I'm new to the forum as I've had reason to be a lurker here for a couple of weeks. I am currently in possession of a classic K1 that belongs to a friend. I bought another BMW from him (R27) and he really wanted for me to buy the K1 as well. The reason he wants to sell is that he just doesn't ride the K1. He has quite a number of bikes, including an LT. Since he's in his 70's and has the LT he just doesn't ride the K1. The bike has been sitting for a long time but after draining the tank, adding some injector cleaner and putting a hundred miles or so on it, it seems to run flawlessly.
I agreed to keep the bike for a while to attempt to sort out some of it's problems. He's said that he figures if I ride it for a while I'll fall in love with it; he may be right. Without going into details here, I'll just say that I've gotten the bike running well but it still has electrical problems, which I'll try to address in the workshop thread. Since getting the bike running I've found that I like it a great deal. In fact, I'm not sure I'll give it back to him and will likely buy it.
I have a long background with BMW's. I've owned a number of bikes over the years with most being standard bikes, sport bikes and sport tourers. For a decade or so I raced a very special R75 in WERA and AHRMA racing (in my avatar). I have to say that the K1 is one of the most comfortable sporting bikes that I've ever ridden. I just sold a Ducati 999 and found it to be a torture rack compared to the K1. I do find the K1 a little under-geared, but do not find the turning radius, heat or any of the other oft cited K1 issues to be a problem for me. The handling is quite responsive and rock solid stable. The engine is smooth with just a bit of buzz around the mid RPM range. The paint (red with yellow) takes a bit of getting used to but is growing more appealing as I work on it and ride it.
Anyway, looking forward to learning more about these great BMW's and productive interchange with the other members here!
