First Brick, New Member, K75S

[Phishery]

Hi all, excited to join the forum.  I just added a new bike to the family, a 1988 K75S, which seems to be in great shape (I hope) despite the low price. Other bike in the garage is a custom 2007 Triumph Scrambler. I was given a thick pile of paperwork from the owner who has only had it for a year, that go back to first purchase. Prior owner was a surgeon, but he wasn't able to ride for 2-3 years before selling.  Assuming there are some cobwebs to cleanup. I have tons of dumb questions so going to start searching this forum like made ;). I am torn on just riding the bike and enjoying it as is versus going into project mode, but knowing myself I will want to get to work and have my boys help out as a summer project. Thanks in advance for all the knowledge here.

My new ride:


My current ride:


Rough idea of where I would like to go with this:

[Laitch]

Welcome, Phishery!

How many miles are on the odometer? Inspecting the driveline from clutch to final drive, takedown and inspection of the fork tubes, cleaning and labeling all the electrical connectors, doing a compression check/tuneup, and getting it running optimally will be a great project.

[Chaos]

really nice original K75S's like yours are getting harder and harder to find.  I'd keep it stock, "customized" K's are a dime a dozen. 

[Martin]

+1 I've seen a heap of Bricks in the process of being caféd but I've only seen one on the road. Most are never completed or if completed they are used for a short time and then put up for sale, or pushed to the back of the shed. Caféing destroys the reliability, practicality, rideability and luggage carrying capacity. However on the plus side they are a source of spare fairings, seats, lights and instrument pods. And they make my standard rare in OZ K75s even rarer.
Regards Martin.

[The Mighty Gryphon]

Welcome!  Like the others, I would advise riding the bike as it is.  You have a vintage machine that has all the reliability of a modern one, that can comfortably take you thousands of miles from home and bring you back.  Just the fact that it's 30 years old makes it pretty unique.  Give it a chance to grow on you.

Like Martin, I have seen dozens of people building cafes here and at other forums, and hundreds if not thousands of photos, but never actually seen some one riding one.  I knew of a young guy in my area who started building one a few years back, but before he could get the wiring sorted he lost interest.  As I recall, the landlord of the garage he kept it in took it as a rent payment. 

Personally, if I was to build a cafe bike, I would go for a vertical twin with a kick start.  That would be true to the spirit of the thing.  Something with carburetors, magneto ignition and 9 or 10 wires in the harness.  There are lots of Hondas from the early 70's that would be perfect candidates and infinitely more authentic. 

[Phishery]

Thanks all for the words of wisdom and advice.  I think you are right and will be spending some time just getting to know the bike before deciding anything. Replaced the oil, filter, and some rubber crank case bolt washers (not sure of the correct term)--had my 13 year old help with everything to get his hands dirty.  Did a complete clean and detail to see if there is any oil leaking anywhere and so far not a drop on the cardboard underneath. Spend some time riding it around locally while I wait for the DMV's new process to issue plates (you drop your paperwork off through a drop off and then wait 4-5 days). The feel of the motor is totally unique and reading through one of the posts here about not being afraid to run it up a little higher in the RPMs I got to see some of the fun the bike has to offer. Biggest issue I am facing, and to answer one of the questions above, the odometer has 16k, but the guy I bought it from informed me that speedometer isn't working and he believes there are 10k more from when it stopped work. Tomorrow I will be following some steps I found here to try to get the speedometer and odometer working again and also need to get some brake pads (big squeak from rear brake).  Next project is front suspension--incredibly soft with big dives when I even think about touching the front brakes.

[Martin]

The odometer gear sets run to over $200.00 plus fitted in OZ and that was over 10 years ago. And at that price you had to bring in the stripped out speedometer. There are cheaper alternatives that somebody in the US will suggest. If you have basic tools and skills you could give this ago. https://www.k100-forum.com/t16244-rebuilding-a-k-odometer-using-inexpensive-eby-gears-a-rough-guide#188138   Gears can be obtained of Ebay or electronic and hobby stores for under $6.00 US. The gears required for UK and the US will be a different teeth count to OZ.
Regards Martin.

