Something to do.

[Karl]

Apart from cobbling together a mount for the sat nav, and stripping/re-connecting the (OEM?) feed to it, and lobbing in half a litre of engine oil, all I have done is re-fuel and two washes, (ACF50 hand wiped, none of this spray it on malarky, apart from the awkward bits...), in the 10 months I've had it. The lads at work are shocked! I should have had it stripped down, more than once..., replaced anything I thought needed it, and the other bits that probably didn't...

Anyway, a long post asking for suggestions as what I can play with on the bike, to occupy my rather bored didgits/brain interface, that stops me getting on with desperately needed diy...!

[Philip]

I removed the rear suspension linkage yesterday.

Removed the rollers in the 4 bearings & gave everything a good clean & re-grease.( You need some really sticky grease so the rollers will stay in the outer race while you slide the centre bearing back in ).

They really weren't too bad & still had grease in them at 35k miles, but being the new owner, don't know if the job has been done before.
But as previously serviced by BMW, I wouldn't think they had been touched before.

On my previous K1300 I did the job at less than 30k miles, they were much worse with virtually no grease.

Anyway a pretty simple job & well worth doing, took me about 2 leisurely hours.

You do need a T50 torx plus a 16mm spanner & some thread lock.

Reprom suggests you renew the 4 nuts, I didn't, torque 38Nm.

Much easier if you have the centre stand, & lift the rear wheel slightly to take the weight off the bolts as they are removed.

[Phmode]

This is vital work on the K, especially the early ones, the 12's especially. The 13's were slightly better greased but dog bone failure was not unknown in the early days.

Take all the bodywork off too. Mind-numbingly satisfying and you can spend hours wondering where that last screw should have gone when you get it all back together. Oh, and make sure you have some Araldite-a-like for thise tabs on the back of the tank side panels 

Failing all of that, come round to mine and clean my wheels. I'll provide full social distancing measures and bacon sarnies 

[chriscanning]

First time mine was stripped was a factory recall,the second I fitted Sandbars aftermarket dog bones,the third time fitted a far more radical pair from Germany that are on too this day.

[Karl]

As long as the buttie stack remains "scooby sized", I'll happily sit on your drive glueing bits of broken bike together! An egg banjo in-between wouldn't go amiss either.

All a mute point at mo, went to go shoppng for mum earlier, and van dead. Flat as a witches proverbial. Started fine yesterday, nothing now. 0.2v on my meter. Nothing left on... Fortunately, the clever me..., parked the van in front of the driveway/garage for security. "No one's going to move that easily!" I was right.

The K is showing me its derrier and laughing.
Should I burn the van in the hopes that when it cools, (and hasn't burnt aforementioned bike/house/other bikes, down), it will be light enough to move, get a crane in, or try to fix it?

I would like to say these times have pushed me ....

[Karl]

Can you remember what ones they were Chris?

[chriscanning]

Blimey it took some head scratching from many years ago 


https://schwabenmax.de/index.php?cat=KAT179&lang=ENG&product=BK-BK13

Come to think of it... may have been...,had to trawl through another website from 10 years ago....

https://www.bikefarmmv.com/epages/79512538.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/79512538/Products/%22HHLABEBMW%20K%201200%22

https://www.bikefarmmv.com/epages/79512538.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/79512538/Products/%22HHLRBMW%20K%201300%20HHL%22

[Karl]

Thanks Chris! Sorry for making your head itchy! There is a choice of 25mm or 31mm, would the 31 be too much for general use?

And thank you Phil! Something to get my teeth into. When I can get my teeth near!

[chriscanning]

It was quite strange trawling through a 3 page thread on jack up plates from 10 years  ,the original Sandbar plates were 15mm,the MK2 ‘s where 16mm,but all the stuff from Germany was way more dramatic,the problem being that although they transform the steering,in reality the K has all the traits of a brick outhouse and the 31mm and there was even a 37mm... had all the signs to me of having you in a world of pain.

Short answer 25mm(for me on my 1200 with carbon wheels)but I see they recommend 31mm for the 1300 so you will have to find out for yourself on that one,and while I have gone similar routes with other bikes but in a different way the sidestand can be an issue which I have never resolved so I carry a thick puck in my tank bag,a small inconvience considering the improvement with the bike.

[Karl]

An even bigger thanks then Chris!
I'll have a ponder on which one.

I rotateted the eccenentrics on a Z11, but found that it wanted to fall into a bend more than tip, and not comfortable after a couple of hours. Bar risers on a normal one, 5hrs was a doddle.
Same on the K finds the niggles on my unfit bod!

[Costas]

25mm for boys up to 177 and the 31 mm for the  bigger boys over 178 height

[Karl]

31 it will be then! Thanks Costas!

Chris, how far shy is the side stand? I can always weld a bit or fabricate a new one.

[chriscanning]

Oh blimey embarrassment time  excuse the quality of workmanship in fact just looking at it thought shct!!! must have another go,anyways carry this around with me and even then a serious angle of lean but a price worth paying because the plates really speed the steering up.

Re the sidestand hmmm,I've had to do similar with my Tiger when I went from a 19" front to a 17" and had too take a piece out,but the SS is tubular,where as the K version looks cast too me???

[Karl]

I can weld the stainless, though putting headers onto a zed was a test. Mainly due to what the bad workman had to make use of...
I'll have a prod when I can, but I'm thinking it will be bog standard steel.
36mm to pad it up? Left my seeing eyes in the other room!