Tips for improving riding position for an old fogey

[k-roc]

Got an in-transit permit for my new to me 1995 BMW K75 RT and had the bike out a couple times yesterday including on the highway. It will be hard to do the speed limit in town and on the highway.  I was wondering if any of the older riders (I am 61) have any advice in terms of fatigue in the arms, wrists and hands, as well as lower back and hips.  The K75 has a bit tighter riding position versus my Yamaha FJ-09 which has a more open hip angle and less lean forward.  The K75 isn't like a crotch rocket sport bike, but is less upright versus the FJ-09.  My age and inactivity are catching up with me.  I have erosive arthritis in  my hands, wrists and elbows. Fortunately, the arthritis specialist I visited a year ago or so ruled out rheumatoid arthritis and it looks like it is osteoarthritis.  They indicated it is a type of golfer's elbow.   Need to follow their exercises they gave me a little more religiously LOL.  Right hip and right portion of back were acting up both before and after the two bike rides.  Also I seem to have some muscles I haven't used in awhile ;).  It has been over two years since I rode so I am out of shape and practice.  I might try the BMW seat that also came with the bike as it is bit higher than the Corbin that is on it now.  When I rented the K75 in Heidelberg Germany from Knopf rentals in 2014, I had to use my bike helmet bag stuffed with several shirts and secured to the seat with some vecro straps.  It greatly improved riding comfort.  Note this was two years before my hip surgery and my right hip was really buggered (surgeon struggled to dislocate the hip during surgery).  Might look at small seat pad options to raise my arse up and open up the hip angle a bit.

Likely taking Advil as needed, using Voltaren arthritis pain gel, getting more exercise, and also routinely riding will help.

Thanks.

Kelly

[natalena]

Hi Kelly, a set of SW-Motech handlebar risers, on the K75S, made the difference of grocery getter to "let's burn a tank or two off." I got the 1" up, 1" back model, took a fiddly hour to install, and eventually will need a longer brakeline section to the master cylinder. I'm also in my 60's, 5'10", and risers along  with a silicone pad insert to the seat and Aerotech touring windscreen did wonders.

[frankenduck]

Click here: Optimizing Riding Comfort On A K

[Laitch]

Your Brick has a K75S dash pad and handlebar. The S was designed as a sporting model with a forward riding position. What natalena describes will likely work for you. What also is likely to be an effective modification is an RT handlebar, a four-switch dash pad to accommodate the RT bar, and a longer master cylinder-to-brake caliper hose to accommodate the increased rise and pullback of the RT bar. That is the customary stock riding configuration BMW supplied found on most dedicated Brick touring models.

In the attached photo is the layout of the used Brick I bought. It was like that for 7000 miles. When I realized that I was more comfortable riding in a forward position after decades of long distance bicycling experience, I sold the Corbin seat and backrest, removed the windshield, replaced the handlebar with a low, wide bar, and replaced brake line with a shorter line to accommodate the low bar. I kept the RT dash pad. An OEM bench seat modified with honeycomb gel padding finished the modification. I wear full gear along with a full-face helmet. My Brick's appearance now is the one in my avatar here ≈60,000 miles after the modification. Compare the original handle bar pullback alignment with the BMW roundel in the photo with your Brick's alignment, and compare the height, too.



Also, I am compelled to recommend flat-seam, polyester, ventilated underwear—like Ex Officio Give-N-Go boxer briefs—if you want to reduce the chance that your butt will feel like it's on fire after an hour's riding on an unmodified OEM seat  or to improve the comfort of a Corbin. Likewise, an OEM bench seat reupholstered with honeycomb gel padding has significantly improved my comfort when long distance riding. I like the bench seat rather than the bucket seat of the Corbin because I like to change riding position during long rides and the bench seat allows a greater range of position.

