There are two kinds of people in this world. Those who post stories and photographs of the bike build they have just conquered - and those who merely ruminate, speculate, and postulate...


So let me tell you my plans!


But! rest assured dear reader, this build will most certainly happen, failing some sort of curse or cataclysm that is. You see parts have been ordered, donors have been recruited, enthusiasm has been amassed. And behold! The title page of the project’s ledger proudly states – “TRACK BIKE”

Perhaps I am having a millennial's early phase, midlife crisis. Approaching 40 (oh my), suitably mortgaged, the proverbial bun is well and truly in the oven – and now all I find when I stare into the abyss is a terrible figure, beckoning me forward with one of its Dainese gloved skeletal hands, and a pair of crusty leathers held out in the other.

So I ask the wife, who am I to protest such primal visions? She, but of course, was forced to sympathise with my predicament and indeed come to see the sense in what can be the only solution – A Franken-K-80’s-Style-Track-Weapon! And they all lived happily ever after.


The basic recipe has been settled upon.


Frame – K1100 – The most developed and beefiest of the steel K frames, and I have one gathering dust in my mums shed (see, Im a good millennial)

Forks – K1100 Marzocchis, potentially with a set of Andreani fork cartridges to bring complete adjustability. I didnt want to go down the USD route for a number of reasons (drastic change of geometry, the ‘zocchis are pretty good, 80’s aesthetic etc)


Engine – K1200 – because 120hp and Motoronic 2.4. Will use the 1200 ecu, throttle bodies etc but will use the 1100 airbox

Wheels – K1200 – because good rubber options

Final drive – K100 Monolever – because I like them more then para’s - and I have a RAM shock for a mono.


Will use BSK Speedworks rearsets, I have a S1000RR front master cylinder and clutch perch, will get a Domino throttle too. There is also a Chinese alloy ebay radiator coming.





Here is the K1200 donor - she will be offering her howling heart, soul, and, ur, feet to the cause.
Got it cheap, in nice enough nick to go on and live another life, but not nice enough for anyone to get their knickers in a knot at my savagery. Will be selling what is not used.




The 1200 comes with this near new Dominator brand full exhaust - header, collector and muffler. Reckon I should be able to use it on the track bike.



I would love to own a mill and a lathe and posses the skill to make nice parts, but alas I cant find anyone to swap my left nut with, and no matter how long I wait at the crossroads, the devil just dont show. So, will use these clip-ons and top triple clamp on the 1100 forks instead.





Will then need to find some suitable body work from a local race fairing supplier. There is way more choice for this in Europe but postage will be insane, so will just have to make do.

The goal is for it to be as stripped down as possible but still with ability to perhaps one day wire in an m-unit and some lights, and rego it. But regular track use is the primary goal. Will be taking plenty of ahhhh inspiration, yeah inspiration from the BSK bikes and the Cobas replica  and a big shout out to TWB and his magnificent big block build - much info will be gleaned from there for sure.

Will be making a start on all this quite soon, just need to get home from here in the Top End to my workshop and the myriad packages awaiting my blade!

Track build... in Oz all I could visualise was a dirt bike and I was getting more and more confused right to the last line!

I—for one—am 100% in support of your making it into the first category, floyd! 

All the items I have purchased from BSK have been great quality, especially the rear sets. Being guilty of K-Bike savagery myself I support your plans 100%. Welcome to the asylum.

Love it. Just finishing my Dakar inspired K75 then moving on to a BSK inspired Endurance style K75.

Look forward to your updates

Really looking forward to see this build progress.

My k100 is arriving next week. It’s already had quite a lot of work on it and my changes will be mostly cosmetic, and I want to get the handlebars changes ASAP so your info here is super useful. 

Good luck
C

Don't expect stacking parts to make a good track bike. For example, your S1000RR master cylinder is probably very good for the S1000RR brakes, but what about the K11 calipers?

À lot of the K1200 powers comes from its airbox. Using the K11 airbox will reduce power.
Instead of spending money on eBay crappy but shiny exhaust, use first the OEM exhaust. I don't know in OZ, but in Europe noise regulations are very drastic on tracks, some OEM exhaust are even too noisy to allow access on the tracks, so aftermarket or so-called racing exhausts are useless. Furthermore, most of (all of) aftermarket exhausts give a loss of power at any revs but the top. So you figure you gained a push whereas you lose in fact everywhere but at the red line...
Once your setup is complete with OEM exhaust, then put money in a real tailor made exhaust that will compensate the defects appeared on the first runs (Those from the airbox misfit, for example).
Or in good tyres, you'll save much more seconds for the money than you'll do with any exhaust!
Good suspensions are also an interesting idea. The K11 Marzocchi is very limited and prone to rapid wear of the tubes. But they are based on the very good M1R (same stanchions, same triple trees, but different hydraulics) and can easily be converted. M1R were equipping Ducati (907, 851), Guzzis (Daytona)...
Yet Marzocchi is dead now and it may be difficult to find parts for maintenance.
My 2 cents...

jbt wrote:Don't expect stacking parts to make a good track bike. For example, your S1000RR master cylinder is probably very good for the S1000RR brakes, but what about the K11 calipers?