[Phishery]

Thanks @Martin—I am going to start troubleshooting tomorrow.  Based on reading various posts here it sounds like the speedo sensor in the drive itself could be the issue, the connector into the panel, or the gears.  I should have mentioned that neither the speedo or the odometer is working. Strangely, the trip meter moves slightly.  Tachometer is working fine as are all other instrument panel lights.  In my early research it seems this is just one of the items that wasn’t designed as well as the engine ;)

[Martin]

Carefully remove the sensor from the final drive housing and clean it. If you have an electric soldering iron turn it on and wave it near the sensor without melting anything, the speedometer needle should fluctuate.
Regards Martin.

[stokester]

Nice looking brick and I'm with the others about rideability and reliability with the stock setup.
My initial checklist of a K75 that has been sitting for a while would include:
- rear splines
- lubing the clutch cable barrel at the lever
- checking the "Z" hose
- full fluid and filter change to zero time the maintenance (engine oil, brake, transmission, final drive, coolant, fork, fuel filter)
- brake pads
- tire age
- remove the gas tank cap and check for corrosion or debris
- spin the fan to ensure it is free and not frozen in place
- fuel line from tank to rail for cracks
- 4-pin connector

I know there are more items but these come to mind right now based on my experience.  There are numerous "how to" posts and many on what can happen if they are not done.

[TriSpark]

I have one just like it, but it has 100K more miles on it. Still rides beautifully and is a pleasure to ride fast and hard. Yours is barely broken in at that mileage.

Looks like you got a great deal there, so congratulations. Keep it stock, ride it as much as you can and enjoy it for what it is. Cafe racers are a dime a dozen, and most end up as hideous unfinished projects in the back of the garage before a sad end in the small ads.

[Phishery]

@Martin, I did some digging on the forum to find a reference for how to “carefully” remove the sensor, but didn’t find anything—any more guidance on that task?

@Stokester, thanks for that starting list. The gentleman I bought it from said he just did the splines and he put in a “plug” to prevent the grease from traveling, but I am going to double check that work (I see the receipt for the grease he bought in the big folder he gave me). Brakes are squeaky and will likely put in new pads. Tires are ancient, one from 2010 and the other from 2011–anyone want some vintage rubber ;). I do see some cracking on fuel line so that will have to go. Prior owner lined the tank so that is looking ok.

I use Roam Research to keep track of projects and it is starting to build out quickly now :) 

[Laitch]

@Martin, I did some digging on the forum to find a reference for how to “carefully” remove the sensor, but didn’t find anything—any more guidance on that task?

Because this is the Member Introduction section, Phishery, and you've pretty well done that already, post your continuing mechanical and electrical queries in the Motobrick Workshop section from here on out. We're eager to help.

In conclusion, I'll answer this one. Remove the screw that's securing the sensor into the final drive then lift it upwards out of the drive without dropping it or whacking it onto metal surfaces. That's the carefully part.  You could clean it then. You could also detach its wire from from the grommet holder on the final drive and from its electrical connector along the frame under the tank then take it to your workbench for closer inspection, however, there isn't much to inspect.  There is the homegrown test for function to which Martin referred. It's discussed in two posts starting here. Read Replies #3, and #4. It is not necessarily a conclusive test. Your speedometer could have gear, motor and/or electrical connection problems within the instrument cluster. All have been discussed in the forum. 

[Phishery]

Thanks Laitch!  I will shift the conversation to the correct section.  To button this one up then, I followed your guidance, pulled it out, looked clean, but cleaned it anyways—tested with soldering iron but nothing on speedo.  Checked connector under side panel and that looks fine but will apply deposit to ensure it is clean. Will follow other forum guidance by taking the instrument cluster to check connectors and gears.