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TECHNICAL MOTOBRICK WRENCHING In Remembrance of Inge K. => Project Custom Motobricks => Topic started by: dansvan on July 20, 2015, 02:58:34 AM
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Hello all. This is what I started with.
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He had been ridden hard and put away wet many times. Remained reliable though.
This is him currently.
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As time permits I'll fill in the backstory, post the build thats gotten him this far and a couple things still in the works for dear old Bumly. Loving the journey thus far!
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So I started my search for a Kbike up north here in Eagle River Ak. About 10 minutes outside of Anchorage, Alaska's largest city. There's still been more people in Central Park, NY. than there is in the entire state of Ak. But we have one of the largest per capita groups of MC riders in the US. My search for a Kbike has revealed 2 for sale. A nice K75 in Fairbanks and the one I purchased. Not many for sale. The gentleman I bought Bumly from had owned him for close to 80k miles and many years. Bought in Colorado and driven between Ak and Co many times. A few trips to Mexico thrown in. Stories of being stuck for hours, digging out, tipping the bike over and pivoting on the saddle bags etc. The gentleman had a newer GS and still preferred Bumly for some trips. Said the K bike was way more reliable than the shiny GS. The ad for the bike was very descriptive. It said "if you're looking for a bike that will get you laid, this is NOT your bike. Keep looking." had to laugh at that. So Bumly was covered in duct tape. And still rattled. Everywhere. missing glove box lids, broken hinges, missing broken latches. Most all the mounting points for the fairing and trim were cracked, busted off, repaired and broken again. The big horn bracket and fairing support was broken in half. Wrong bulbs wedged in sockets for light. Overheated and vapor locked regularly.Perfect! exactly what I wanted. I didnt want to rip apart a nice cruiser but wanted to keep a Kbike on the road, and this one deserved to have its life extended. So home it came.
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First thing I did was strip off the front fairing etc. This left me with no headlight or turn signals and mirrors. I fabbed up a quick bracket and used what I had in the shop to be able to still ride.
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It immediately felt different. Lighter. Free-er. I thought hmmm... looks like I'm going the right direction. Next thing was to remove the rear bags and brackets etc. And drop the speedo down which can be done with two straight brackets with a hole in each end.
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Next up, a better seat and how to make it fit.
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The rear frame needed to be cut down. First order was to lower the tank mounting brackets. Sawzalled them off, ground flush and installed rivnuts. This lowered the bracket and gave me more room for the seat.
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Then I took a small pie shaped wedge out of the rear tubes and bent up at the desired angle ands welded. Then cut the frame off at the desired length, inserted the curved and sectioned piece back into the tubes as the factory had done. Then welded it all up.
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Now how to attach the seat? Door hinge. I attached it to the seat pan and welded it to the crossover tube. I installed the rubber cushions from the old seat onto the new pan where they rest on the frame rails. makes for easy work underneath. Drilled holes in the seat pan for the tailights. I used LED trailer lights. A little paint, install original turnsignals temporarily so I could go ride.
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Cool resurrection.
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Thanks!
Next on the list were the electrics. I like the open air cleaner look. I like the naked look under the seat. I started by removing the air meter and the air box. Then the relay box went away. Bars and upper clamp along with the radiator were removed for access. What a mess! I coated the computer with truck bed lining. I made a lid out of aluminum for the air box base that would now house the electrics. Made two studs and drilled holes in the ends for keeper pins.
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Now to make all this fit in there. Along the way my new headlight arrived along with the mounts. Had to try it on for size. I like it. Didn't get pics but somewhere along the way I made a turn out for the exhaust complete with baffle. Sounds sweet. Also cut the factory foot peg mounts down. Removed the ignition coils to see how it would look. Originally planned on moving them up where the relay box was. Then a cool bit of kit arrived. A battery from Antigravity batteries. Its model # XPS SC-1. Amazingly powerful and extremely light. I used velcro to mount it on the electrical box and while I think it would have held I added a big ziptie as well. I took the BMU relay out of the system and there was plenty of room for everything in the bottom of the airbox. My strap-ons came in the mail and I put those on as well. Mocked up the air meter and where i wanted the filter. made a vent/cover for the airbox opening by cutting off the snorkel and installing it upside down.