À lot of the K1200 powers comes from its airbox. Using the K11 airbox will reduce power.
Instead of spending money on eBay crappy but shiny exhaust, use first the OEM exhaust. I don't know in OZ, but in Europe noise regulations are very drastic on tracks, some OEM exhaust are even too noisy to allow access on the tracks,  so aftermarket or so-called racing exhausts are useless. Furthermore, most of (all of) aftermarket exhausts give a loss of power at any revs but the top. So you figure you gained a push whereas you lose in fact everywhere but at the red line...
Once your setup is complete with OEM exhaust, then put money in a real  tailor made exhaust that will compensate the defects appeared on the first runs (Those from the airbox misfit, for example).
Or in good tyres, you'll save much more seconds for the money than you'll do with any exhaust!
Good suspensions are also an interesting idea. The K11 Marzocchi is very limited and prone to rapid wear of the tubes. But they are based on the very good M1R (same stanchions, same triple trees, but different hydraulics) and can easily be converted. M1R were equipping Ducati (907, 851), Guzzis (Daytona)...
Yet Marzocchi is dead now and it may be difficult to find parts for maintenance.
My 2 cents...

Mate I only expect to have a bit of cheap fun - in the shed and on track. Im not breaking any records, or breaking new ground - this has all been done before. I wont address your points one-by-one but I will say that has all been considered and taken into account - and as Ive said, I am following in the well trodden and track proven footsteps of others. Im sure many issues will be encountered but that is the fun and the journey. Oh and the exhaust is actually a really nice piece from the Netherlands. Peoples in 1200 land seem to like them. Worth the price of admission for the headers and collector alone - especially when it was free.

this should be fun Floyd mate
ill be watching for sure

Me too!

Fun and moto cycle should be together as much as possible, you go for it brother.

Well after 2 years of life happening, Im finally making some progress on this project...

I have totally dismantled the K1200RS and sold many of its parts. Still have some big items Id really love to shift, like the frame and gearbox, but Ive already recouped a lot of the cost, so the engine, wheels, etc are almost free. I also have piles of K1100 parts on hand from 2 wrecked bikes Ive bought over the years for various parts to upgrade my old K100. 

Here many of the major components, ready for their new life. 




Spitfire coming for ee German. K1200 engine, and 1100 everything else...



Hot tip - old kitchens make good, free workshop benches and storage. 




Just 'dry' fitting everything Ive got, to determine what I dont - and to start solving some of the inevitable problems. For example - the K1200 alternator does not fit on the 1100 intermediate housing - but there is no way you'd guess that just by looking..



The crank case breather on the K1200 block is totally different than on the 100/1100 and clashes with the airbox of those earlier models. Not sure how Im going to approach the intake now..I was just going to use the 1100 airbox and intake runners, now not so sure. 





Im getting a front axle machined right now as per TWB's specs kindly detailed on his Big Block K100 build page, to use the K1200RS wheel in the K1100 forks. 

Almost time now to cut off the rear frame hope, and de-tab the frame - which all makes me nervous, even though this frame is from a destroyed bike...

Happy days

Follow up question for the gurus Kurus...

Do I use the Motronic 2.2 from the 1994 K1100 I have, or the later Motronic 2.4 from the K1200?

Obviously, they function differently, but they seem to use essentially the same sensors (albeit in slightly different locations), so I dont see why either cant be made to work. 

I dont know enough to say which one is the better system for this application.

Following with interest. Enjoy the build.

floyd wrote:Follow up question for the gurus Kurus...

Do I use the Motronic 2.2 from the 1994 K1100 I have, or the later Motronic 2.4 from the K1200?

Obviously, they function differently, but they seem to use essentially the same sensors (albeit in slightly different locations), so I dont see why either cant be made to work. 

I dont know enough to say which one is the better system for this application.

floyd you will find that the fuel mapping is going to be more relevant with the k1200 version 

dont forget that even just the throttle bodies are way different ....besides  from what i can tell the 1200 has a proper sensor in the zorst ...that many k1100 motronics just emulate 

just thinking aloud 

hope it helps

floyd wrote:Follow up question for the gurus Kurus...

Do I use the Motronic 2.2 from the 1994 K1100 I have, or the later Motronic 2.4 from the K1200?

Obviously, they function differently, but they seem to use essentially the same sensors (albeit in slightly different locations), so I dont see why either cant be made to work. 

I dont know enough to say which one is the better system for this application.

