Back to stock Too many CRs just never get finished and that's a waste of a good bike. I can also guarantee you'll use it more if it's stock.

I can see a cafe racer taking shape there. 

Here's some food for thought if you want to think out of the box. A K75 with an R1200C inspired design.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGMrHbBUse8&feature=emb_logo

Apart from that i think it depends on your objective :
For touring and travel purposes I'd go back to stock
For around town and short fair weather rides I'd go café
To maximize resell value you may want to go café.


My impression is that even mint condition Ks are fairly cheap in the market and appear not to appreciate much.

Stock.

In my tangled and illogical world of justification, you can cafe a basket case that would otherwise be at risk of scrappage, but taking a hacksaw to a tidy and usable example, is a sin against God.

Better still, collect some parts and build your own special up from scratch - you'd be adding to the world K population, and God will LOVE you 

Well looks like 50/50
Hmmm,,,

Dai
Bongo
laitch
ERasberg
And Chris846 the good Lord knows I don’t want to sin. 
I’ll take inventory and see where we go from here.
Thanks again to all!

We all perceive beauty differently, Shape, Line, Angle, concept, etc.C/R are just one facet. To label the K as STOCK is a monumental under statement. As a road bike very few others have stirred the motorcycling desire in me as a K has,The Ks are hand in glove with the Yorkshireman. Gods idea of perfection.

PS  TMTOHH AGAIN

If want to ride long distances with luggage go stock. If you only want to do short distances and be admired for your unique perspective on how to do a modified Brick go Café.
Regards Martin.

Well, this is dragging out deep and considered feelings...
I didn't form my lifelong attachment to these solid old beasts because of the numerous cafe racers that are knocking about.
I formed it because of the stock bike.

ERasberg wrote:I can see a cafe racer taking shape there. 

Here's some food for thought if you want to think out of the box. A K75 with an R1200C inspired design.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGMrHbBUse8&feature=emb_logo

Wow, that is probably the nicest (to my eyes) conversion I've seen of a K.

And it looks like it is do-able by a wide variety of people, as it uses a lot of stock parts, and seems to use the existing fairings/panels.

Very nice.

Thanks moriarti, MartinW, and Corkboy for weighing in.
Chris846, Don’t fret, I have not committed to either yet!
Getting concerned with the growing parts wish list.
But, Whisper... I am leaning toward stock.

Paddy1 wrote:Getting concerned with the growing parts wish list.

You could lose your concerns with the wish list and instead concentrate on a must have list to determine if the engine and drivetrain will actually operate enough to fulfill your wish list.    A lot can happen to engine being carted around for 20 years and not all of it might be good.

I’m on it!

Hi Laitch,

Thanks for your input.
I have since fixed leak in tires, changed oil, soaked cylinders, installed battery, cleaned injectors, cleaned fuel rail., rebuilt tank including pump and vibration damper, new fuel hoses and filters etc. the list continues... 
will try to get her running and riding well before the extras!
Regards, 

Additionally: Sorting thru front and rear brakes and flushing coolant etc.

Corkboy wrote:

ERasberg wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGMrHbBUse8&feature=emb_logo

Wow, that is probably the nicest (to my eyes) conversion I've seen of a K.

And it looks like it is do-able by a wide variety of people, as it uses a lot of stock parts, and seems to use the existing fairings/panels.

Very nice.

Agree !
I'd pay good money for one of those. Then again, I do happen to own an Ivory R1200C, so slightly biased.

@Paddy1 : Good progress ! Keep it up. You'll be flying brick style again real soon.

ERasberg, Thanks for the vote of confidence!

Corkboy wrote:Wow, that is probably the nicest (to my eyes) conversion I've seen of a K.

And it looks like it is do-able by a wide variety of people, as it uses a lot of stock parts, and seems to use the existing fairings/panels.

Very nice.

Larry's Beauty was the inspiration for my conversion. A real head turner and I get lots of comments on my bike..  Much better visual result than a bog-standard cafe conversion. It wasn't hard to convert, just took time.

https://k75retro.blogspot.ca

While bleeding rear brake cylinder... Which I thought was successful because I had a good feel to the pedal. 
Returned to the garage and found drip drip drip. 
Coming from the rubber boot on the brake cylinder.
Thoughts from the community please. 
Should I replace it or rebuild it?

I'm not against a cafe project, and I though about doing that to my 86 RT. All the plastic bits where good and I didn't really want to cut up stuff, so I just converted mine to a naked bike. Bought a 7" headlight and some LED signal lights and a Givi ( 2 piece ) windscreen. My goal was to make the bike lighter and cooler to ride. I've kept all the pieces in the event a future owner wants the fairing etc. So my vote would be to convert it, in whatever fashion you want. Better to get it on the road. Where I live the K bikes are getting really hard to find, as back in the day they really weren't a hot seller, but they seem to becoming more popular. There are some really good cafe examples out there and some really poor stuff as well.