[natalena]

OK, I'm just spitballing, but road cycling position IS very comfortable with a thoughtful set up. Perhaps forearm rests would be cost effective on the brick. ;)

[Bmwsquirl]

Kroc
I'm part of the late sixties crowd Aleve and Tylenol and as stated bars can help a lot.my wife rode for years and recently sold her motorcycle moto guzzi do to osteoporosis in both thumbs.had one thumb done with a bio pro titanium implant six months ago.that pain is gone but not a lot of strength after.
Squirrel

[Chaos]

Didn't the OP say he has K75-RT?  Seems that ought to have an upright seating position and pulled back bars.  Less upright that his FJ-09?  I'm confused, but that's about par at 71, haha.

[Past-my-Prime]

I’m not sure he has the original RT handlebars.
I compare the upright seating position on my K75 to the F650GS I also ride, both have grips in a place that have my elbows bent at a comfortable angle and my wrists are neutral.
Original seat and everything else is stock except the shock which shouldn’t affect riding position.
Also 5’ 10” and almost 60 yrs old. I like sitting upright.

[frankenduck]

Didn't the OP say he has K75-RT?  Seems that ought to have an upright seating position and pulled back bars.  Less upright that his FJ-09?  I'm confused, but that's about par at 71, haha.

An FJ-09 has a pretty upright seating position:



I guess it depends upon how long your arms are. A couple of years ago I helped a local gal put some barbacks on a K75RT with stock RT bars. I thought it was unnecessary but she was happy with the end result.

[Laitch]

Didn't the OP say he has K75-RT?

Yes he did. He indicated the serial number seems to confirm the model; however, when he introduced us to it in his first thread, the photo below was one of a group that accompanied the introduction. It prompted my observations in Reply #3 of this thread.

[Laitch]

Now that I've taken a closer look at the dash pad, it does look like a four-switch model, so it seems somebody might have converted the RT to something a little more sport and a whole lot less hot to ride, sometimes. All that's needed is the RT handlebar, longer brake hose and longer clutch cable.

[frankenduck]

Now that I've taken a closer look at the dash pad, it does look like a four-switch model, so it seems somebody might have converted the RT to something a little more sport and a whole lot less hot to ride, sometimes. All that's needs is the RT handlebar, longer brake hose and longer clutch cable.

Those are K75S/K100RS bars. C bars would have less lean too.

[k-roc]

Thanks everyone.  I think you have narrowed this down.  When I enter the last 7 digits of the serial number in https://www.realoem.com/bmw/select.do? (6229897) it indicates it is an RT.  See attached pic.  The bike has gone through several owners starting in Maryland, then Saskatchewan, then British Columbia, and now with me in Alberta.  The VIN search and vehicle history reports for Canada and the USA indicate no salvage or accident records.  Thus, I suspect one of the previous owners wanted more of an S model setup and also the after market front fairing or they dropped the bike and the original K75 RT fairing set up was broken and then decided to go with the after market fairing and perhaps changed up the handle bars to the S model setup.  It has a four switch dash pad with ABS, Heated Grips, Hazard warning and an open unused switch port. 

The other thing is that in one of my other posts (introduction one I think) I had asked about the front radiator fairing and mentioned that one of the previous owners had installed a modified fairing with a small aluminum bar strip.  This was done to widened the whole radiator fairing assembly.  Some one mentioned in response that the RT has a larger radiator and thus the need to widen the two fairing halves with the aluminum strip. 

So it looks like I have an RT model that has been modified with an aftermarket front fairing (looks to be a type of Rifle fairing), widened the front radiator fairing assembly, and installed narrower and lower S type handle bars.  Thus, as suggested I will need to find a RT handle bar, and then also extended clutch and brake line hoses.  I do like the RT look and might look at trying to track down a used RT front fairing set up (light section and radiation section).  However, I may just try to update the handle bar and the clutch cable and brake hose lines. 

[k-roc]

One other thing I forgot was that that wiring for the dash pad may be too short.  There isn't a lot of play with this right now as I have been working with a none functional hazard switch.  Some electrical contact cleaner fixed the issue and it now works, but when popping the switch out from the front of the pad there isn't a lot of room with the existing switch wires. 

