I just got a 92 K75S.  It joins my 87 R65 and my 09 R1200GS.  Now I've got an Airhead, Flying Brick and a GS.  All the iconic BMWs 

Welcome to The DarK Side of BMW ownership.

I hope you bought a red S. They're the fastest and bestest.


http://bit.ly/new2kbikes

I got a slower black one  .  Unfortunately I can't get the bike registered because DMV is shut down right now.

The K75s is the pick of the litter. Don't listen to Duck, red is just showy and attracts too much attention. Black K75s's are the stealth ninjas of the road.
Regards Martin.

MartinW wrote:The K75s is the pick of the litter. Don't listen to Duck, red is just showy and attracts too much attention. Black K75s's are the stealth ninjas of the road.
Regards Martin.

Are those C handlebars?  I have to ride the bike more first but debating taller handlebars.  I put lower bars on my R65 and now I want to switch to mid bars since I've had some back issues on and off the past year.

92 is a good year to buy vs older model years.  Showa forks, 3-spoke wheels, Gen III cases, non-smoky piston rings and hardened transmission input splines.

Do put some miles on it first before switching to C bars.  If you're just toodling around then C bars are fine but if you like to ride more agressively then C bars don't let you get your upper body weight as far forward.  I've tried C bars on my K75Ss, K100RSs and K1100RS and always revert back to the sportier factory bars.

C bars are made of unobtainium.  No longer available new from The Fatherland and scarce on the used market.

They're standard "S" bars. I've had my Brick for over 20 years, when I first got it I used to trap my thumbs on full lock. Over the years the bar's have been rotated to move them back and  raised by adding a spare set of handle bar clamp caps inverted and using longer bolts. The dash pad brackets will have to be extended by about 20mm with a piece of flat bar in order to fit. The bar cable cover is stock with no mods needed. There was no need to extend cables I don't think you need to extend the brake hose however my brake line has been replaced with a stock length non OEM line. The forks have been also dropped through the trees by 12mm.
Regards Martin.

Welcome Edge

Welcome

Greetings edgeoftheworld.

Can't comment on the K75's as I've never had the pleasure of swinging a leg over one, but black every day of the week.

 Black is the new black.

duck wrote:Do put some miles on it first before switching to C bars.  If you're just toodling around then C bars are fine but if you like to ride more agressively then C bars don't let you get your upper body weight as far forward.  I've tried C bars on my K75Ss, K100RSs and K1100RS and always revert back to the sportier factory bars.

C bars are made of unobtainium.  No longer available new from The Fatherland and scarce on the used market.

Keep in mind that this advice is coming from a guy that replaces his tires because the cords are showing through the side walls.
The s bars are great for sport riding but for me they limit the time and miles per day. With bar backs and c bars (cut down 25mm each side) give tank after tank of all day pleasure.

BTW blue is the best all around color (:

caveman wrote:
Keep in mind that this advice is coming from a guy that replaces his tires because the cords are showing through the side walls.

Not true. I wait until the cords are showing all of the way across the tire.

Standard forum solution to that problem....K Pox.

If you have K Pox that issue doesn't arise.....you just have different bars with the K already attached...

I'm going to stick to the 1 K bike!  I can't even justify why I needed to buy a third motorcycle   I had some plans to take my GS to Europe but that all went to shit, so instead I rented garage space and decided I should get a third bike.

Welkome, EOTW. I once married a girl from Connecticut, once. There are some nice roads in the NW corner of the state, as you may well know. I did a bit of pit crewing at Lime Rock Park. I met Paul Newman there. He was a 'regular' guy who liked to get round that track as quickly as possible. That's 25 years ago now. The last time I was in CT was when hurricane Sandy ripped up the eastern seaboard, late '12. Heading south from visiting my daughter in Western Massatucky, I missed the last gas station in the state and had to ride all the way down through to the bottom of the Jersey Turnpike before the lines weren't 2 miles long. I was on fumes I tell ya, vapourous, like memories.

I was able to get out and ride the K75S this weekend.  Rode about 70 miles.  First real chance I've had to ride the bike.

Weight:  Everyone mentions the bike is heavy and top heavy.  Surprisingly, the K75S is about 10 pounds heavier than my GS.  So I am pretty used to the weight.  I am pretty cautious moving slowly since I've dropped the GS for no good reason a few times   Otherwise, weight isn't really a concern for me.

Handling:  Prior Owner put on a Wilbers rear shock and new fork springs.  Bike feels really planted and stable.  And very maneuverable.  Looking forward to putting the rebuilt Works Performance shock on my R65 to see how that improves handling on that bike.

Handlebars/Seating position:  I read the article here on seating position and I am trying to adjust to find the most comfortable position.  No issues with arms, wrists, shoulders but it is still a little hard on my back.  I ordered some Moto Techniques barbacks/risers off of ebay to raise it a little and push the handlebars back.  I don't want to swap out bars as I do like them and don't want to change the aesthetics of the the bike.

Accessories:  I added a phone mount to the bike.  I replaced a bolt holding on the cover in front of the dashpad and used a cheap amazon phone holder that bolts on and has a bendable goose neck.  Not the prettiest but effective.  I have the same holder on my R65 which has no handlebar space.  I took a 1000 mile trip with it a year and a half ago and it worked fine.  I was going to install a USB port with an on/off switch but access to the battery is more complicated than my R65 and I wanted to ride, not work on the bike.  I'll do that when I get the barbacks.

Overall, I really liked riding the bike.  Once I have all three bikes back, it will be a challenge to figure out how to give each one enough riding time

What barbacks did you buy? Got a link?

If it doesn't have them already then next time you get tires I'd recommend getting radials.

duck wrote:What barbacks did you buy? Got a link?

