Hi Just want to thank everyone for their advice and encouragement and to give you all a bit of an update.
I am still very pleased with the bike it really is a nice ride. all the negative things people say about them are complete rubbish...
Top heavy, really? I find it very well balanced and easier to push around in my garage/driveway than my XJ600. yes if you are dumb enough to lean it over too much while you are pushing it around it can suddenly get "a bit heavy" but why would you do that...
It is hard work and heavy in town traffic... nothing could be further from the truth, I find the K75 a breeze in town and very stable and well mannered at slow speed maneuvers.
The gear change is clunky and agricultural.. bull sh*tt!!! I suppose it depends what you are used to but I find the clutch light and the gear change smooth and positive.
The K series are Characterles... I don't agree with this either... yes the bike is smooth, well mannered, well designed and I guess from the design quite maintenence free (by this I mean you shouldn't need to tinker with it every time you take it down to the shops). But the design is quirky and full of character, like owning a classic Citroen!!
All in all I love it to bits.
I did a major service over the weekend but still have a few jobs to do, this is what I have done:
changed the oil and filter,
Changed gearbox and final drive oil.
Cleaned and greased the drive shaft splines front and back. (the front ones were perfect and still had grease, the back ones were dry and a bit rusty showing signs of mild wear so I guess I caught them in time)
Air filter
Bled the breaks through with fresh fluid
Checked out the brake pads
cleaned and greased the twist grip mechanism
Checked for air leaks
Tappet/valve clearances... well these were all just a little tight, one in particular exhaust cyl 1 (front pot) was almost non existent 8 thou too tight. I was able to surface grind the shims to the appropriate sizes so now all good.
balanced the throttle bodies
certainly improved how it runs.
I am now quite sure the noise I hear is nothing to worry about, bit of a rattle when Opening the throttle from idle, only when opened suddenly... seems to be a K series trait from what I have read... I don't think it is the Alternator drive or the final drive/balance shaft...
Still a bit of a misfire thing going on when warm and held at revs no load. 2500-3000 or so... but not evident under load, I don't know if this is normal or whether it could be some slight vale damage from the tight clearances, nothing showed on the vacuum gauges but I guess I need to do a compression test.
I haven't changed the coolant yet but I thought I might just do a coolant/oil pump overhaul/seal change... is this a good idea rather than waiting until it goes. There is some oil from the clutch housing, just a little. I am guessing rear engine seal or gearbox input seal or both are weeping but I will wait until it gets bad or I have to split it for something else like clutch before doing it.
I found that one of my tragkorb brackets were broken, so I fashioned a piece of aluminium and fixed it to the plastic with some M4 screws, now my tragkorb doesn't wobble about... I also found corrosion under the rear brake pedal. the par you put your foot on is coming detached from the "stalk" the metal underneath resembles some kind of wafer! I haven't decided whether to simply replace it (they seem a little expensive) or weather to fabricate a new pedal to and fix it on....
anyway it is all making me smile! :-)