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Made the airfilter adapter out of some plate and a piece of a Jeep Cherokee 4.0 header. Added a slotted tab and threaded the stud above it on the frame to provide some support and height adjustment. A little ultra grey silicone and it was installed to the meter. Installed the prefilter and made brackets to mount the computer to the frame. Now since the area I was going to put the coils in is now occupied by the air filter I needed a new location for them. They're kind of big and ugly and while they get the job done just fine I wanted to try something different. I used a coil pack and bracket off of a Ford Escort 1.9. Spliced the power wire and the two signal wires and that was done. Ran new larger longer plug wires to the plugs. Works like a peach. Trimmed the tabs off the tank. Cleaned up the wiring some more, installed a new clutch cable and mounted the ignition switch in the left anti-vibe hole. I have a small volt meter coming to fill the right hole. Still have horns to mount, bar mirrors to install, rear Ohlins to put on, rear sets to install. I would like to modify the seat a little too. It's getting there but so far is working fantastic. I like a bike with character and Bumly has plenty of that.
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Great build, great writeup. Thanks!
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Got my Ohlins rear shock rebuilt. Had to order a few parts for it. Wow! what an amazing difference over the old tired leaking stocker. Well, anything would be an improvement over that one.
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I applaud your ability and creativity. Great build and thanks for sharing.
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Hello all. Decided I'd try and make a little windscreen to try and blend the speedo/headlight area. Not sure i like it yet, we'll see. I took the windscreen that came on the bike and cut it down. I used two rubber insulated clamps to fasten it and some velcro on the inside. Painted the inside with black paint. Might trim, shape it a bit more. Also installed the volt meter in the other handlebar mount hole. Works good. Playing around with the tank cover. I like the look but have to get it stretched out a little .
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ok, dulled down the shield with some scotchbrite. looks better. Also had two extra license plate led bolts. installed them into the headlamp housing for extra running lights.
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Well, took the windshield off. Just couldnt get it to grow on me. I did receive the parts from Germany I needed to complete my rearsets. They turned out great. Very high quality. Will make sure everything works properly for a bit and then trim them down. They were made by KVT.
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Ok, so finally got around to re-doing the seat. Also cut off the back of the rear sets. Replaced the rear vinyl with leather. Turned out much better than before. Also replaced the taillight.
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I love how light you made it look. Opening up the space under the seat is a great variation on other cafe/scrambler style builds I've seen.
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Hello all. Time to remove some paint in places and add it in others. Painting the wheels and tank a dark bronze color. Taking paint off the front forks and brake rotors. Painting the front fender black. I used aircraft stripper on the front forks and brake rotors. Worked great. Just cleaned, scuffed, primed, sealed and painted the wheels and fender.
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Front end put back together. next up - tank and rear spring
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Back on the road! Tank done and spring done. Waiting on a supertrapp. We'll see...
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lookin' good. Keep up the awesome work.
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Hey thanks! Appreciate it. Did a few more things. Relocated the license plate to the final drive. Built a small splash shield out of the original inner rear fender. Ill see if it grows on me. Installed a used Supertrapp. Matched the patina of the bike well. I like it.
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I'm having trouble figuring out her far the rearsets moved your pegs. About 3"? Did it move them up at all?
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The originals were slightly in front of and below the front mounting point of the "tri-angle." This set of rear sets moved them up and slightly behind the rear mounting points of the three bolt mounting "tri-angle." The original gear shift lever was here.
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You definitely have major skills, and the bike is awesome! In reviewing all your posts covering the build, a few questions for you:
Any issues with the lithium battery? Whats the CCA rating?
What is the can length of the exhaust.......did you cut down a can to get that shorty? Source of the upward connector?
Thanks for the excellent documentation of your build, and for taking time to share it with everybody.
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Question on the rear sets, did you make the link yourself or it comes with the rear set? thanks, the bike looks nice now.