As to your brakes. I would take the rear master apart and look down the bore and see how bad it is. That will tell you which way to go. I know on mine the previous owner rebuilt the rear master and I eventually just bought a new one. My bike had sat for a lot of years and had about 16000 miles on it when I bought it. I bought the bike as a runner, but a poor one the previous owner had done some of the things, but never finished. Over the last year have been replacing anything that looks dodgy, had to replace the rear main seal, so did the transmission input & clutch seal while I had the transmission out. I've been systematically going through the bike, front to back and replacing stuff. When in doubt I install new, often cheaper in the long run. As usual on my projects I'm under water on this one as well, but I treat it as a hobby.

I like the K bike, have had several BMWs, 2 airheads & 2 oilheads, but overall I prefer the K to them.

From my experience, the rear master cylinder is a weak point in the bike's braking systems.  A few years ago I spent an embarrassingly stupid amount of money rebuilding and sleeving the rear master cylinder on my K75RT.  I finally got the brakes working properly when I replaced it with a $13 ChiCom master cylinder I got on eBay.  My advice is to not even bother looking at the original, just bin it and get a Commie unit.

It only takes a couple hours to modify and install it, it's almost a simple bolt on and I've now put them on 4 bricks and have a spare sitting here waiting for my last OEM master cylinder to act up.  If you do a little searching, you can find threads about changing cylinders here and at MotoBrick.com.

BTW, where in WNY are you located?  I'm about 4 miles outside of East Aurora in Marilla.

Hi cycleman and point seven five!
I appreciate your comments.
I will consider all in repair of the rear brakes

FYI, The bike is now running.  Whew!

Well done ! Big milestone.
Hope she's smooth.

chris846 wrote:In my tangled and illogical world of justification, you can cafe a basket case that would otherwise be at risk of scrappage, but taking a hacksaw to a tidy and usable example, is a sin against God.

Better still, collect some parts and build your own special up from scratch - you'd be adding to the world K population, and God will LOVE you 

hear hear, I second the motion from brother chris846 

hi ERasberg, Smooth enough after sitting for nearly 20 years!
i’ll keep at her till she is Sssmooooth.

hi Svenok, i’m leaning OEM stock after much nudging here in the forum. 
lets see if the piggy bank holds out. 
Stay safe all. Spring is coming!

@Paddy1 This is indeed a stock biased forum. Not all that surprising.



@robmack That is a beautiful conversion. A proper dream bike, I enjoyed reading your blog. The colour scheme is great and I bet she's a beauty to drive too.

Hi all,
Well after disassembly, the rear brake cyl. needs at very least a rebuild. 
I will go new for safety reasons. I don’t want to skimp there.
Probably do the same for the front, include some new brake lines all around.

Look into the cheap Commie master cylinders.  Slave labor makes some very good quality stuff for not much money.  Don't let the low price put you off.  You can use the $140 you save on other stuff.  

I have one here if you want it, it's been modified so it's ready to bolt on.  You can have it for the princely sum of $20.

My efforts at installation start at reply #34 on this thread.

http://www.motobrick.com/index.php/topic,9364.25.html

hi point seven five,
Missed your post. 
But Thanks for the offer.
I jumped and ordered a OEM replacement from the dealer. along with a variety of additional pieces i needed. 
Ouch is right! but hoping the wife will ride with me when complete, did not want to chance other than OEM when it comes to the brakes.

Paddy, no problem. I just keep it here as a spare to back up the two that are out in the garage right now, and so far, I haven't needed it. I'm watching the OEM master cylinder on my '88 K100RS, and the first sign of a leak or a spongy pedal it will be going on that bike.

The Uighur slaves in China really make nice stuff.

Paddy1 wrote:hi point seven five,
Missed your post. 
But Thanks for the offer.
I jumped and ordered a OEM replacement from the dealer. along with a variety of additional pieces i needed. 
Ouch is right! but hoping the wife will ride with me when complete, did not want to chance other than OEM when it comes to the brakes.

Paddy1, I found beemerbonyard to be a very good sources for parts. Some OEM others not and the prices are not BMW inflated.
As for brakes yeah very important investment, I was bleeding mine including the abs and they felt good, real good.
Did a few more jobs and i was at a stage where I had the battery in place.With the ingnition i hit the starter all good there, checked lights and grabed a hand full of front brake only to feel the pop and the lever went to the bar. Thank GOD I wasnt cruisng. 30yr old hoses who would have thought they would fail? I now have patriot-racing-industries hoses. Very beatuiful. I've kept the old hoses and will try and find someone local and have a set made up a bit later, less than 30yrsjust in case.

ERasberg wrote:
To maximize resell value you may want to go café.


My impression is that even mint condition Ks are fairly cheap in the market and appear not to appreciate much.

I'm sorry, I can't agree with this.
K racers simply don't sell. At all. Nobody is interested in someone else's racer, the purpose is to build your racer, expecting to gain consideration during the process and admiration once it's done.


I see plenty of K racers, some of them really well designed and made, most of them poorly modified with low budget and low skills. But they all have the same destiny: to haunt marketplaces on websites, with periodical price discounts, then moving to swap websites, trying to trigger interest, and finally being dismantled to try to get a few money from parts.
The fashion has gone...it's out now, too late.

By the same time, K in original condition are arising. They tend to be pretty rare now, so sellers try to get high prices from them. 
Sadly, with the same result as for racers: nobody is interested in buying a K more than a thousand € or $, whether it's for modify it or for preservation.
And why not buying a K just to use it? After all, it's designed to be used?
Well...Annual mileage is lower each year. Environmental restrictions sweep Ks out of towns because of their age, so even commuters who appreciate the K for their protection and reliability are forced to abandon them. I've just abandoned my K11 for a R1150RT. 
Parts availability is still OK, but skills to maintain and repair are getting rarer. I don't know any BMW official garage around 300km who still own the dedicated tools: they had to get rid of them to make room for recent models (I'm sure of that: I was there to save them!). If you're searching a mechanic who was trained to work on Ks, he was last trained more than 25 years ago: there's a chance that he is retired, now.

And you know what? I'm OK with this. I'm OK with K remaining affordable for people who have the skills to use them, because they're so good bikes that they deserve good bikers.

+1 

+2 

I’m becoming a believer.

+3

G'wan - make life easy on yourself!

Well.... Dare I say it, but it's your bike so you should do what suits you best. K bikes are affordable, reliable and robust machines and lend themselves to some modification; the motor and drive train being a good platform for all kinds of use.
I don't much like cafe racers and I think most people who go down that path with K bikes get the symmetry all wrong, looks-wise.
On the other hand, though the RS type fairing and running gear stands the test of time well, I think the RT and LT type fairing is beginning to date. 
I like naked bikes, so my projects, though both RTs, are going to be naked bikes. I like the look of the single headlight, but prefer to keep the original K type tailpiece, which I have always liked the look of.
This is only my opinion of course and I'll always find enjoyment in seeing an original K bike in whichever trim it appears, much more so than seeing a bulbous looking thing with a cut rear guard and tailpiece with enough room for a packet of chewing gum, sorry, Caff racer. For me, the naked bike ( with ghiant man bag to be attached) is the best of both worlds. For others, it might be the worst! Vive la difference.

I've said it before, but the ones with miniscule tail units just make me see this:


...which is cool, if that's your thing.

+4 on jbt's opinion and I like what Schorn/Saxon is saying.  

Modern motos with their multi colours and razzle dazzle appearance just look odd and have no attraction whatsoever.  Although the odd one catches my eye.  

There are some bikes that were made right the first time and have stood the test of time.  These include the Suzuki GSX1100 Katana, Ducati MHR or any red Ducati and the BMW K100RS.  The Italians know how to do style.  

I have owned my 75S for nearly thirty years and although the design is a little dated, it still is a good looking moto.  Being red does help and I still get a buzz out of it   

It is your bike so do what you will.  However if it looks like junk then I can only assume that is the style you were looking for.

"However if it looks like junk then I can only assume that is the style you were looking for."



British DNA in that there comment, sorry n'all....

JBT,
I agree, just riskier knowing that the qualified service techs at the BMW dealers are disappearing/retiring... same thing sort of.
It now makes this “forum” and its “members” invaluable!

BTW,
rear brake cylinder and lines replaced. fluid replaced and bleed succesfully.
also center stand modification complete. (welded in gussets for additional support).
on to coolant and front brakes. wish me luck!

Putting the finishing touches on the “BACK TO STOCK” K100RS.
Trying to remember how to post pictures…

Do share some photos!

[url=https://servimg.com/view/20301993/10]
[/url]

  Another one saved. Over 20 plus years I and mates have sourced a lot of parts from cafe builds. However I have only seen two on the road. One turned up at a ride start point but declined to join the ride due to unreliability and never sighted again. The other one is relatively reliable and he has done a good job of his build if a bit over the top. 
Regards Martin.

I must admit I may have… definately gone over the top. 
My opinion is it was worth the effort and cost.

When I say over the top I mean way over the top. I'll see if one of the K Kronies has piccies.
Regards Martin.