Newbie from across the pond.

[armstrongracer]

Hi all.

Prospective new owner of a K1300s (Motorsport model), will probably collect it at weekend. Generally a sportsbike rider but will be using this bike for my daily commute in all weathers (30% city, 70% motorway) plus some touring to GP's.  Not allergic to the spanners so do my own servicing, repairs & upgrades. Located in Dublin.

[black-k1]

Hello and welcome.  I'm sure you'll enjoy your Motorsport.  As "do everything" road bikes they really are hard to beat.

I think your definition of "the pond" differs significantly from my definition. 

[Tigcraft]

Welcome in to the forum

[Phmode]

Hi Mike and welcome to the madhouse that is EuroKClub!

I too was expecting someone from the USofA. Strange no one has ever come up with a pseudonym for The Irish Sea.

I hope the bike lives up to your expectations but it is more than capable of doing most of it, if not all. Brian

[armstrongracer]

Cheers all,

Picked up the K1300s on Saturday then rode it 5 hrs from London to Hollyhead in a mixture of rain and some very gusty wind.

Some observations:

Bit scruffy but knew it had been a cat N. Can't complain at £6k with 16K miles plus panniers, new Yasa, fairly decent tyres and a spare re-upholstered seat. I'll be doing a daily commute of 100km which would massively depreciate anything newer/smarter.

Clutch action really heavy, it has shorty levers fitted which IMHO, have improved no bike ever. This one is no exception.

The well documented vibes & tingles are there.

Absolutely hated it riding through London but once on the open road the riding position works well.

Motor is deceptively rapid.

Brakes are lovely.

Rearsets make it hard to get to the side-stand tab. Ive short legs and even then they feel too far back on lowest setting.

Fairing is brilliant for a sports bike, wore jeans and by keeping knees tucked in, my legs stayed dry even in heavy rain.

Best mirrors I've used on a bike, LH is absolutely clear, RH jiggles a bit. Will work out how to get it as smooth as the LH one.

Feels planted, safe and really nice in high speed corners. Will enjoy attacking sweepers with this.

Handling was probably helped by the '55 section rear tyre the previous owner has fitted.  Tyres are the sometimes criticised Pilot Power 2CT's, thought they were grippy and stable with good steering and feedback.

Lights are sh*te, will be following up on improvement posts on this forum.

Missus likes the panniers, well designed and no buffeting at high speed.

On a long run I found the Akrapovic noisy and tiring, static they are actually quieter than the Akropovic's on my KTM so maybe its a frequency thing.

I generally mod/customise my bikes apart from lights will be looking at jack-up plates and possibly a remap.

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nWSNkNzMJDQcu_NcGVzvf9JT9Fif25oD/view?usp=sharing

[richtea]

Very nice. A good bargain, Armstrong.

Pop the baffle back in and your hearing will be fine. I SAID... oh never mind. 

Not heard of a heavy clutch. Maybe someone else can shed light on that angle?

[Phmode]

Nice one.

If you got the original levers with it you might fix the clutch heaviness as you say. Otherwise, James Sherlock and Motorworks are your friendly breakers.

Cheap car HID kit off fleabay and stuff it all inside the headlamp shell without the LampF failure device, the K doesn't need it. One in dip and one in one mainwith a high rate Osram or Philips in the other main. Of course, the first thing is to check the alignment. UP/Down lever inside fairing in front of brake lever for starters, then the knob on the lever if it needs more.

[richtea]

If you got the original levers with it you might fix the clutch heaviness as you say. Otherwise, James Sherlock and Motorworks are your friendly breakers.

Ah, good point, Brian. I should have said, I have a spare pair of standard levers, Armstrong.
Happy to send them over. If they work, you can send me your old ones. If they don't, just send them back.
PM me your address, and I'll stick them in the post.

