Let's suppose, hypothetically speaking of course, that one were to do something stupid in a parking lot and put their K down for a little nap.  As many of us know, this usually guarantees that the Z rack latch on the downside system case will pull its rivets out, leaving one with nothing holding the bottom of the case to the Z rack, thus allowing the case to bounce off at will and go far a tumble once one gets up to speed.

Let's also suppose that one is several days from home with no hardware store nearby to purchase a pop riveter and rivets to affect a proper repair. (As I've done in the past.)

It might help if one were fortunate enough to have some heavy duty 1/8" braided nylon cord that one could thread through the rivet holes and use to tie the bottom of the case to the Z rack. Then one could ride for several more days and make it home without having to worry about the case bouncing off.

Like so:

or a bit of wire off a nearby fence ...that's why I carry pliers in the tool kit ...those little spools of tie wire   are quite useful also

the fence wire fix was dramatically practiced by a few of the locals ,,,when on the way to a meet event ...a long way from home ...a bevel box stud to shock absorber broke - sheared off

thanks to quick thinking by our old bushy mate   Col ...a fix was in place that lasted many hundreds of kilometers

Bush engineering at it's best.
Regards Martin.

A question related to field repair:  Are the rear suspension studs across all the years of K-bike production liable to such failure?  Or, is this a problem that may happen to a limited period of years or models?  

I always have a small roll of mechanic's wire and a spool of military paracord in my saddlebags. Saved my ass a few times over the years.

brickrider2 wrote:A question related to field repair:  Are the rear suspension studs across all the years of K-bike production liable to such failure?  Or, is this a problem that may happen to a limited period of years or models?  

I don't think we have seen a restriction to year model for this happening

possibly due to - weight - road surface -shock absorber - speed combination over years causing metal fatigue

sidecar paul came up with a solution of a small bracket - brace that fits outside the shock absorber and mates to the metal work of the external of the bevel box , for which many of us are immensely grateful

Charlie, you failed to mention that after the bush repair on Rickmeister's yellow bike it continued at "slower"speeds...100kph. The actual break occurred at a considerable speed....up around 140 plus. RossKKo and I were first on scene with Rickmeister deciding it was time for a smoke, whilst his rear tyre and guard were also smoking.

This is the first I've heard of this problem and must admit it's a little scary to consider having that stud fail at speed on some of the roads I travel on.  

With the price of a new stud an incredible bargain at only $4.71 in the U.S. it may be worth a few bucks and 15 minutes for some peace of mind.

Back when I was a relative nOOb to K bike riding I didn't torque that nut enough for fear of stripping it.  About 8,000 miles later when the nut had left (unbeknownst to me) I had a HUGE man-eating pothole that blew the bottom of the shock off of the stud and left me stopped in the middle of the road with the rear end resting on the tire.

The bike was lowered enough so that I couldn't deploy the side stand to get off of the bike so I sat on my K75RT in the middle of the road until a car eventually came by that I flagged down and the two guys in the car helped me get it up on the center stand.  The stud was bent and I no longer had the nut so I used some paracord to tie the shock back onto the stud until I could slowly ride to the next town and find a B&B to stay for the night.  The next morning I went by a machine shop where they straightened out the stud a bit.  Fortunately I was in Canada so they had a metric nut to replace the lost one.

Last year, the left front frame bolt on my K75 snapped from fatigue, I ignored it for the rest of the riding season and only just repaired it this year. After this repair, I rode the bike for some few kilometers before I noticed the rear shock. I have a RAM shock and noticed that the lower shock mount had started to peel away from the rubber shock rubber. Half of the shock was off the rubber, much of it covering the lower mounting nut. I managed to get the shock off the bike and repaired the rubber (squeezed it together in a vice). to solve the problem, I purchased and installed a flat washer on the outside of the shock so that it captures the shock, much the same as Sidecar Paul's solution but without the support. I have to make one of those Sidecar Paul brackets some day.

robmack wrote: I purchased and installed a flat washer on the outside of the shock so that it captures the shock, much the same as Sidecar Paul's solution but without the support.

I always mount shocks like that, whatever bike they are on. In the UK it's called a 'penny washer' or (less often) a 'repair washer'; officially it's a 'Form D' washer. It just looks a lot tidier to me as a good stainless steel one neatly covers up the rubber. I put one either side of the mounting eyes.

Dai wrote:

robmack wrote: I purchased and installed a flat washer on the outside of the shock so that it captures the shock, much the same as Sidecar Paul's solution but without the support.

I always mount shocks like that, whatever bike they are on. In the UK it's called a 'penny washer' or (less often) a 'repair washer'; officially it's a 'Form D' washer. It just looks a lot tidier to me as a good stainless steel one neatly covers up the rubber. I put one either side of the mounting eyes.

Called a mudguard washer in Oz, though actually more useful as a mudflap washer. 

Bill

Funny about that Bill, as I have always known them as penny washers.

TacKler wrote:Funny about that Bill, as I have always known them as penny washers.

Makes sense if you consider drilling a hole in the penny, pre 1966, for the purpose.   Maybe not strong enough for the suspension purpose though.
Packet labelling in Bunnings etc. says mudguard washer, and that's all I've ever seen them labelled as.

Bill

indian036 wrote:
Called a mudguard washer in Oz, though actually more useful as a mudflap washer. 

In Canada, large washers are called "fender washers"; very similar to the Oz reference.

I had that happen on the K1100LT at Christmas and luckily noticed the lock had pulled away from the pannier. The rivets break but that means no expensive damage.

I eventually found a 3.2mm rivet does the job and actually had some at home.

But BMW sell the rivet set as a part no, full set for all the rivets on a pannier and I bought 2 sets. One lives in the bike in case of a repeat and my advice is get a few of the rivets as you will let it over some time. You will always find someone with a rivet gun.