My K1100RS pulls off at the lights like a tractor engine

[Laitch]

It is a big job and I think you'll be wasting your time. Try not to seek perfection; instead concentrate on enjoyment. Keep refining your takeoff.

If you can make a YouTube video that captures the sound when on the road, that would give all us vagrants here some entertainment and maybe even some enlightenment :giggles

[Andy FitzGibbon]

It is a big job and I think you'll be wasting your time. Try not to seek perfection; instead concentrate on enjoyment. Keep refining your takeoff.

Laitch, you have to keep in mind that, for some of us, a lot of enjoyment is derived from the act of seeking perfection. I enjoy working on my bikes just as much as I enjoy riding them- I enjoy the challenge of a serious teardown, particularly in the winter months when riding days are scarce. In the good riding weather, knowing that there's something amiss with any of my bikes irks me, even if it's not life threatening to myself or the bike.


To each his own. What might seem like a waste of time to you could provide someone else with a great deal of that enjoyment you suggest concentrating on. To me, altering one's riding technique to mask a mechanical problem is a waste of time. To each his own.


Andy

[JonnyB]

I think I partly want to open up the bike as it’s new to me, 66k miles old and I’d like to check the condition of splines, gears and bearings as I go through. No idea what maintenance it’s had in the past, but for the last 10 years I think not a lot. For example, do the inner bearings need replacing after a while, or is it just wheel bearings that tend to wear earlier than the rest? Maybe just need to look and see.

[Laitch]

To me, altering one's riding technique to mask a mechanical problem is a waste of time.

Only if there is a problem in the first place. :giggles

Anyway, I encourage those who reap enjoyment from recreational teardowns to document them because—as with workshop manuals—the more examples that others can use for reference, the more likely one is to gain an insight that having only example one might not provide.

[lmiklosy]

I found most posts here concern spline wear from lack of lubrication not bearing failure. For a frank illustration about spline failure, watch the adult video by Chris Harris on YouTube, take the usual precaution and remove young children from the room first.

If the rattle you hear is due to worn springs from the back-lash gear-set, then the rattle due to worn springs should not occur on a new bike, correct?   My experience is with the K75 and they all rattle, even those with very low miles so I ruled out the worn springs. I always suspected low motor speed = low oil pressure that causes the rods to knock, so avoid low oil pressure. These bikes LOVE to rev so keep the RPMs UP.

Engineers design machinery and structures to avoid a condition called resonance, what you hear at low rpms is a "resonance-like" condition due to the low motor speed, so keep the rpms up and avoid this condition. For the K75  idle speed should be 950-1000rpm, always operate above 3000 RPM, shift points 5000 - 6000 rpm.  Your owners manual will give better numbers specific to the K1100RS        Hope that helps. 

[Andy FitzGibbon]

The K75s have an additional potential source of noise, specific to their design, caused by the interface between the balance shaft to the drive gear. Gryphon has a good write up on it somewhere in the archives here.


Andy

[Laitch]

The K75s have an additional potential source of noise, specific to their design, caused by the interface between the balance shaft to the drive gear. Gryphon has a good write up on it somewhere in the archives here.

This may be Gryph's write-up.