I put a 4.5x18 inch wheel on my 85 K100. I knew the stock centerstand wouldn't work so I bought a K1100 centerstand (I got it on eBay--the seller said it was from a K1100LT not sure if there's more than one style/type, for example whether an RS has a wider stand) as advised elsewhere on this forum. But the 1100 centerstand hits the rear tire on the left side when retracted. It's not even close. Needs at least another 1/2 inch wider to clear. I'm running a Michelin Road Pilot 3, 160-60-18 is the size.

Can anyone tell me where I went wrong? Wrong tire? Wrong centerstand? Something else. Any suggestions for a fix (other than cutting, bending and welding to make it work?). For now I just removed it, leaving only the side stand. But would like to have a centerstand if possible.

By the way, this is part of an overall enhancement to install wider 3 spoke wheels front and back and also K1100 forks and 4-pot front brakes. Only rode it for a few miles this evening, but what an incredible improvement! Highly recommend this upgrade!

hi
in order to fit the 1100 centerstand , you need to cut a bit of the left foot on the stand , i too have installed the wider 4,5 "rear tyre ,and the 1100 stand , and there is no way around cutting of a litlle bit of the foot,
oh, i totally agree with you on the improvement in grip and handling .

k-rider

yep has to be cut away from the tyre interference

the standard left side foot is just too big and too close ....with the different offset of the bevel drive rather than the paralever drive

good to hear all the same

ride well

Thanks. I'd considered that approach. My concern is that it looks like I'll need to cut off not only the right side of the left foot of the stand, but also a fair amount into the leg itself. I'm thinking that will leave the inside of the stand exposed, which would be undesirable. I suppose that I could have someone weld up any opening.

Hopefully I've just not eyeballed it correctly and I only need to cut the foot. I'll get out the grinder and give it a try.

I run a K1100LT rear on my paralever K75.

I think the grip thing has much more to do with running a good radial (like a PR) instead of a bias ply tire. I also have a smaller contact patch so therefore more PSI and better static friction.

In addition, being a lighter wheel/tire combination it "spins up" more easily and makes the bike slightly faster. Not to mention easier to turn.

I do run a K11RS rear on my K11LT though and am happy with that.

Just my .02....

duck wrote:I run a K1100LT rear on my paralever K75.

I think the grip thing has much more to do with running a good radial (like a PR) instead of a bias ply tire. I also have a smaller contact patch so therefore more PSI and better static friction.

In addition, being a lighter wheel/tire combination it "spins up" more easily and makes the bike slightly faster. Not to mention easier to turn.

I do run a K11RS rear on my K11LT though and am happy with that.

Just my .02....

I do run a K11RS rear on my K11LT though and am happy with that.
Do you still run the standard k11 2.50 x 18 rim on the front ?

Just finished the cutting. I was right, I had to cut half the width of the left leg to make it fit. And I still only have a few millimeters of clearance to the tire. Curious if this is what others have experienced? Also, will this be sufficiently strong, or should I weld a piece of steel into the open leg? If nothing else, I probably ought to either weld it shut or put a plug of silicone in the leg so it doesn't fill with water.

weld a plate down the leg then bend it under the foot ....things corrode when your not looking ...especially down there

smithy wrote:

duck wrote:I run a K1100LT rear on my paralever K75.

I think the grip thing has much more to do with running a good radial (like a PR) instead of a bias ply tire. I also have a smaller contact patch so therefore more PSI and better static friction.

In addition, being a lighter wheel/tire combination it "spins up" more easily and makes the bike slightly faster. Not to mention easier to turn.

I do run a K11RS rear on my K11LT though and am happy with that.

Just my .02....

I do run a K11RS rear on my K11LT though and am happy with that.
Do you still run the standard k11 2.50 x 18 rim on the front ?

Yes, there's quite a few of us on the K11OG forum who run the LT front/RS rear combo on our K11LTs and are quite happy with it.

duck wrote:

smithy wrote:

duck wrote:I run a K1100LT rear on my paralever K75.

I think the grip thing has much more to do with running a good radial (like a PR) instead of a bias ply tire. I also have a smaller contact patch so therefore more PSI and better static friction.

In addition, being a lighter wheel/tire combination it "spins up" more easily and makes the bike slightly faster. Not to mention easier to turn.

I do run a K11RS rear on my K11LT though and am happy with that.

Just my .02....

I do run a K11RS rear on my K11LT though and am happy with that.
Do you still run the standard k11 2.50 x 18 rim on the front ?

Yes, there's quite a few of us on the K11OG forum who run the LT front/RS rear combo on our K11LTs and are quite happy with it.

Thanks duck, I have an rs rear rim so I'll give that a go.

KJustin wrote:Just finished the cutting. I was right, I had to cut half the width of the left leg to make it fit. And I still only have a few millimeters of clearance to the tire. Curious if this is what others have experienced?  Also, will this be sufficiently strong, or should I weld a piece of steel into the open leg?  If nothing else, I probably ought to either weld it shut or put a plug of silicone in the leg so it doesn't fill with water.

Here's a thread from some years ago... Wider Wheels & K11 Centre Stand ...You don't have to read the entire thing but there's useful and useless bits n pieces about mine, and other's, tyre clearance issues with a Motad exhaust and the later centre stand on my '87 RS (I was 'Guest' in another lifetime).

G'day Kjustin , my experience with this mod starts on page 3 post 141 in the thread that TWB posted . I've included pictures of the centre stand foot mod , monolever rib shave as well . Using these wheels in a non paralever rear end gives you about 14mm more offset to the left . my approach was to remove the wheel spacer ( 2mm extra gained on the left ) shave the rib a little on the monolever and to grind the right side of the left foot . I got the subsequently created hole welded up with a plug of metal . I had this set up for approx 3 years with no issues . Best mod you can do in my opinion , I'm also running Michelin PR3's

John Re

JR, thanks for directing me to those pictures.  Your modification is very similar to what I had to do to make it work on my bike.  It seems as though my wheel/tire sits slightly left of yours.  Even when I removed the 2mm spacer I didn't have to grind the rib on the swing arm, though it was a pretty tight fit...and maybe at speed it would have rubbed; I don't know since I didn't ride the bike w/o the spacer.  And I had to grind a bit more off the left center stand leg than you did (this being the case with or without the 2mm spacer).  I'm running with the spacer now and it all seems to work.  

For those that are curious, I'm also running a 2.5x18 LT front wheel.  I looked around for a 3.5x17 RS wheel but couldn't find one for a suitable price.  I'm very happy with the LT front wheel and have no plans to change.  But I'm curious whether anyone is running an RS wheel and thinks that's better?

3.5x17 'front' wheel must be what you mean...

You'll need Marzocchi forks from a 16V, four piston calipers, the correct axle spacers, a 20mm master cylinder, throttle tube and cable,, and 305mm discs to make it all work if that's an 8V chassis. Then you'll have wheelbase issues to contend with due to rake and trail differences, but which can make the bike quite 'nimble'. A Paralever final drive, swingarm and gearbox will solve the equation.

I located a K75S 18" front wheel and use a 110/80ZR18 tyre with offset spacers on Suzuki brake discs.

Yes, I was talking about a 3.5x17 front wheel.  I did the front end swap and have a complete 1100 front end on the bike, including the Marzocchi forks, 305mm disks, 4-pot brakes, etc. (this is what enabled me to put on a LT wheel, 3-spoke, 2.5x18).  I did not switch out the rear end to paralever though.  The steering is a bit more nimble, which suits me, though I could understand why some might not like it.