It looks like one cannot push the switches out the back of the dash pad, but instead one has to pull them out of the front of the pad (facing the rider).  Do you know if one can unscrew the dash pad brackets from the bike and then reattach the pad assembly?  Again one issue with changing back to an RT handle bar is that the switch wires may not be long enough (don't have enough play) for this. 

It looks like when working with the switches and replacing them one needs to actually remove the gas tank to get at switch wire connectors.  Sounds like this is a frustration (https://www.motobrick.com/index.php?topic=10777.0). 

Has anyone extended their switch wires by splicing in small extensions or they have added easy connect/disconnect connectors for the switch wires so that one doesn't need to remove the gas tank to work on the switches (replace or modify handle bar set up etc.)?

I am finding the width of the current handle bars (S type) and their lower position to be an issue for me in terms of comfort level, especially on longer rides.

Thanks everyone, your advice and guidance is sincerely appreciated.

[k-roc]

Seek and ye shall find in terms of the dash pad wiring length and different handle bars!  https://www.motobrick.com/index.php/topic,570.0.html

Thanks Frankenduck!

[frankenduck]

K75RT; The K75RT came out in 1990. What BMW did was retrofit the K100RT fairing to a K75. In doing so they designed the K75RT with a K100 radiator and K100 gas tank. (The gas tank has a slightly different shape from a K75 tank and has one liter more capacity.)

[daveson]

A bit of arthritis in the knees and other bits. You want riding pants with plastic knee guards to protect your knees from the wind. Actually the RT fairing gives your whole body good protection from the wind.

Because you're only 61, I reckon exercise can get you back to pain free (if not a complete cure) it might be good to look for something that helps with motivation until the exercise routine is a new habit.

[k-roc]

K75RT; The K75RT came out in 1990. What BMW did was retrofit the K100RT fairing to a K75. In doing so they designed the K75RT with a K100 radiator and K100 gas tank. (The gas tank has a slightly different shape from a K75 tank and has one liter more capacity.)

Thanks Frankenduck.  It was quite puzzling when I first got the bike as it indicated that it was an RT model via the serial number, but the front fairing set up was not an RT set up.  It is good to know this information as I can then focus on tinkering and enjoying the bike as is.  I may look at tracking down an RT handle bar eventually to help with riding position.  I am not sure about trying to get it back to a true RT set up with the correct fairings.  I do like things as original, but I am not sure trying to track down the all the RT fairing components and attachment hardware is worth it.

[Past-my-Prime]

Thanks Frankenduck.  It was quite puzzling when I first got the bike as it indicated that it was an RT model via the serial number, but the front fairing set up was not an RT set up.  It is good to know this information as I can then focus on tinkering and enjoying the bike as is.  I may look at tracking down an RT handle bar eventually to help with riding position.  I am not sure about trying to get it back to a true RT set up with the correct fairings.  I do like things as original, but I am not sure trying to track down the all the RT fairing components and attachment hardware is worth it.

Have a look on ebay before giving up on the search. You'd be surprised what the customizers will sell, and for how cheaply!  Some parts are harder to find like the battery covers but you have those already.

The benefits of full RT cladding: warmth and protection.

The downsides of full RT cladding: warmth and protection (and weight).

Living where I do, it rarely gets over 90 degrees F (30 C) and I am rarely in town or slow traffic so I'm happy with the full fairing.

[frankenduck]

Thanks Frankenduck.  It was quite puzzling when I first got the bike as it indicated that it was an RT model via the serial number, but the front fairing set up was not an RT set up.  It is good to know this information as I can then focus on tinkering and enjoying the bike as is.  I may look at tracking down an RT handle bar eventually to help with riding position.  I am not sure about trying to get it back to a true RT set up with the correct fairings.  I do like things as original, but I am not sure trying to track down the all the RT fairing components and attachment hardware is worth it.

They're harder to find but you also might want to look into getting some "C bars". (Used on K75C and a "mid" handlebar between S and RT handle bars.


On restoring it to stock RT faring: Time, money and effort-wise, to me it would make more sense just to buy a K75RT. It looks fine to me with the aftermarket fairing. The fully faired K75RT is also more topheavy than other K75s and more awkward when you need to push it around. It's also cramped in the knee area if you're on the tall side.

