Greetings

[BexarWolf]

Excellent article. I'll definitely take the points into my seating position. I don't want to change the grips because I worry about screwing up the heated grips so I thought maybe some gloves with the gel pads in the heels of the hands. Of course, this was my first test ride so I'm sure I'll be doing some adjustments in my seating position.

[BexarWolf]

Oh......one thing I did notice today: The mirrors are totally useless. I can see my bar-end weights and traffic in lanes on either side of me (a little) but trying to see anything directly behind is useless. I'm used to bar mounted mirrors and being able to see my shoulders and some behind so it'll take some getting used to. It'll probably make me a safer rider because I have to check down a little further back and to the side for lane changes.

[BexarWolf]

Well, I went on a little 175 mile ride today to wring out the bike and see how it feels. Here's the good and bad of it:

Good:

Runs VERY nice
Eats up the miles
Very steady and smooth
Love it.

Bad:

My battery side cover apparently is a fraidy-cat and wants to have nothing to do with hanging onto the bike at highway speeds. Luckily the PO was apparently aware of it and has the two covers bungied together through the frame. I'll be doing the vacuum line upgrade in the next few days.

My triple-tree cover (with the ignition hole, switches, etc) needs help hanging on at speed also. Some double-sided foam tape should take are of that.

Side cases: I wasn't real fond of them or the way they attach. Plus I didn't like the bumping feeling I got as the bags moved around on the Z-bracket. So, one of them decided to part ways with me somewhere within the last 40 miles of my trip. I got home, jumped off the bike and  :yow no left bag. All that was left was a huge pile of melted plastic on the muffler.  :nono :eek2: So, anyone have a way to remove melted side case plastic from a muffler? DAMN, this pisses me off (pardon my french).

[frankenduck]

My triple-tree cover (with the ignition hole, switches, etc) needs help hanging on at speed also. Some double-sided foam tape should take are of that.

I just bolted mine to the brackets with some stainless M6 buttonheads and some locknuts.

[BexarWolf]

I'll check into that. In the mean time, I went and recovered my missing side case. The thing looks like it was set on fire. The only thing I can figure is it got loose, laid against the muffler long enough to melt through and smoldered my gloves and baseball cap I had inside. I'll get a picture of it posted up shortly.

[BexarWolf]

I just can't figure out how the bag came loose and fell down onto the muffler. I had it latched into the slot on the end and set evenly in the groove at the top.  :dunno2: Off to the store tomorrow for some Easy Off and steel wool. Next will be checking prices on a replacement muffler. I can do without the bags for now. Grrrrrrrr

[Rick G]

That's why I have Givi luggage. there are 2 types of BMW luggage, the ones that have fallen of and the ones that are going to fall of.
Nine fell of in front of a road train, I managed to retrieve 2 good locks out of the mess.
Hang onto the bits as they are good for plastic welding to fix others.

[frankenduck]

I've got a couple of hundred K on these Ks and it wasn't until a few weeks ago that I lost a city case on some nasty pavement.  If I'd locked it to the rail then that would not have happened.

Boy that bag sure had a lot of melt going on.

[TimTyler]

Well, I went on a little 175 mile ride today...

Looks like you had some hot weather today, 94 degrees.

Was the bike idling in place for a while? I wonder if the heat from the muffler softened the tragkorb plastic while the bike was stationary, and then once you got moving it fell off.

[Uffda]

I have never locked the bags on my K75RT.  Constantly switching between the side cases and the GIVI top case on my daily work commute.  But after reading Duck's escapade, I now lock the side cases on to the bike each time I mount them.  Thanks for warning me.  This site has saved my noobie butt several times.

[BexarWolf]

Well, I went on a little 175 mile ride today...

Looks like you had some hot weather today, 94 degrees.

Was the bike idling in place for a while? I wonder if the heat from the muffler softened the tragkorb plastic while the bike was stationary, and then once you got moving it fell off.

Negative on any excessive idling. I only stopped once during the ride at about 95 miles to take on some food. Any other idling was simply in traffic which was pretty light with few red lights.  :dunno2:

It was all highway riding with no bag-scraping twisties. Just some nice sweeping curves and highway. I did feel a couple of roadway bumps that were unexpected but I wouldn't think it was enough to dislodge a bag that was locked into the z-bracket. Now, it's entirely possible I didn't have it completely locked into the bracket because it was the first time I'd put the bags on since picking up the bike on Monday. When I mounted the bags, I made sure to wiggle them and I *thought* I'd made sure both of them were securely latched in. I do remember that I tried to wiggle both bags fore and aft to see if there was any excessive movement and detected none.

It was a lesson learned.....kinda expensive lesson but a lesson none the less. Most of the plastic has been removed from the muffler. Now I have some residue on there that I think is from the nylon-covered security cable I had in the bag before it spontaneously combusted.  :tongue .