If it doesn't have them already then next time you get tires I'd recommend getting radials.

These are the barbacks https://www.ebay.com/itm/Moto-Techniques-Handlebar-Risers-513-062/123842215542

Bike has Avon tires right now with about 2000 miles left according to the PO.  Definitely open to suggestions on tires.  I have Metzler Lazertecs on my R65.  I wanted to go with something less "classic" and more modern so definitely open to radials.

Can't tell from their picture but K barbacks need to have holes in the front of them so that you can move the dash pad back with the bars.  If they don't have those then you'll want to drill and tap them.

Here's an example on some other barbacks:

I read some things saying that.  Figured I'd take my chances and hope they have the holes since they say they are a fit for the K75.  I will find out in a few days


Did some googling and it looks like they will NOT have the holes.  Nothing I attempt on motorcycles ever turns out as simple as I hope.

Moto-Techniques 513-062? They're only for BMW due to their 22mm saddle to accept the handlebar's diametre. You'll be drilling and tapping for the correct fit.

I have to order a tap now.  Trying to avoid places like lowes and home depot at the moment.  Amazon can get one to my house by May 5th

Meh. Not a big deal as long as you know ahead of time. Would suck to get halfway through the install and THEN find out that you need those holes

At the risk of stating the obvious, you'll need a 5mm drill as well as the 6mm first (lead), second and bottoming taps. Plus the tap handle/wrench. As there's only about 5mm of thread in the OEM handlebar clamps, you may wish to second-guess the bar-backs and get a blind tap as well.

Not stating the obvious at all!  This isn't something I've ever done before so I don't really know what tools I need.  Going to do some googling.  Any suggestions/advice is more than welcome.  If you have any amazon links to tools it would be appreciated.

Do NOT, under ANY circumstances, buy cheap. This is one set of tools that needs to be made of good materials.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Presto-Metric-Taps-First-Second-or-Plug-Complete-Tap-Sets-Dies-3mm-12mm/372692539869?epid=2173431206&hash=item56c634d9ddmiWR-ziOEMftbLfi6GGtRpQ

The dropdown box will give you the option of a set of three taps and the tapping drill. For a 6mm thread I think the drill is actually 4.8mm but 5.0 is good enough.

You'll also need one of these - your preference as to type. I have both:-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Proops-Tap-Wrench-Bar-Type-m4-m6-4mm-6mm-1-4-Engineering-Tap-Holding-M0019/352208452845?hash=item5201427ced:g:NQgAAOSwxp9W1tlJ

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Standard-T-HandleType-Tap-Wrench-5-32-1-4-Threading-Ref-140215/302036094891?hash=item4652c10fab:g:iCAAAOSwfrxZ1Rxi

Video on how to do it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9VhONdGFFg

Get a block of ally and practice first. Learning how to hold the tap wrench perpendicular to the workpiece is an art in itself.

I've had to use ebay.co.uk but I'm sure you can translate to ebay.com or Amazon.

I assume the barbacks are aluminum.  Easy to cut.  Super high quality tap not required.  JMHO

I used to have to do a lot of hole tapping. So I invested in a set of good quality German ratchet tap wrenches which have done a lot of work over 40 years. I also invested in a cheap set last year to take to places where they might go astray. So far the cheap ones appear to perfectly fine for casual use. I found the ratchet ones easier to use and a lot more comfortable.
Regards Martin.

duck wrote:I assume the barbacks are aluminum.  Easy to cut.  Super high quality tap not required.  JMHO

I was thinking the same thing.  I also think that if it was mine, I would just drill the holes about 2cm deeper than the length of the screws and use the lead tap.  That should make usable threads. 

Key thing to remember when tapping a hole is to only go 1 turn forward, and then back off a half turn to break off the chip, then another 1 turn forward.  Don't force the tap, it doesn't take much to turn it in aluminum in a proper size hole.  Use lots of oil.

Harbor Freight is a good place to get a tap wrench for a couple holes.  Just don't get your tap there.  I would suggest Ace or True Value hardware.  Hanson or Vermont American are good brand names.  Get the tap first and make sure the wrench fits it.

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions and advice!  I ordered the UK ones on ebay for about $19 shipped.  I'll order a cheap handle from amazon.  I don't see having too many holes to tap in the future. 

edgeoftheworld wrote:I don't see having too many holes to tap in the future. 

Especially with all the bars closed these days.

duck wrote:

edgeoftheworld wrote:I don't see having too many holes to tap in the future. 

Especially with all the bars closed these days.

Good one! 

I think there's a duck needing a poke with a shotgun.

edgeoftheworld wrote:Thanks everyone for all the suggestions and advice!  I ordered the UK ones on ebay for about $19 shipped.  I'll order a cheap handle from amazon.  I don't see having too many holes to tap in the future. 

Maybe not, but they're also useful for cleaning threads.

Dai wrote:Maybe not, but they're also useful for cleaning threads.

They can also be used sometimes to unstrip threads. DAMHIK

Still waiting for the taps to arrive but I think I am going to hold off putting on the barbacks for a while.  As usual, every seemingly small job just gets bigger and bigger.  

Decide to get barbacks -> find out need to drill holes for the dash pad -> order tools

I looked at the bike yesterday and I am pretty sure I am going to need a longer front brake line in order to mount the barbacks.  The brake line now is a relatively new stainless steel one installed by the prior owner.  I really don't feel like buying a new brake line and replacing a close to new one right now.  

I should get my registration in the mail in the next day or 2 and I just want to ride the bike

For now I will just install the USB port and I also ordered a connector to replace the fuel level sender connector.  Barbacks and brake line can wait.