[corkboy]

Cheap car HID kit off fleabay and stuff it all inside the headlamp shell without the LampF failure device, the K doesn't need it. One in dip and one in one mainwith a high rate Osram or Philips in the other main. Of course, the first thing is to check the alignment. UP/Down lever inside fairing in front of brake lever for starters, then the knob on the lever if it needs more.

Or go LED
https://www.k-bikes.com/threads/replacing-xenon-with-led-low-beam.47721/post-283331
(I've HID on one bike and and LED on the other.  LED was plug and play, HID a bit more convoluted, but just as effective, but on low beam the light scatter is more noticeable).

And might I suggest a AF-XIED as a cheap and effective alternative to a re-map
https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?97776-K1300S-2014-BMW-AF-XIED-installation

If you have a spare afternoon, have a google for the AF-XIED. It makes for interesting reading.  I've fitted it to my K1200 and my mates one.  It really smoothens out the bikes, and gets rid of any mid-range hesitation.

[armstrongracer]

Cheers all.

Heavy clutch action was the shorties robbing leverage. Now Iv'e got used to them and moving fingers over to the ball-end has done the trick. May see if I can live with them for a bit. Previous owner got the bike from an insurance auction and I'd say original levers and the road-baffle are still sitting in someone's shed. I got everything the owner had, including a single key.

For lights I've come across a couple of sites that do kits for k1300s (ledperf.co.uk & xenonhids.co.uk), I've had bad delivery experiences from China lately so prefer to keep it fairly local. There seems to be mixed messages in different forums as to the optimum setup. I'd like to mix leds and HID's for best effect, the bike will be a daily driver in all weathers and the ability of the main beam (dipped) to work in mist & rain is important. So feedback as to optimum mix for the 3 bulbs would be welcome, colour temperature and beam spread is important also. 

Thanks for the pointer to the AF-XIED box, was going to use either Hilltop or BSD for mapping, I've experience of both companies. However, cost of a ferry plus fuel etc. makes it a €500 job, and possibly more. The box is a whole lot cheaper.

[Phmode]

Those who have ridden in front of, and especially behind me, will attest to HID in one main and the dip with a high output Osram or Philips 'nightbreaker' type bulb in the other main. For clarity, main is high beam, dip is low beam.

Beam cut-off on dip is same as stock. Beam pattern on main is eye-wateringly good. Daytime speeds at night. Colour for me is always 6000K.

LED have yet to convince me that the cut-off, spread and throw is as good or better than HID.

I've always used Xenonhids.

No need to drill the rear cover. Everything fits inside the shell. I wrap the boxes in some of that perforated rubber sheet to stop them rattling around. Works for me.

[black-k1]

I'm with Brian on this. After 6 years commuting (18,000 miles per year) the HID approach is cheap, easy and absolutely stunning in use. HID and 100w Halogen as main beam allows for day time speeds at night. A little non-scientific test I did on the local "private road" bypass was to start counting 1-1000, 2-1000 etc. from the point my headlight picked up a road side marker until I passed it. At 80 mph, it took 20 seconds!

I prefer the 4300K kits (closer to a halogen colour) as I found the 6000k bulks in my K1200S just a little too "cold" for me.

Beam cut off for dip is crisp an clear but the light is very visible for a very long way, which is great for helping ensure other traffic knows you're there. As Brian says though, do check beam alignment with the adjustment knobs as getting it wrong could really upset other road users.

Buy a cheap Chinese kit off eBay but buy one that's already in the UK/EU then delivery times will be reasonable. It's what I did for mine.

[rdryder]

 Welcome
 Must keep a eye out, have nt seen many motorsports about in Dublin.
Didnt notice frequency issue with slip on, I just felt it  restricted  the bike to breath  and replaced with full system. Sounds and feels soooooo much better.
You got a great bargain there, well wear..

[chriscanning]

Knowing the difference fitting Akra headers made too my X/R wished i’d Bought some for the K years ago,haven’t seen any for sale for years.

[Matt]

This make me want to buy a bike I know I can put a full system on without a. making the ECU moan and b. making my wallet moan