In a moment of stupidity I removed the exhaust system from my 1996 K1100LT.  I need some advice with refitting it. 
The left rear point of attachment is giving me grief.  While awaiting the arrival of the four downpipe gaskets, I forgot the proper assembly of this fastener and related parts.  I found that I couldn't draw up the pressed steel collar against the rubber grommet when the metal bush is captured within it.  I wrestled with it for ages trying to make it all go together as it appeared designed to do.  No luck.  I had another look at the diagram in the Haynes manual (p. 580) and found the metal bush is shown to be fitted on the starboard side of the pressed steel collar.  This makes no sense to me, but it is the only way I could snug up the fastener.  
Something is amiss, but I can't work out what.  Can someone provide some insight into this?

BTW, if it is not absolutely necessary, don't remove the exhaust system!  The Haynes manual skips over this task very quickly, and I've found that it's a real struggle to re-attach if you don't have a number of helpers and a lot of time to burn.

If you're referring to the metal "cap" that goes over the rubber bushing on the right side, try taking it off, sliding it over the rubber bushing, mounting the exhaust and then tightening it on the bolt it attaches to. (To the best of my recollection. My K1100s all have aftermarket exhausts so I haven't messed with a stock exhaust recently.)

The bushing isn't rubber.  It's steel. The nomenclature of these bits and pieces varies so much it's really difficult to describe what's what.  Sadly, the exhaust mount itself is so difficult to access it's virtually impossible to snap a photo of it.  Let me give this another shot: The mounting bracket for the muffler or silencer has a large eye.  There is a rubber grommet that fits within.  On either side of the grommet is a pressed metal dish of sorts and the mounting bolt passes through this to hold the exhaust to the frame. The inside diameter of the rubber grommet is around 22 -24 mm and would seem to require the metal bushing inside the grommet to make everything snug and roadworthy.  

Another question now occurs to me.  If I have to pull the exhaust system off again to address the problem described above, will I then have to order new gaskets for the downpipes? They are crush washer designs and have now been crushed    Another $15-20 and two weeks wait?

Pics would help.

I've owned over 20 of these bikes and never replaced a single header crush washer.

I bought a set of replacement crush washers in the past. This was a very long time ago and I did it so's they'd be on hand if reusing the original ones caused a leak. They are still in their little plastic bags. I see them every time I go rummaging in my parts box.

(I did suggest a thread just for confessing to reusing single-use parts - anonymised of course)

Exhaust gaskets are definately not on my re-use list. The only exception to that is if I've done something stupid like reversed the exhaust pipes on a Guzzi (they're slightly different lengths). The engine won't have been started, so no bits of carbon where you don't want it.

I reluctantly pulled the exhaust system off again and had the chance to examine the grommet and related bits that mount on the left side of the K1100LT.  Once I had them all laid out to see it was obvious where the "bushing" should go on reassembly.  It turns out the "bushing" is actually a spacer that is located on the left side of the grommet.  The Haynes manual and the on-line illustrations are incorrect and, if followed, lead one to the confusion I experienced.   I didn't change out the downpipe gaskets even though they were crushed a couple of days ago and in a strict sense "used."  I am very hopeful there are no exhaust leaks when I fire that bike up again, because pulling and refitting the exhaust system is truly a PITA.

The fitting sequence is very important as is new rubber.

These exhausts will break in time, a Remus is a very good alternative and seems to be a regular solution. Sell the original exhaust!

I did buy a new grommet and the bit BMW calls an "absorber" that mounts on the right.  That last piece is a bit of a puzzle.  I expected the old, original one was hard due to age.  However, the new one was is no different.  It doesn't seem to flex at all so I wonder what the reason is for such a complicated part. It seems as if any old bolt would do fine in that application. 
Sell the OEM exhaust?  I wonder where the market for that is?  I have an OEM silencer from a R100R that I've been "selling" for years!  lol
If I were to come across a Remus exhaust for my bike I'd certainly consider it.  But, being that it's from 1996, I doubt Remus is still producing one for this model today. 

The other aftermarket exhaust for K1100s is Staintune.

Up until recently Remus was still selling a K1100 exhaust but I just checked their website and it doesn't look like they are anymore.

Motorworks have them for sale.

I got mine about 15 months ago, fully system brand new in the box [well, it comes in 2 boxes] and a very easy fit. Lovely sound off them.

I had a Remus exhaust for my 16V K100RS that I sold because it was embarrassingly loud when riding in town.  I replaced it with a stock system off an earlier 8V K100.  It took an hour of fiddling with the header pipes and the mount to get it installed, but it worked well and was nice and quiet.  The bike ran great with it, and a bonus was that it got me an extra mile or two per gallon.

If the exhaust cracks on my new K100RS16V that is the way I'll go again to repair it.

I forget how they name them but the Remus comes in two volume levels.  I have one on my 94 RS that's only very slightly louder than a stock exhaust.

I found the stock exhaust dangerous in town bike too quiet in terms of pedestrians stepping out. Remus put an end to that but not offensively.

Plus side too, over extended time I reckon its worth about 5-10% on fuel. I use simple math, if I better 10 miles per litre. 12-13 miles per litre would be my normal on rural roads.

There was a post years ago on a US police fix on their bikes to solve cracking exhausts on early K100's. It involved clamping a large hose clip around the four header pipes. The hose clip apparently changed the resonant frequency that was causing the cracking, it might work on the 16v bricks as well. For the price of a large hose clip it might be worth a go.
Regards Martin.

Don't know if it really matters but it doesn't hurt to check the torque on the header flange nuts every time you do an oil change.

MartinW wrote:There was a post years ago on a US police fix on their bikes to solve cracking exhausts on early K100's. It involved clamping a large hose clip around the four header pipes. The hose clip apparently changed the resonant frequency that was causing the cracking, it might work on the 16v bricks as well. For the price of a large hose clip it might be worth a go.
Regards Martin.

That advice still holds. Resonance is the bug bear in stainless steel exhausts of all kinds due to the properties of stainless steel.

But the problem now is buying one like I did, at 58,000 miles its at the time its going to split and it did it very quickly. I now know one of the headers was already off when I bought it but I bought the bike as it was and happy with the condition.

If you have a low miles one [K100 4v or K1100] then either to the hose clip or weld in some pieces.

I suppose the location of the clamp could be important in damping vibrations.  I placed one at the spot where the down pipes are nearest together.  Would that help?

brickrider2 wrote:I suppose the location of the clamp could be important in damping vibrations.  I placed one at the spot where the down pipes are nearest together.  Would that help?

The original post to which Martin might be referring contains an image of where the clamp was attached. It would seem to me that UK—rather than US—police motos were involved with this modification because in the US those clamps are called hose clamps rather than jubilee clamps.

Anyway, here's a link to the likely post and image.

I'll move my clamp forward a bit, as it currently is closer to the point where the pipes enter the silencer. Thanks for link to that photo. 
For the record, my bike shows 24K on the clock; I hope the exhaust system remains intact for the duration of my riding years.... 
BTW, I've not be able to include a photo of mine, though I tried to post one.  I've no clue why nothing happens when I use the icon above for that purpose.