Using later K11 Motronic 'requires' an O2 sensor, and elimination of the 'grey' ignition box mounted on the battery box. It's good to have a later engine harness to accomodate your changes, from a K1100RS late '93 on. I'm not sure how you'd wire in the 2.4 version unless you're using all of the K12's loom, and since the fusebox, airbox and Motronic 2.4 are all attached to one another, there's no room on a K1100 to fit it. Also, the K1200 hall sensor is wired differently to the K100/K1100 version - there are detailed posts throughout the forum of various folk's remedies. The engine breather connector need only be directly routed to the large hose at the back of the TBs, assuming you're using the 38mm K12 versions. The water temp sensor at the back of the cylinder head (near where your shift foot goes) is different from the earlier models. You'll also have to put together a clutch assembly out of various K11/K12 bits due to height/depth and spline incompatibility, and build yourself a sprag clutch out of the two bike's pieces. There are also some different electrical connection plugs throughout. It is a try and re-evaluate method, quite often. It's good to have optional spares on a shelf for this effort. At the time of BB's creation (2014/15) I was parts manager at a BMW/Ducati dealership which meant access to OEM parts at near cost. That, and I had a few garage shelves with bits packratted away. I didn't sell off remaining bits for Big Block 'til I was 'done' with the majority of the work.

Dominator exhaust are made in Poland. Did I read you previously wrote the Netherlands?

Two Wheels Better wrote:

floyd wrote:Follow up question for the gurus Kurus...

Do I use the Motronic 2.2 from the 1994 K1100 I have, or the later Motronic 2.4 from the K1200?

Obviously, they function differently, but they seem to use essentially the same sensors (albeit in slightly different locations), so I dont see why either cant be made to work. 

I dont know enough to say which one is the better system for this application.

Using later K11 Motronic 'requires' an O2 sensor, and elimination of the 'grey' ignition box mounted on the battery box. It's good to have a later engine harness to accomodate your changes, from a K1100RS late '93 on. I'm not sure how you'd wire in the 2.4 version unless you're using all of the K12's loom, and since the fusebox, airbox and Motronic 2.4 are all attached to one another, there's no room on a K1100 to fit it. Also, the K1200 hall sensor is wired differently to the K100/K1100 version - there are detailed posts throughout the forum of various folk's remedies. The engine breather connector need only be directly routed to the large hose at the back of the TBs, assuming you're using the 38mm K12 versions. The water temp sensor at the back of the cylinder head (near where your shift foot goes) is different from the earlier models. You'll also have to put together a clutch assembly out of various K11/K12 bits due to height/depth and spline incompatibility, and build yourself a sprag clutch out of the two bike's pieces. There are also some different electrical connection plugs throughout. It is a try and re-evaluate method, quite often. It's good to have optional spares on a shelf for this effort. At the time of BB's creation (2014/15) I was parts manager at a BMW/Ducati dealership which meant access to OEM parts at near cost. That, and I had a few garage shelves with bits packratted away. I didn't sell off remaining bits for Big Block 'til I was 'done' with the majority of the work.

Dominator exhaust are made in Poland. Did I read you previously wrote the Netherlands?

Cheers mate. Ive been following the info on your BB post, and have have put together the various bits from the various models, such as the clutch assembly. Re: the sprag clutch - Im just using the complete 1200 unit, as I could not identify any difference with the rear-facing section between the 2 models. The front facing section that goes into the engine is different obviously, and the entire 1200 unit mounts up fine in my case. 

Your probably right about the exhaust being Polish and not Dutch - its a nice piece too, particularly the headers and collector with the o2 bung for the 1200's sensor. 

Current thinking is to use everything fuel related from the 1200 - all the sensors, TB's, fuel rail, etc, but with the 1100 air box. I will then go through and strip the 1200 harness to remove all the lighting wires etc and pare it down to the EFI loom only. I also still have all the 1994 K1100 Motronic stuff and loom on hand as well. 

The crankcase breather is in a different location on the 1200 block, vs the other 100 and 1100. Not an issue for hose routing of course, but it does clash with the lower half of the older airboxes. 

Ive 'artistically' modified one with some fibre glass, basically creating a tunnel for the hose to run through. Ill either connect it to the TB's or use the PCV valve and catch can I have. 


Here is the initial cutaway, where the brass breather spigot sits on the block



"Tunel" cutaway with some cardboard molding.



Glass done









1200 stuff mounted with the 1100 airbox. Not sure if I need to keep the 1200's big ugly idle control module or not (to keep the ecu happy)



Big moment - frame hoop cut. I know this will disgust many, but rest assured no good bikes were harmed. This frame has been sitting in my shed for many years, and came from an ex-police, repainted LT that had been crashed, breaking the cylinder head. When I bought it the front end and all fairings were already gone. head cover smashed, head casting damaged, cam sprockets snapped etc. Its been a wonderful doner.