Well, probably more people gonna hate me than like for what I’m doing (even my wife said that I’m crazy and she like original version better) but I hope to share some info with few people who gonna find this thread useful
Few months ago I found online picture of K100 modded by Retro Riders by Laurencno Brothers and I fallen in love.
I don’t know why, I said to myself this is what I want ! Period.
About 8 years ago we closed small ironwork shop upstate NY but all tools and equipment is still there almost forgotten, so I turned it for new home for my 93 K1100RS.
Originally I was looking to buy a K100 but couldn’t find anything in decent condition and reasonable price. After a few months of searching I was lucky to find 1993 K1100RS with 34K miles for $1500, couldn’t resist
And here this story begins...

Hi, that's a fair project you've got in mind. Are you buying one of the Retrorides rear suspension linkages, or are you having a go at making your own? Reason I ask is because the Retrorides design is for a monolever back end, whereas your bike has the paralever.

Chris,
I purchased the caferacer bible from Retro Rides with basic info and some drawings and contacted folks with CNC machine to get an idea how much it will cost me locally but unfortunately cheapest I found was about $800 for the machining only. 7075 1” thick aluminum sheet to do the arm only was over $200, custom made brass bushings and water jet or plasma cut steal for supports additional few hundred bucks... since I was digging Pinterest every day searching for gadgets to my future project I found great company located in Slovakia. They sell that arms ready to go with all necessary elements including bolts, washers and nuts for probably 1/3 the price I would get here so I ordered from them, I couldn’t be happier with the machining and material quality !

Was it cafe4racer? - I bought a seat unit from them and was impressed with the service.
You will have to swap your paralever swing arm for a monolever though. Plenty of people have done the reverse, so it shouldn’t be too difficult.

Yes cafe4racer they are quick... I was impressed with the service as well.

Parting out process begun the next day after purchase...
To be honest I though that this will be way easier, I was wrong lol










A cozy mice house in the filter box? well this bike was parked in the barn and undriven past couple of years so why not  








The engine under the filter box was a totally disaster, same in the battery area... poor, "unloved" beemer 












Almost ready for frame cut... 

Now time for fun part !  



Yea I know - safety first... don't do this the way I did grab some safety glasses.  



I had to extend the pipe to relocate the vin number and make additional support.




Now finally I can play with horizontal suspension arm, for the beginning I got some Chinese, cheap 300mm shock for welding purposes while I was waiting for the British NITRON NTR R1, I trust NITRON more than YSS and will not pay about $1K for Ohlins...





Clean and ready to weld, since I'm crazy about welds it gonna look like there's no weld 



Time far worst part of this project, it took me almost a day to adjust the seat supports the way I like (accept) these... Wish I had somebody to help me.




Outer welds done, I applied some primer to prevent corrosion will do inner welds when take the frame off the engine but first I have to create some battery holder, still undecided which way to go...




I would say - not bad 

Last week I got awaited shipment so finally I was able to install the shock, not bad but do I really like this color? 
In the meantime I found the company Fast Bike Industries LLC and looks like they have in stock metalic black color spring for my shock so I'll order to see which one I like better.



Still trying to figure out how to hide this battery, alone or together with ecu? maybe better place for ecu gonna be under the seat? Idk but will decide next weekend I mean I have to finally because it takes too long... Will appreciate any suggestions maybe some pictures ?




T.B.C.

Not really a fan of cafe jobs, but can’t fault the quality of your workmanship. Hope she turns out like you want. Interesting shock alignment - looks very horizontal - will it work?

wooboodoo wrote:
Yea I know - safety first... don't do this the way I did grab some safety glasses.  

Clear vision is overrated. As the celebrated sexist ballad tells us, The women all look prettier at closing time, and that probably is true for weld beads, and bike build, too.

Born Again Eccentric wrote:Not really a fan of cafe jobs, but can’t fault the quality of your workmanship. Hope she turns out like you want. Interesting shock alignment - looks very horizontal - will it work?

Thank you sir, I hope as well !
As about the shock I’m glad that i choosed nitron, it has pretty wide stiffness adjustment range, I've tried it already and works well.

Laitch wrote:

wooboodoo wrote:
Yea I know - safety first... don't do this the way I did grab some safety glasses.  

Clear vision is overrated. As the celebrated sexist ballad tells us, The women all look prettier at closing time, and that probably is true for weld beads, and bike build, too.

Hahaha you just made my day !

Are you still building this bike?

@wooboodoo

I am building a k100 and would like to use the same rear shock that you used. Would you be able to give me a serial number off of that Nitron shock?
Thanks

Wooboodoo hasn't been on the forum (logged in, at least) since 28 Feb 2020. He has only signed in 9 times since becoming a member. It might be a better idea to PM him as that should trigger an email to him, assuming he's maintained the email address. The email-triggered reply to an ongoing thread is not always reliable on the forum, even if you're following it, as I have found.

Thanks for the heads up. I’ll try the private message option.

Akravchuk wrote:Thanks for the heads up. I’ll try the private message option.

Did you manage to make contact?

wooboodoo wrote:Chris,
I purchased the caferacer bible from Retro Rides with basic info and some drawings and contacted folks with CNC machine to get an idea how much it will cost me locally but unfortunately cheapest I found was about $800 for the machining only. 7075 1” thick aluminum sheet to do the arm only was over $200, custom made brass bushings and water jet or plasma cut steal for supports additional few hundred bucks... since I was digging Pinterest every day searching for gadgets to my future project I found great company located in Slovakia. They sell that arms ready to go with all necessary elements including bolts, washers and nuts for probably 1/3 the price I would get here so I ordered from them, I couldn’t be happier with the machining and material quality !

Hi
Im wondering why no one in making this with laser cut machine? For me its cheapest way. Does it need to be cnc for some reason other than aesthetics?
Also i dont understand why there are those small screws while that main part is one piece aluminium.

SB

quality build there mate!

One more aborted "project"...
It's much easier to order fashion parts and to cut bits with a lot of sparks than to build and finish a custom bike.