I am back in the saddle, 1994 K1100RS

[tsnap]

Years ago, just out of college, I rode a 1974 R90/6, last year of the kickstart.  Bought it at an auction of a guys estate.  Paid around $1800 for it.  Lots of miles, and had to outbid the guy from Engle Motors in KC, who knew the bikes history.  Rode it for years, and picked up a R75 that just sat in the garage.

Sold it , got into xs1100, cb 750s, and 650 nighthawks,750 magnas,lots of yamaha triples, most shafties ever produced, but a few chains.(CM450c, CM400C,T.)

So about a year ago, I was finding that I could not hold my left leg in tight against the tank on long rides, then soon I could not lift my legs to the pegs unless I grabbed my pant leg and hoisted the leg.(RIGHT leg)  Very hard to back bikes out of diagonal parking.

It felt like I had the worst groin strain ever, but I thought it would pass.  It didnt pass, it kept me up, and ibuprofen, aspirin, and 12 packs wouldnt let me sleep.  Xrayed it, no joint left on right side.  Near immediated surgery, then had the other done also.

So I knew that a BMW was in my future, on my list.  Found a  94, K1100RS BMW advertised cheap.  The owner had installed a new battery, but not secured properly.  It wore thru the battery and the brake line.  He was moving ,and his wife wanted it gone. 4days later, went to see it.  He said he had no other calls.  Unbelievable in my mind.

It's black, has 48K, good tires, fancypants seat,  overall a great bike methinks..  :clap:  iT WEIGHS WET AT ABOUT 591LBS, AND AN K1100LT IS UP OVER 800 I THINK.

The main drawback I see to the 1100LT is the weight.  The RS just 20lb more than my old xs1100 yamaha, and I only tipped it once, leaning towards a payphone.

So, after reading all over the interwebs, i have ideas.

1. cannister removal

2. battery (wow, is that really a 700 amp alternator, up from 460 :mbird?)

3. braided lines SS

4. cruise of some kind

5. oil change. I usually use castrol 20-50 racing oil

6.clean electrical connectors as I go

7.spline lube

8. change to 5k headlight

9. gearbox lube. my brothers use Swepco on Porsches?

10. check forks for leak? has gators

11. Wrist/finger guards for winter riding.  All the bikes on Engles sidewalk have them

12.  bar end mirrors, if I can get around heated grip wires?

13. Aftermarket tall windshield.  Ive seen one that just screws on the front of the fairing.  Im 6 foot, and
      I ride in cold and rain.  But I pull over asap in rain

14. I need a rear bracket/rack, I have a large case.  There are 2 racks, I want the larger one,                maybe w    removable backrest?

15 Clutch someday ?  I do not see a visual inspection hole in the FSM.

I had looked at another K bike about 10 years ago, a 750, with an ugly green repaint, and about 100k miles..  Passed on it at $3,500.

I see that Johnny rides one, so there must be something about them.  As I read more, it just seems like this is a bike they ironed a few kinks out of.

Im kind of getting to be an old fart now, but my bikes have always been a high priority.

chime in if you like with suggestions, critiques, etc.

Nice to be here.

tom in Kirksville, KC.

[jakgieger]

Welcome Tom.  That is a nice clean bike.  I started out on an R60/5 that came in a box (of parts) .  You are only as young/old as you think you are.  I tell my wife that as long my life insurance is current, I am worth more dead than alive :hehehe

[Laitch]

Welcome, tom.

Unless you've got convincing documentation that the input splines were lubed, you should schedule separating the transmission from the engine to inspect and grease them. That's when you can pull the clutch pack to measure the friction disc for wear. These bike have durable discs though—48K usually isn't a point for concern if the bike hasn't been ridden hard.

[tsnap]

Thanks guys.  The owner had it all covered with blankets, which is always a good sign.  He wasn't a bmw affecionado, and had bought it himself on a whim.  He took great pains to show me every tiny scratch on it.  There are a lot of bikes sitting in garages these days.  I get calls all the time to get them running for people, doing housecall cycle repair as my hip rehab, lots of bending, sitting, kneeling etc.


AS a tip, I always carry an old sofa cushion in the truck, to kneel on when working on a bike.  Saves the knees some scratches and oil soaking, and makes getting up much easier.

It's supposed to last me the rest of my life.  I don't worry about age much, and hardly ever see doctors, unless drinking, hunting, fishing,  with friends.  When I got the hips, I had a hard time telling hospital personel my age, with all the docs and nursing having trouble accepting that I take no drugs, and just one eye surgery in my twenties.   :dunno

gotta check that rear shock too.

tom  Kirksville, KCMO

[drut]

Hi: nice clean looking bike!


