Hi from Oregon

[skucera]

Hi folks,

I'm shopping for a used brick to replace my old Yamaha Vision after many years of faithful service.  I'm looking at a well maintained but cosmetically challenged K75RT and a K100LT.  I've been lurking here for a couple of months, but I figured I was probably a little overdue to register and get in here for more serious research.

Any tips would be appreciated, especially for repairing broken alignment pins on K75RT side covers and split mirror housings. 

Thanks,
Scott

[frankenduck]

If you're referring to when the front and back halves of RT mirrors separate, what I do is glue them back together with a small bead of 5-min epoxy. Easy-peasy.

Side cover pin repair is also easy-peasy. Drill a hole where the pin used to be and then epoxy in a replacement. The picture below shows somebody who did it with stiff wire. What I would use is a section of M5 threaded rod and then cover the exposed threads with a layer or two of heat shrink tubing.

[skucera]

Thanks, Frankenduck!  Those are great ideas.  These fixes make the K75RT a much more appealing prospect.

Go Ducks!  (Yeah, I'm a Duck alumnus.)

Scott

[frankenduck]

Thanks, Frankenduck!  Those are great ideas.  These fixes make the K75RT a much more appealing prospect.

Go Ducks!  (Yeah, I'm a Duck alumnus.)

Scott

I'm a UW Husky but I'll forgive you.

[skucera]

Well, one of the candidate bricks I was looking at to buy has been eliminated from my inquiries.  I just learned that a 1989 K100LT with all the bells and whistles has been sitting unused in a garage for 18 years.  That is plenty of time for the entire brake system to need to be replaced, including the ABS pumps.  And tires.  And probably clutch, though thank goodness that isn't hydraulic too.  That is a lot of expense I don't want to take on if I can find a good bike that costs a little more but has been ridden consistently and been maintained over the years.

So, the K75RT remains a possibility.  An R1100RS just popped up too, but that isn't of much interest on this forum, but still it is an interesting possibility.

Scott

[natalena]

Welcome aboard! Owning a brick is very enigmatic, as it's not the bike I ride the most, but it's also never been in consideration to sell. Second only to the Harley for reliability and ease of wrenching on. The Vision didn't catch on with the cafe crowd, like the "silverwings". I thought Visions had such potential. Cheers

[Edward]

I agree.


Keep in mind the brakes rotors can be upgraded to full floaters at minimal cost. The suspension both front and rear can be updated with Race Tech. Both offer improvements only time could offer. Original K75s owner since 87.

[skucera]

OK, I may come to regret this decision but I ended up buying the 1989 K100LT that sat for 17 years without being ridden.  When I went to the seller's house he ended up backing the bike out of his garage and I saw that the garage was air conditioned and humidity controlled.  The brakes still worked.  Gas still sloshed around the tank after 17 years.  And the seller dropped his price by $1000, which made this bike seem like not such a big gamble.

Once I find a site to host my photos, I'll post some pix of it.  It's in my garage now along with its saddlebags, top box, a backrest with its own little luggage rack, a BMW-branded tank bag, and a really nice dust cover.

So, now I get to drain all the fluids, replace all the rubber hoses, replace both tires (which are Metzler's from 20 years ago), replace the battery, replace the fuel filter and perhaps the fuel pump, and then see if the injectors still inject.

Should be an adventure....

Scott

[frankenduck]

What I use to host pics: https://imgur.com/upload

[The Mighty Gryphon]

Welcome!  Sounds like you found a winner.  IMHO there is no finer machine for covering massive amounts of pavement than a RT/LT model K bike.

Good luck with getting it running again.  All the advice you need is right here as many of us have gotten bikes like yours(and worse) back on the road.

Posting photos from your computer is pretty easy.  Just click on the "Attachments and other options" link below the message box.