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Thanks, been enjoying this project tremendously. No issues whatsoever with the battery. I have no add-ons on this bike just basic what it needs. It has never failed to start it or even show a sign of struggling. I did replace my voltage regulator to try and get the charging voltage up to 14.2 from the 13.2 it had before. I can get about 13.8 constant out of it. No idea on CCA. Their website is very informative. Overall length of the muffler is 13 inches. No I did not cut it down. I built the turn up. I cut apart the factory muffler to gain access to the collector. Then I cut apart an old catalytic converter to gain the stainless tapered oval cone and welded it to the collector. Welded a piece of angled pipe to it and called it good. Not as sexy as some but not 150-250$ either. And I like building things. The linkage on the rearsets came with them. It would be easy enough to replicate though. Original shifter cut off, drilled and installed how it was needed, a couple small heims and a bent threaded rod would do the trick. I wrapped my exhaust this weekend, will post a pic soon.
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Appreciate the feed-back......I am running a 240 CCA lithium battery which I managed to mount in the relay box, with modifications. Folks tell me the lithium won't handle starter duties past nine months, but we'll see. My can-bus equipped BMW's have too many passive drains to keep a lithum charged, but I am building in scrambler mode like you, and there are no drains with my battery kill switch installed. The exhaust you fabed is really sharp, that's the sort of creativity(and skill) that a lot of us wish we had! Shows what you can do other than whip out a charge card. I have cut down the foot-plates as shown in your earlier pic's, rounded with a grinder, & extreme-polished the aluminum. Can't see expensive S100RR rear-sets on a bike this heavy w/ not much hsp.I, too, have the exhaust wrap ready to put on,,,,,using the "titanium". Your build is a real "go-to-school", thanks for sharing; Good Job!
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Appreciate the feed-back......I am running a 240 CCA lithium battery which I managed to mount in the relay box, with modifications. Folks tell me the lithium won't handle starter duties past nine months, but we'll see. My can-bus equipped BMW's have too many passive drains to keep a lithum charged, but I am building in scrambler mode like you, and there are no drains with my battery kill switch installed. The exhaust you fabed is really sharp, that's the sort of creativity(and skill) that a lot of us wish we had! Shows what you can do other than whip out a charge card. I have cut down the foot-plates as shown in your earlier pic's, rounded with a grinder, & extreme-polished the aluminum. Can't see expensive S100RR style rear-sets on a bike this heavy w/ not much hsp. I, too, have the exhaust wrap ready to put on.......using the "titanium" brand w/o spray. Your build is a real "go-to-school", thanks for sharing; Good Job!
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Heres a few pics of the wrapped exhaust. Titanium wrap. Was easier to work with than the original style I've used. It did want to unravel a lot on the ends. Overall I am pleased with it.
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What's the purpose of the wrapping?
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Looks cool and helps you not burn your ankle.
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In this case, for me, purely visual. My pipes looked ratty. I could clean them up and polish them but thats not the look I was after on this bike. Being stainless and not driven in the rain, stored indoors etc, I am not concerned about rotting the pipes. Just a current trend that I think looks cool too.
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Could you post the video of the sound clip of that exhaust? Just curious how loud is it. Thanks.
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This is honestly the only café K build that I really like.
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Thanks for the kind words. I tried to video my db meter app on the phone and it didn't show up. But you get an idea of what it sounds like. keep in mind sound clips on the computer are pretty subjective. Speaker quality, volume etc all play a part. Enjoy!
(http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/1067097/thumbnail/1067097.jpg) (http://www.supermotors.net/registry/media/1067097)
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this is a cool bike but I'm so curious as to what it looks like without the tank cover.... i bet the bronze looks great show us all
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Been super busy here lately and pouring rain. (Insert sad face) Thought I'd share a few links Ive found for the K-bikes. Maybe they could help someone out.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/233733430/imola-cup-k-base-for-bmw-cafe-racer?ref=related-2 Fuel caps and exhaust collectors.
http://www.k100-forum.com/t8793-k100-collector another possible collector source
http://www.ludwig-tuning.de/auspufftechnik/bmw-modelle2/hattech2/bmw-k100-k100-rsrtlt-66-kw-hattech-sammler-4-1.html another collector
https://www.etsy.com/listing/227540934/bmw-k-series-leather-tank-belt-and Cool leather things for K-bikes
http://www.bikeexif.com/build-cafe-racer Visual help in styling a cafe racer
http://www.fastfromthepast.com/26-0012 fork braces, clip ons, rearset parts.
Enjoy!