"11. Wrist/finger guards for winter riding.  All the bikes on Engles sidewalk have them": The mirrors on the RS do a good job of deflecting wind blast from your hands,can't see from the photo what screen is on your bike but deflector position makes a big difference on standard screen.

[tsnap]

i think my full Windjammers and Pacificos spoilt me, but I will ride it as-is, till I am assasinated by a locust.

tom

[Martin]

Tom the  best investment you can make if you have back, knee or hip problems is a lift table, and a nicely padded  adjustable roller stool. I have only just got one, best investment ever, makes working on the bike so much easier. You just adjust to what height you want and readjust as you move from one area to another. Just keep on Bricking it slows time down and makes you younger.
Regards Martin. :riding:

[TrueAce]

Welcome back to the saddle, and congrats on having a medical remedy for your hips. Old bikes need maintenance & repairs and so do old bikers, that's all it is! When you can't hold the bike up, don't retire, just get a sidecar, and keep riding! That is a very sharp K-bike you've got there.

[Laitch]

. . . just get a sidecar, and keep riding!

:2thumbup:

[tsnap]

Thanks for the encouragement and all the cases of Heineken dark, sausages, and home made Schmaltz and fresh baked Pumpernickel, in addition to your spare frauleinwunders  you guys have sent in congratulatory  actions. They are wearing me out!  :beer:

 I am soon ordering the brake line, which is originally preformed.  Do the  braided lines fit well and install easily?  I believe the line old has a flared  tubing type fitting,  (2) alongside the battery, as I recall on initial inspection,,  on the forwardmost fitting?  Do some 1994 bikes have either ABS1 or ABS2?  The bike does have the ABS emblem on both sides of the bike if that matters.

Is there a comparable term to address gentlemen, paraqllel to Fraulein??  wiki(Fräulein is the diminutive form of Frau, which was previously reserved only for married women. Frau is in origin the equivalent of "Mylady" or "Madam", a form of address of a noblewoman. But by an ongoing process of devaluation of honorifics, it came to be used as the unmarked term for "woman" by about 1800. Therefore, Fräulein came to be interpreted as expressing a "diminutive of woman", as it were implying that a Fräulein is not-quite-a-woman. By the 1960s, this came to be seen as patronising by proponents of feminism, and during the 1970s and 1980s, the term Fräulein became nearly taboo in urban and official settings, while it remained an unmarked standard in many rural areas. This process was somewhat problematic, at least during the 1970s to 1980s, since many unmarried women of the older generation insisted on Fräulein as a term of distinction, respecting their status, and took the address of Frau as offensive or suggestive of extra-marital sexual experience.)

A scene in post-war Germany: A Fräulein (a Miss, unmarried woman) in an American garden club. The large number of attractive young women in Germany resulted in the notion of the Fräuleinwunder (literally: Miracle of the Miss).[1]By Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1975-098-26A / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5419004

[TrueAce]

Based on my extensive study of German linguistics through watching "Sound of Music" many times, I believe the term for gentlemen          (certainly not applicable to participants of this forum) would be "Herr".

[tsnap]

I guess that makes me "herrless" when I shave my head in the summer?

I once bought a yamaha triple that had a sidecar.  I admired the bike in his garage, and bought it not running.  Did the carbs, got it running, and off I drove.  Acoss the street, up the curb, into the parking lot. So then I realized why those motorcycles in the old war movies went wildly into the field, flipping, rolling, and ocassionaly exploding. Sold it online to a guy from Texas who met me in Tulsa.  That day, I learned why so many people from OK come to KC to buy bikes.  ***SALES TAX***  I stopped at a Harley shop, and went to the markdown Tshirt rack and bought one.  YIKES, we give t shirts away in Missouri!

I just finished reading the seat posting and a couple of other seat threads.

Do you recognize the seat on my bike?  I think he told me it was a corbin, and I did notice that it didn.t quite open fully when hinged open....at least not like my Honda bikes.

On my old R90/6,  when solo, I used a very comfortable kinda triangular shape seat that was originally tuck and roll from a Kawasaki late 70s or early 80s. It was  Very comfortable, and laid right into the frame, and didnt look bad at all..


Whenever I see a cheap seat, I buy it, because any old bike I buy always needs a seat....or someone else does.  Good trading material.  So, I have a big ol seat from a Honda VT1300, and the pillion.  Its a huge (18 inch wide) bike saddle type seat.  Biker doods and spouses look at it with wonderment.  Before I let it go, has anyone adapted a seat like this to a BMW.  Its the size of those shop stools that have motorcycle seats on them.  It would be great for long rides, but perhaps not aesthetically pleasing.

tom