[argent brick]

Bummer that you lost a case Bro.
Will keep an eye out for a replacement.

How did you remove the plastic?

[BexarWolf]

Plastic spatula and Goof-off. The residue from the nylon cable is being more stubborn. I'll ride to work tonight and see if any of it will rub off after the muffler gets up to temp.

[Jumpin Jimmy B]

Bummer!

Thanks for the reminder to LOCK the fooking thing on the bike!

 My first K11 was a 94 and only lasted a couple weeks. I got hit hard from behind and believe the bags got launched after my legs hit them as the
bike was pushed out from under me. extreme condition for certain and I MAY have actually been better off that that happend. Not sure as I got bounced off the car that hit me.
 On the replacement 93 K11 I lock the bags on the bike. On trips when I'm loaded with gear I go one more step and use a black tie wrap X2 on each side
and strap the little lug to the Z bracket.
  Nice & secure and is NOT coming off easily.

[BexarWolf]

Yeah, I blame ignorance on my part for the ordeal. I would have never put the bags on without locking them but it's possible I didn't fully lock it to the z-bracket. I didn't even think about using zip ties. I mean........it's a BMW. The bags aren't supposed to spontaneously combust!  :lol:

What pisses me off now is I have one nice bag. I don't want to sell it because there's a chance a left side bag will show up. There's a new one on Ebay right now......for $340! Like hades I'll pay that much for a plastic bag. I'd be fine with a decent sized tank bag but even TANK bags are ridiculously expensive. I'll figure something out. Worse case, I have a bag pack I can use for packing rain gear if it looks like I'll need it. I just hate the way a back pack pulls at speed.  :dunno2:

[frankenduck]

They're "only" $380 new from a dealer.

[Scott_]

Bexar, what ever you do, keep the Lock assy's from the old bag as you will want them for any replacement you find.

See Duck, why I strap mine on like I did..........
I know, not that often that it happens, but I don't really care to be a statistic anytime soon in that area......

Bexar, and JJB, I'll post up a pick of how I strap mine when I'm traveling.

[frankenduck]

The one I lost had kind of an old lock and I went over some pretty nasty pavement.  I've never locked them on even until now and have ridden over all sorts of crap including nasty washboard.

Good point on keeping the locks. :2thumbup:

Also, to anyone reading this:  If you ever drop your bike or have a getoff be sure to check the lock that holds the downside bag to the rack.  Those can come loose or even come completely off.

[Scott_]

Also, to anyone reading this:  If you ever drop your bike or have a getoff be sure to check the lock that holds the downside bag to the rack.  Those can come loose or even come completely off.

I've had the rivets break/pull thru a couple of times on that bottom latch after a drop.

[Rick G]

I have lost 2 bags because of the rivits breaking or pulling through. One just got some road rash and the other well the driver of the road train did try to avoid it.

[BexarWolf]

I have lost 2 bags because of the rivits breaking or pulling through. One just got some road rash and the other well the driver of the road train did try to avoid it.

I've seen pics of those road trains. I can't see them avoiding much of anything less than a small house.  :laugh

I'm going to have to figure out something. If there were a way to convert my one good bag to a top box................hmmmmmm.  :hmm:

[Rick G]

I would keep an eye out for a left case just for now they are heaps easier to get than a right case.
If you do decide to go with some aftermarket cases then you will sell the right case for a good price.

[BexarWolf]

Curious.........why is the left easier to find than the right?

I doubt I'll go with aftermarket cases unless they're dirt cheap......I mean DIRT cheap. I don't see me doing in any distance riding any time soon. I had system cases on my F650gs and barely used them. At most I'd have a small tool pouch and maybe a bag with a rain suit or change of shirt in case it rained on me on the way to work. If I had to I can do that with a backpack. My ride to work is 30min one way. That's going to be the bulk of my riding until my hours change. Working nights on a compressed 4 day work week over the weekend kinda cuts in to any real fun rides.

[Rick G]

I have often wondered about that but never come up with any real explanation but the right side mirror for the RT/LT are near impossible to find at a price that is acceptable.  Its not which side of the road we drive because in Australia and UK it is the same.

[BexarWolf]

Well, after a lot of scrubbing and cussing, I have a lot of the goo off the muffler but there's some left. I've tried goof-off, brass-o (good googly moogly that stuff has a lot of ammonia in it!), some other oven cleaning paste........all to no avail. My wife bought some Easy-Off oven cleaner but it's the yellow cap. I've read that'll take the chrome right off so I'll pass. I think the blue lid is acceptable but I'm hesitant. I don't want to do more damage than good.  :dunno2:

I thought about a polishing pad on my Dremel but again, don't want to swirl the chrome. Damn that bag (and my poor mounting abilities).