[Laitch]

Play around customizing this, Kelly. It'll keep you off the street and out of trouble while obsessing with dimensions.  There's no option for K75C but you could use the attached photos for understanding the relative dimensions of the C and RT. Photos are from the MaxBMW parts fiche.




 

[k-roc]

I have had my BMW K75 RT out for some local rides mainly, but will be looking at a six hour trip to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan to visit my brother and where I grew up.  Pretty flat and straight route unfortunately, but I do get some curves in on local rides via the highway on ramps to Hwy 2 between Calgary and Edmonton.  I was thinking of adjusting the throttle tension screw to help maintain a steady speed.  I had a couple of cheaper plastic options including a Cramp Buster type cruise assist (https://tinyurl.com/yyrsan5e) and a Go Cruise type throttle lock (https://tinyurl.com/yuya3v7b). I tried both on my K75 and didn't like the feel and operation as much as on my previous FJ-09 (2015) and KLR 650 (1994), although even with my previous bikes they were only ok. 

I am looking at changing the grips out as the ones on the bike are likely originals and are quite hard and slippery so I tend to grip the throttle side of the handle bar quite tightly leading to some fatigue.  Searching this forum and also Google it looks like the Pro Grip 699 Grips 699BK Closed Black are the way to go.  Most of the posts on the site are more than 10 years old and suppliers seem to be somewhat limited especially for grips that have closed ends as I don't have any bar ends on the bike currently.   I found an option on E-bay and the price is right even with the exchange rate and shipping (https://www.ebay.com/itm/126424001071?shqty=1&isGTR=1#shId).  Most of the options on Amazon seem to be the open ended version.  Are there any updated options that forum members are aware of?  Was also looking at the Grip Buddy option (https://www.beemershop.com/product/smartskin-original-beemer-buddies-comfort-grips.html), but I think I would prefer the Pro Grip 699s given the recommendations here; however does anyone have any experience with the Grip Buddies?

I am still looking for a RT handle bar to help with my riding position, but I want to do a few longer distance trips with the existing set up, especially if I change the grips I currently have.  There don't seem to be many options for the RT handle bars currently other than a couple options on E-bay.  Going with an RT handle bar would likely mean looking at different clutch cables and brake lines, but also trying to move over the BMW heated grips set up I currently have to the RT bar, which would likely be a PITA.   

[Bmwsquirl]

Have you tried Flanders for bars?I didn't run a search but they have been around a long time.
Squirrel

[Laitch]

It used to be easy to find Pro Grips in 22mm but it doesn't seem that way now. Grips labeled 7/8-22mm are larger than 22mm and likely to be slightly loose so will need some attention to correct that. You could get Magura grips from MaxBMW; they'll be 22mm actual. They'll cost around 42USD per pair. Puig makes a few 22mm also, maybe.

Flanders is a good handlebar source. It has a BMW section so all those bars are correctly sized. Many of them move your torso position more upright. Be sure there is enough room on them to accommodate classic Brick switches. You could also mount handlebar risers or barbacks as a strategy for positioning. The dash pad would mount onto them in the same way as it's mounted now.

[frankenduck]

It used to be easy to find Pro Grips in 22mm but it doesn't seem that way now. Grips labeled 7/8-22mm are larger than 22mm and likely to be slightly loose so will need some attention to correct that. You could get Magura grips from MaxBMW; they'll be 22mm actual. They'll cost around 42USD per pair. Puig makes a few 22mm also, maybe.

Flanders is a good handlebar source. It has a BMW section so all those bars are correctly sized. Many of them move your torso position more upright. Be sure there is enough room on them to accommodate classic Brick switches. You could also mount handlebar risers or barbacks as a strategy for positioning. The dash pad would mount onto them in the same way as it's mounted now.

Correct, if you use barbacks then you need to have them with M6 holes in them to bring the dashpad back - or you'd need to drill and tap holes for that.