it off the road for (35 years old, 60k miles, unused and uncovered for 10 years). I have done everything on the ‘so you bought a K’ list (and more) with the exception of the monkey nuts and timing chain, but do wonder if its ever going to be properly reliable.

I have been thinking about buying a similar vintage bike that I could just work on as a project then hook up my sidecar bits when finished.
But I have also been wondering about maybe going for something a bit newer but where I could still leverage what I’ve learned and love about the K.

So the question is, how modern can I go while still seeing an architecture I recognise from an ‘85 100?
Cheers, Stu


__________________________________________________
1985 BMW K100RT + Hedingham HUB and LL’s. VIN 0028106.
1986 K100RS in boxes. VIN 0141918.
1954 Royal Enfield 350 Bullet. Original.
2000 Hayabusa with Charnwood chair, Wasp forks and EZS wheels.
    

2Back to top Go down   When is a brick not a brick Empty Re: When is a brick not a brick Thu May 09, 2019 1:14 pm

Point-Seven-five

Point-Seven-five
Life time member
Life time member
The K1100LT is very similar and was made into the late 90's. 

Keep at your 100, remember it has been idle for a lot longer than most bikes, and had a lot of issues that you are steadily working through.  You will eventually get to a reliable point, probably sooner than later.  That you are working through all this stuff rather than ignoring it will pay off in the long run.


__________________________________________________
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
    

3Back to top Go down   When is a brick not a brick Empty Re: When is a brick not a brick Thu May 09, 2019 1:49 pm

duck

duck
Life time member
Life time member
You shouldn’t need to mess with monkey nutz or timing chain at only 60K.
 
For how much bike you get K1100LTs are stupid cheap these days. (At least in the US.)


__________________________________________________
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
    

4Back to top Go down   When is a brick not a brick Empty Re: When is a brick not a brick Thu May 09, 2019 3:35 pm

brickrider2

brickrider2
Life time member
Life time member
The common wisdom is that bikes that sit idle for long periods are a big challenge as far as returning them to service is concerned.  I believe that is a generalization that should be weighed carefully against the bike in question and the conditions of storage.  My 1996 K1100LT hasn't been a problem at all.  I've experienced non of the electrical problems some contend with and the ABS hasn't given a bit of trouble. 
I was obliged to replace the tires, fork seals and the brake pads (front), but other maintenance done was "voluntary." The radio is an open question....   When is a brick not a brick 652573


__________________________________________________
1996 K1100LT
    

5Back to top Go down   When is a brick not a brick Empty Re: When is a brick not a brick Thu May 09, 2019 4:08 pm

Laitch

Laitch
Life time member
Life time member
brickrider2 wrote:The common wisdom is that bikes that sit idle for long periods are a big challenge as far as returning them to service is concerned.
I think that the common wisdom is motos that are neglected are more likely to be a challenge to get running well.


__________________________________________________
1995 K75 90,000 miles
    

6Back to top Go down   When is a brick not a brick Empty Re: When is a brick not a brick Thu May 09, 2019 5:12 pm

Dai

Dai
Life time member
Life time member
tinyspuds wrote:but do wonder if its ever going to be properly reliable.
It will be. I had similar troubles when I first got LFB - it had been lying around for nine years before I got it. I did everything to it except an engineoptomy (??!!!) and proceeded to put 76,000 miles on it with just preventative maintenance, a new clutch and a major crash. At 106,000 miles it started to develop a number of minor niggles and as I didn't like the original silver, I stripped it for a deep inspection, new wiring loom and a change of clothes (!). It'll be Alaska Blue next time you see it.


