A terrible case of the K-Pox has broken out in Ireland " There nothing more we can do" Doctors said, " Just palliative care now, take him home and feed him articles and forum threads".

88 has gone and got the Big Kahuna......



Actually the deal was done a while ago but I had to sort some space at home and a few minor issues with the bike to get it up and running.



The biggest problem was starting it. A dodgy gear position sensor, clutch swith and sidestand switch meatn I couldn't get it to stay in neutral or stay running. After fitting replacements robbed from the LT the bike was running. 

A 1990 model, It was originally blue but had been painted Stealth black by the previous owner, which I can live with for now. I may restore it to original in the future. it has 70k miles on the clock and would benefit from a bit of a tune up but it's a good runner and after sorting a few minor cosmetics so I could get it out on a test run.

I quickly found the pegs needed to be dropped a bit as the leg position was causing me cramps. I did this by just using a longer bolt for now but I'll buy the kit to do the permanent job.

I managed to Join Ringfad and Tom yesterday for a leg of the Photo rally they were doing and clocked up 375 miles for the day over some very wild remote roads in the west combined with some fast work on a private runway, taking it quite close to it's top speed (per spec  ).  There was still oodles of urge still in it and very stable, if not a little buzzy but I'm sure a carb balancing will help a lot there.

Here we are on a very wet Gorumna Island on the Wild Atlantic Way, It's linked to the mainland by a series of tiny roads and causeways.





I had to break out in the afternoon and enjoyed a celebratory lunch overlooking Galway bay before an alternating wet'n' sunny spin home.


.



The day also saw a fork seal weeping quite a bit so that'll have to be done, and the seat cover needs to be replaced as it is faded and scuffed through in one spot.
Feeling pleased if not a little stiff at the hip !    

88 wrote:A terrible case of the K-Pox has broken out in Ireland 

A terrible case of "green with envy" has broken out in Australia. 

Nice one!

Bill

Very nice William, I am still kicking myself for passing up a Laguna Blue K1 some years ago as they don't come up very often anymore.

Congrat Will. I like the black and yellow.

WoW ,,,,Will that looks great

congratulations

sounds like the usual cosmetic stuff to restore that beauty

ride well mate

Black & yeller looks good to me.

My K1 had about the same miles on it when I bought it. The one thing it needed the most to run smoothly was some new heat sink compound behind the ignition amp at the left front of the battery.

The Holy Grail, fine looking bike Will.

Nice work! Looks like Ringfads K1 in the pics too. Always like to see a K1 being looked after and kept well away from the breakers yard

KiwiK100 wrote:Nice work! Looks like Ringfads K1 in the pics too. Always like to see a K1 being looked after and kept well away from the breakers yard

Thats for sure kiwi100. About the same number of k1,s as to k100rs multis produced. Every time i see one is good. I saw yesterday a mint yellow and red k1 going down Ngaio hill.When i get the chance i will stop him and have a chat

Thanks for the compliments all. 

Duck I'm interested to know what does the heat sink compound do?


I thought the Metal was designed to absord the heat...and how was the running affected by it?

88 wrote:Thanks for the compliments all. 

Duck I'm interested to know what does the heat sink compound do?


I thought the Metal was designed to absord the heat...and how was the running affected by it?

The bike will run roughly (and get worse and worse) when the ignition amp gets too hot. When it gets really bad the bike will just quit when it warms up as the ignition amp overheats.

Heat sink compound enhances heat transfer from the back of the ignition amp to the battery tray so that it can be dissipated more effectively. (Hence why it is named heat sink compound.)

duck wrote:Heat sink compound enhances heat transfer from the back of the ignition amp to the battery tray so that it can be dissipated more effectively. (Hence why it is named heat sink compound.)

Something else to get for my man cave, thanks for the info!

Don't just slap it on. The idea is to fill the microscopic pits in the heatsink and module so that heat is transferred more efficiently. Put too much on and you'll turn it into an insulator. You can't do better than follow the same procedure as fitting a heatsink to a computer CPU:-

1. Clean both surfaces scrupulously. Preferably use brake cleaner, but meths or an alcohol-based cleaner will do as a second best. Use a lint-free cloth and make sure there's no visible bits of crap when you've finished.
2. Squeeze out a small-pea-sized lump of heatsink compound onto the back of the ignition amplifier. Spread it out as evenly as possible using a clean finger.
3. Offer up the amplifier to the heatsink and rub it backwards and forwards a time or two before bolting it back together. The rubbing motion is to transfer some of the heatsink compound to the pits in the heatsink and give it time to force out any trapped air.

I just clean the old stuff off of both sides with steel wool to get clean metal surfaces, then smear too much on, wiggle it a bit to spread it around, screw the ignition amp back on and then use a paper towel to get rid of the excess that squishes out the sides.

Nice buy Will, looking nice. I like the black and yellow look, even if it might not be original.
Bit of a K1 revival going on over there it seems, but that can't be a bad thing!!

 and give it time to force out any trapped air.

yep that's how most heatsink material works

but there are many versions of the heatsink material

these days there is silver impregnated heatsink material ...supposed to offer far better transfer of heat that the poxy zinc substrate white goo that is sold as heat transfer compound ....and by no small factor of difference

the zinc type compounds often cook ...leaving an excellent insulator ...instead of an excellent transfer compound

look around mate there are heaps of modernised ..and more proficient heat compounds and not dear at all for the amount you require

good luck !!

That 'frost' black and yellow looks perty nice from here.

If anyone needs a replacement ignition amp I've got one I'll part with for not much dosh...easily posted, too.

charlie99 wrote:
look around mate there are heaps of modernised ..and more proficient heat compounds and not dear at all for the amount you require

You mean I should replace the pot I bought from Dick Smith in his original St Leonards store in 1974?

Bill

lol

I had been there as well,
but don't have anything left that was actually from that store left ...his first catalogue (that I had )  was a prized possession for many years  
but to be a real aficionado of dick smith, you had to be a visitor to his radio shop over in neutral bay tram terminal .  about 2 blocks away from my great aunts place ...guess who used to look in and be amazed ?

ike bain ...an American business man , was actually the inspiring business manager that got dick that first of many stores at st leonards and changed the whole business profile for him

cheers

I remember I bought a co tanger car radio aerial from him for a friend with a broken original. The sales person was reluctant to sell it to me at first, thinking I hadn't picked up on the joke.

Bill

I managed to Join Ringfad and Tom yesterday for a leg of the Photo rally they were doing and clocked up 375 miles for the day over some very wild remote roads in the west combined with some fast work on a private runway, taking it quite close to it's top speed (per spec  ).  There was still oodles of urge still in it and very stable, if not a little buzzy but I'm sure a carb balancing will help a lot there.

Look what happens when I go away.......

This 'private runway' has me intrigued........doesn't show up on google at all.........sure it wasn't a bog road like Knock Airport runway.......