Aren't BMW K series bikes fantastic? Warning, long and boring.

So...

Cases in point.

1. K75LT, 1992, appox 250k miles

I've been a little stressed of late and this has resulted in my maximum
commute speed heading up from 90 to flat out for sections of up to 20
miles (motorway).

Naturally, on an 18 year old bike with over 250k under its belt
something's going to give... The something was the radiator.

I thought I smelt a little coolant on Tuesday but lack of time and
complacency meant I did nothing about it. Got to work on Wednesday and
it was everywhere; all over the engine, all over my trousers. Whoops.

Was rather pissed off about other stuff so didn't bother looking at it
or organising recovery, thought about what to do when I left work at
8pm; started the bike and it sounded a little clattery. Decided to see
just how tough the bike was and rode home at 60mph on A roads[1] (about
60 miles). It made it home with the oil light flickering briefly at
the bottom of my drive.

Had a look yesterday and sure enough, the radiator is leaking and there
was only 1.1l of coolant in it (rather than 3l). I filled with water
and it started, still a bit clattery. Let it warm up and then drained
the engine oil. Whoops... only 700cc came out (rather than about 3l).
Some of the oil will be in the filter so I guess the engine only had
about 1 and a bit litres rather than 3.75...

Filled it up with cheap oil and it *sounded* ok. Took it out for a
ride, it pulled fine. Excellent.

Replaced the radiator with one that didn't quite fit. Plan is now to
use it for a few hundred miles and if it's not drinking oil, rattling
badly then give it a proper service and replace the radiator.


2. K1100LT, 1996, 54k miles

Been standing over winter for six months plus.

Charged battery[2].

Hit starter, starts within 10s; it's done this after being laid up
(parked...) for three winters.

Even though the Honda PanEuropean was clearly a more modern bike than
the K1100LT I prefer the K1100. However, since I'm probably going to
need to do a 200mile daily commute in the not too distant future I
*might* be going back to a Pan for this simply because they are newer...



3. K100RS 1988, unknown mileage (more than 35kmiles)

Bought for the leading link front end and sidecar tat with an
expectation it would end up being broken.

Wanted to ride a K series solo with leading links (just 'because') so
tried to start it. Bike had been crashed in the spring of 2007 and
parked; so probably hadn't been started for more than a year (radiator
missing, fuel injection control box removed etc.)

It had about a litre of fuel at the bottom of the tank. Seems enough,
even if it is a bit old.

Cobbled it all back together and tried starting it, no joy. Ah...
that'll be because I haven't connected the fuel to the injector rail.
Reconnected and hit starter, churned for about 30 seconds and it caught.
Nursed the throttle, bike settled into a lumpy idle after about two
minutes. Took it out for a ride of about two miles and discovered that
leading links are weird, weight transfers forward when riding but it
doesn't dive like telescopic forks. Strange feeling. The rear knobbly
wasn't exactly confidence inspiring- so that goes to the
elefantentreffen but as a spare 'just in case' we have to deal with
snow- bring it on...

Got the bike nice and hot (with the leaky K75 radiator) and the lump
disappeared from the idle.

It's too nice to break so will be putting this one back on the road in
standard trim; possibly in an RT or naked guise.


So, there you go. I'd ignore most of Lozzo's ill informed output if I
were you; at least the parts about BMWs. (or more specifically since
I've no experience of any other BMWs the implications about K series
BMWs being unreliable.)







[1] A really strange sensation, pulling over to let cars overtake.

[2] Do these Hawker Oddysey batteries *really* need a special charger or
is an optimate good enough? Seemed to work... After all, they need to
cope with the same alternator as a standard lead acid battery.

 

Hmmm. How much?

 

Did that for three years in a cage. It sucked mightily.

I've used an Optimate with a Westco (same AGM type as Hawker) for a few
years with no problems.

--
Krusty
www.MuddyStuff.co.uk
Off-Road Classifieds

'02 MV Senna '03 Tiger 955i '96 Tiger '79 Fantic Hiro 250

 

Should I hang onto that Wessex sidecar a bit longer?

 

I hated 36 miles to & fro. That was on mainly rural roads and a short
urban bit crossing Hereford. I couldn't tolerate a daily grind down the
M4 and onwards to Paddington.

I've used an optimate mk1 with a Hawker battery. Only for topping up after
a winter being gradually discharged by the LCD clock. No issues after 3-4
seasons.

Reading http://www.caravanandmotorhomebooks.com/articles/absorbed_glass_mat_ batteries_wanderer.htm
and other stuff referenced at http://www.batteryfaq.org/ it appears that
AGM batteries don't tolerate charging voltages over 14.5V. IIRC, for a
deep discharged battery the Optimate whacks in a much higher voltage in
an attempt to desulphate a wet lead/acid battery. So, for topping up I
guess an Optimate will be fine, just don't use it to recover a fully
discharged AGM battery. Honda owners had better avoid AGM batteries
too.

 

200 miler per day? That calls for a few lessons and the purchase of a small
commuter helicopter.


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

wrote in message

Well, 600 miles on. It's used a little oil (but it did that anyway).
Mind you the cheap stuff I've 'tested it' on is 20w50 so I guess it'll
use a little more 10w40.

It sounds and pulls the same. Fuel consumption the same too.

I think it's survived. Worst case is if the oil consumption is
excessive it will get a new set of rings (not what I really want to do
but, well...) Done this before and it's a bit of a pain because the
conrods have got to come off to get the pistons out... so that's new big
end shells too, and then there's the question around the valves and
valve guide oil seals... Anyway, if it's running ok and doesn't need
work it's a summer job, not a winter one.

I hate to admit it but I've probably got some sort of an emotional
attachment to this bike. God knows why. Wonder if I'm about to change
my name?

 

Marjorie?

 

BMW used to recommend 10W/40 oil. For the UK they now recommend 20W/50, for
the boxer twins at least. This was to address the excessive oil consumption
that some owners experienced. Something to do with oil slipping past piston
rings in cold engines IIRC.

 

I've been running my RS on 15W40 and I've not noticed any consumption
issues. I might use 20W50 in the summer though.

 

So it's about thin oil slipping thru gaps, yes?

 

As below, thinner oil gets sucked intot he bores easier.

However... it's not a good idea to run a K on too thick oil because the
starter clutch doesn't like it in the winter (refuses to engage and just
spins- a design flaw that this is splash fed at the top of the engine
and can 'gum up').

Possibly.