__________________________________________________
1983 K100 naked upgraded to K100LT spec after spending time as an RS and an RT
1987 K100RT
Others...
1978 Moto Guzzi 850-T3, 1979 Moto Guzzi 850-T3 California,1993 Moto Guzzi 1100ie California
2020 Royal Enfield Bullet 500
    

7Back to top Go down   When is a brick not a brick Empty Re: When is a brick not a brick Thu May 09, 2019 5:24 pm

tinyspuds

tinyspuds
Life time member
Life time member
Dai wrote:
 It'll be Alaska Blue next time you see it.
Which, unbelievably, might be next year’s Dragon! Thought that was out of my system but I’ve done so much work on the bike and made some major changes to the sidecar set up, that I think the outfit needs another crack at it. Will probably take a few more days for the journey this time tho’.


__________________________________________________
1985 BMW K100RT + Hedingham HUB and LL’s. VIN 0028106.
1986 K100RS in boxes. VIN 0141918.
1954 Royal Enfield 350 Bullet. Original.
2000 Hayabusa with Charnwood chair, Wasp forks and EZS wheels.
    

8Back to top Go down   When is a brick not a brick Empty Re: When is a brick not a brick Thu May 09, 2019 5:38 pm

duck

duck
Life time member
Life time member
I've brought quite a few of them back from the dead and never had any electrical problems - aside from those caused by prior owners by sloppily adding stuff which I simply removed.

Even if they've been neglected somebody usually took good care of them while they were in use.

The fuel system and leaky tanks are what I worry about when buying one that hasn't run in a while.


__________________________________________________
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
    

9Back to top Go down   When is a brick not a brick Empty Re: When is a brick not a brick Fri May 10, 2019 7:02 am

Dai

Dai
Life time member
Life time member
tinyspuds wrote:Which, unbelievably, might be next year’s Dragon! Thought that was out of my system but I’ve done so much work on the bike and made some major changes to the sidecar set up, that I think the outfit needs another crack at it. Will probably take a few more days for the journey this time tho’.
In 1982 our bike club rally sec asked me if I wanted to 'do the Dragon Rally' next year. All innocent-like I said 'okay' but wasn't too happy with the idea of a winter rally in North Wales. 37 years later...


__________________________________________________
1983 K100 naked upgraded to K100LT spec after spending time as an RS and an RT
1987 K100RT
Others...
1978 Moto Guzzi 850-T3, 1979 Moto Guzzi 850-T3 California,1993 Moto Guzzi 1100ie California
2020 Royal Enfield Bullet 500
    

10Back to top Go down   When is a brick not a brick Empty when is a brick not a brick Sun May 12, 2019 2:28 pm

tinyspuds

tinyspuds
Life time member
Life time member
Thanks for the feedback guys. It really got me thinking.
I don’t actually need a shiny bike and what I have, with your help, is a bloody well sorted outfit that always makes me grin like a kid.
Inevitably its age will throw out the occasional problem, but I think, maybe, there’s an outside chance, it’s just... finished.

  When is a brick not a brick 25650 Time to stop Tinkering  cheers



Last edited by tinyspuds on Mon May 13, 2019 7:26 am; edited 1 time in total


__________________________________________________
1985 BMW K100RT + Hedingham HUB and LL’s. VIN 0028106.
1986 K100RS in boxes. VIN 0141918.
1954 Royal Enfield 350 Bullet. Original.
2000 Hayabusa with Charnwood chair, Wasp forks and EZS wheels.
    

11Back to top Go down   When is a brick not a brick Empty Re: When is a brick not a brick Mon May 13, 2019 6:19 am

K75cster

K75cster
Life time member
Life time member
A brick is not a brick when it isn't a flat inline four or three. so they be not a brick if a vertical inline four or an opposed twin or a vertical twin or single. Flat Four Single Inline Zylinders.

Or after several beers it becomes FFS IZ When is a brick not a brick 652573


__________________________________________________
Keith - 1987 K75c with r100rt replica fairing and half of a 1984 K100rt 1992 K1100LT a blue one

The Clever are adept at extricating themselves from situations that the wise would have avoided from the outset - QUOTE from david Hillel in Out of the Earth.
    

Sponsored content


    

View previous topic View next topic Back to top  Message [Page 1 of 1]

Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum