Bike now off road for season after great 3220 km summer.
I need to lower it a bit. It has corbin seat, 130 rear tire (stamp on frame says use 120 tire) and a stock rear shock.

Considering new 120 rear tire and 13 inch shock. This should lower my ass two inches. Your thoughts most welcome.
Cheers

Sounds like a standard K75 with rear drum if '120' rear tyre is called for. Place that info in your signature line for all to see for future.

A shorter shockie can be found from various places, but keep in mind to 'raise' the front tubes in the triple clamps an approximate measurement to how much you lower the arse end. That bit is not an exact science. 'Steering feel' will be impacted a bit, with a slower or heavier feel if both ends aren't lowered near equally, and a quicker potential if the front's 'dropped' too much.

Also, side and centre stands will be too long by a bit. Chop chop, weld weld, or live with less lean to side. That'd help if she's old enough to smoke.

If you do this yes you need to shorten the centre stand.

The standard curved on is a pain to do this and anyway they corrode on the inside and eventually break. Well known, I have had two.

So the trick is get a centre stand or complete stand assembly off a 16v K1 or off a K1100, its much easier to shorten the centre stand on these because it is straight.

You are likely to need to shorten the side stand but I have never done that.

Anyway, never park a K facing down a hilll, always point it up a slope.

I should have mentioned. It's an 87 k75 s built June 86. Disc rear brake. With a new 130 on the back and using the side stand on level ground you would think the bike would fall over so I put a hockey puck under the pad. The front forks are at max length the tops being flush with triple tree tops.

lucki wrote: With a new 130 on the back and using the side stand on level ground you would think the bike would fall over . . ..

On its side stand, the Brick makes a stable triangle. Changing from a 130/90 to a 120/90 tire will make little difference in the dimensions of that triangle. The Brick's weight is what creates an illusion of instability. The only time instability really occurs is when we try to pull the Brick upright off the stand after eating a 16" double cheese pizza. You ever try pushing on it to get it to fall over from the side stand position, just for fun? I have; YouTube gets boring occasionally. The Brick will hang there until the end of time, unless the side stand breaks; that's the fly in the ointment to which Olaf refers. The stand can be tender if neglected. A stand in good condition holds fast. Of course, you and two of your friends shouldn't try making an acrobatic pyramid on the seat in side-stand position; that's tempting fate.


Martin W has some excellent strategies to make mounting the Brick more convenient without compromising its handling. Maybe he'll chime in here.

I have had two centre stands break, both on left side but I didn't lose the bikes due to luck and nothing else really. I have another repaired one that broke on the right side and that did cause the bike to fall to the right for the previous owner.

130 0r 140/70 rears have worked well for me. My latest K came with 140/80 rear but it wore out and I have since changed it to 140/70. I also reduced the front and no noticeable difference in anything. I also changed the centre stand assembly at the same time.

I have fitted a YSS 1" shorter shock and dropped the forks the equivalent amount. Probably due to the YSS being a better shock it actually improved the handling. I also fitted a later straight leg centre stand which had to be shortened. After working out how much the centre stand had to be shortened I cut out the measured amount and Veed both ends. After cleaning the internal part of the tubes I measured it and made up thick walled push in plugs on one end of the plugs and easy fit on the other end. The plugs were tapped half way into the major part of the stand, the feet were then slid over the plug and aligned  and welded.  I also encountered a problem with the side stand grinding on tight corners, this was remedied by slightly bending the side stand and modifying the rubber seat for the stand to seat in further. In order to get the angle right I made up a board to mount the side stand to that I could measure off. I took two tweaks to get the angle right. It is preferred to sneak up on the final angle rather than over bend. The re-bent  stand still scraped so I ended up shaving the foot down.
Regards Martin.

Martin
You dropped the forks. I assume loosened the forks and slid them so they stood proud above the triple tree. That right?

Just put this on my resto, what a difference. Just need to fine tune it now.

lucki wrote:Martin
You dropped the forks. I assume loosened the forks and slid them so they stood proud above the triple tree. That right?

The forks now stand about 13mm proud.
Regards Martin.

Martin
I guess I have a height problem, I am 5 10 i was 5 11. I am not short, my feet still touch the ground.

Bum to close to the ground mate.. we are getting shorter....

The plan:
Replace 130 rear tire with 120 as per manufacturers spec, 13 inch rear shock, lower front end , shock and tire should drop rear end 2 inches and level It out with front end drop. Ideas?

It came to me with a corbin seat which I really like so trying to work around this.

Doing all I can to Keep On two wheels. At 80 i know my riding days are numbered, don't smoke or drink but age works on us all. Most concerned about balance, strength, and slowing reflexes. Please don't suggest a three wheeler, just another step towards a wheelchair. I would be pleased to back thru a fence at 120 on my beemer at age 90! Long walks daily, tia chi, weights and a little pot gets me by
Lowering the k75 would make me more able to keep going.

firstle wrote:FS: Low Seat Conversion Kit for K75 / K100 (motobrick.com)

Much better solution than altering the K75 geometry with cheap aftermarket shocks...

Not sure about the cheap after market shocks though.

Over all my Ks I have or had a varied selection

BMW original on 2v
BMW original on K1100
Koni [not Ikon] on K100LT
YSS basic on K100RT
YSS premium on K1100LT
RAM on K1100LT
Hagon on K100 Sprint

BMW shocks are junk.

The cheapest by far is the YSS basic and less than a used BMW unit. At this point it has hit over 60,000 miles and moved between bikes. It still looks decent and I have it almost 10 years. It does what it says and its on my 83 RS and its good. Holds curves really well.

The Koni on my K100LT is probably the nicest of them all but no longer available.

The YSS premium is suspect quality, 2 did not make it past 25,000 miles, the basic one has been more durable.

RAM [K1100LT] and Hagon [84 K100 Sprint] do really work fine and I like them for holding curves very well, but the RAM looks grotty whereas the much older YSS basic still looks respectable.

I am only 70kg so shocks are not having a hard life.

Agree with the comment on grotty RamShocks. The paint is poor but the shock itself is good. Kostenlot has a Hagon on it with a new spring but I haven't had chance to try that one yet. The bike is sitting in the garage waiting for me to fit a new thermostatic sensor and is busily p!ssing oil on the floor from the lower corner joint of the cam cover and the timing chest. I've also got an ebay special spanky-new still boxed and wrapped RamShock from a failed cafe racer project for less than one-third of the MRP. Have no idea about the spring rate on that one but the guy did put his weight in the ad and it ain't too far less than mine.











Fat git.

3 wheelers can be fun so do not be put off , i have had them since 17 years of age , in the uk if you had a bike licence you could drive a 3 wheeler , i still have one now and quite a few bikes which i try and get out on , my farther also a life long bike and 3 wheeler fan rode a bike till 86 , ajs 350 , british bikes tend to be lighter and lower than most its just if you can start them . 

lucki wrote: Please don't suggest a three wheeler, just another step towards a wheelchair.

Disguise it.