Greetings to all members from small country in the Balkans, where BMW owners are rather rare birds (most bikers ride rice-rockets or cruisers/choppers).

I'm relatively new to the Ks, because although I own one ('89 K 100 LT, purchased as used in Germany in 2003), I was riding '89 R 80 upgraded to 1000 ccm until recently - and before that '79 R 100 RT, while K was collecting dust in a shed But with all R-series reliability problems, and difficult access to spare parts in my country, I remembered the sleeping beauty... As I travel a lot working as a motorcycle journalist, I DO need som ething more reliable, even though it lacks the character & sound of old 'Gummikuh'...

Tarik

Sarajevo/Bosnia-Herzegovina
(when will I buy a new BMW bike?
when they start making again bikes
which doesn9t look like aliens just
threw them out from NLO, while
emptying garbage bins )

ffbikersa wrote:(when will I buy a new BMW bike?
when they start making again bikes
which don't look like aliens just
threw them out from NLO, while
emptying garbage bins )

Agreed, as they (BMW, driven by David Robb's design department) go further toward a mass market/mass appeal design they lose something in their traditional aesthetic quirkiness to me as well.

Welcome aboard Tarik. Interesting to hear about the R bike reliability problems. These K bikes seem to have amazing reliability as you will discover by following this forum.

g35corona wrote:Welcome aboard Tarik. Interesting to hear about the R bike reliability problems. These K bikes seem to have amazing reliability as you will discover by following this forum.

Thanks for welcoming me. I'm familiar with K bikes realiability, as I regularly read what's (certainly) the oldest and (most probably) the best motorcycle mag in the world - German MOTORRAD. And they quite often show K 100s and K 75s with, say, 500.000 or 800.000 km on the clocks, with still an original engine.

Two Wheels Better wrote:

Agreed, as they (BMW, driven by David Robb's design department) go further toward a mass market/mass appeal design they lose something in their traditional aesthetic quirkiness to me as well.

That's to say it politely. To be less polite: it seems nowadays design students get used to psychodelic drugs much more often than b4

Welcome to the forum Tarik.

I will say that the Ks especially have that generic motorcycle look but the Rs seem to be holding on a bit better maybe only because the cylinders sticking out the side are hard to disguise.

K Freak wrote:Welcome to the forum Tarik.

I will say that the Ks especially have that generic motorcycle look but the Rs seem to be holding on a bit better maybe only because the cylinders sticking out the side are hard to disguise.

If the Rs were less prone to overheating if driven slowly on a hot summer day - and if they were available with ABS brakes - I would never need another bike. Especially since old R 100 RT's fairing was, for me, the best designedn ever (and its aerodynamics are even today among the best)

I would say that the fairing on the R80 was better than the K100 or K1100. I think the Ks fairing was designed with looks foremost where the R was not really a good looking fairing it was very practical and kept me drier than any other bike I have had.

K Freak wrote:I would say that the fairing on the R80 was better than the K100 or K1100. I think the Ks fairing was designed with looks foremost where the R was not really a good looking fairing it was very practical and kept me drier than any other bike I have had.

There is no source given for this information at Wikipedia, so, other members, what are your books saying about the birth of our beloved K? Does anyone has some insider knowledge, e.g. after working for BMW?

Hi and welcome Tarik, great bike the k.s

BIG D

Welcome Tarik, good to have a professional writer on board, maybe the standard can get lifted here now.( :cyclops: Somewhere in the download section is a report on the very beginnings of this machine. Being a ludite, I can't find it for you but someone will point you in the right direction.
Your part of the world must have some beautiful rides from what we can se in those travel brochures.
RT

RT wrote:Welcome Tarik, good to have a professional writer on board, maybe the standard can get lifted here now.( :cyclops: Somewhere in the download section is a report on the very beginnings of this machine. Being a ludite, I can't find it for you but someone will point you in the right direction.
Your part of the world must have some beautiful rides from what we can se in those travel brochures.
RT

Hmmm, standard of writing did not look low to me, from what I've read till now. But I hope to give my contribution.

We do have beautiful rides, and not enough foreign coming to enjoy them. Many still think this place is dangereous, although the war in Bosnia ended in 1995 - but even when there is a slight trouble in one part of ex-Yugoslavia (like now in Kosovo), those uninitiated into local circumstances think it affects the rest. Which it doesn't - at least when Bosnia, Croatia and Slovenia are in question.

Though, bikers from some nearer countries are not such cowards - my magazine and Italian MOTOTURISMO organised already in 1999 and 2001 two "Rides for Peace". They attracted the attention even from far Norway URL: arkiv.nmcu.org/nyheter/990404.html
Those who can read Italian (or use Google Translate) can read the reports, e.g. at URL: www2.units.it/diciotto/moto/sarajevo.htm or URL: adrianolazzarini.blogspot.com/2009/11/sempre-dal-sito-di-nelik-ho-ritrovato.html

German magazine MOTORRAD's 'Action Team' organises also regular tours every year, to this part of the world, and Eurobikers too organised humanitarian rides for Bosnia, Serbia and Kosovo. So it's really not ONLY for adrenaline junkies, looking for trouble. The infrastructure, hotels, petrol & service stations, banks, internet access and the rest modern tourist needs is mostly up to date. The only exception - and that only when Bosnia is in question - is lack of 4- or 6-lane highways, we've built maybe just 100 km till now, but 2-lane roads are quite OK. It's only annoying if you need to get fast from A to B - but for a relaxed drive, no problem! However, moronic car drivers, who tend not to 'see' motorbikers, ARE a problem, I felt it on my skin (and my poor earlier bikes) few times.

moronic car drivers, who tend not to 'see' motorbikers.....

That's a worldwide problem Tarik. Welcome to the forum. I'm sure we will all benefit from your journalistic experience.

88KE

Hi Tarik,
Great to have you with us top spot you live in the scenery is excellent.
Regards,
K-BIKE

K-BIKE wrote:Hi Tarik,
Great to have you with us top spot you live in the scenery is excellent.
Regards,
K-BIKE

I hope that you speak from your personal experience, and that you were at a place like this one

Cheers
Tarik

wow ...nice pic tarik. those ski jump ramps look amazing

maybe a pic of your "k" would be nice too

cheers from downunder

charlie99 wrote:wow ...nice pic tarik. those ski jump ramps look amazing

maybe a pic of your "k" would be nice too

cheers from downunder

Yes, it would be nice, but it still isn't in a "presentable" condition. Namely, my bike was transported to Bosnia in a vansome time ago from Germany, where I bought it, and awaited my move. Windscreen got broken in transport, there are a few cratches on panniers and fairing, bike needs new battery, tires, changing oil & filters, new brake pads, spraying cylinder head "brick" with heat resistant paint, and removing some rust on exhaust b4 I could take it to the state technical inspection shop and get Bosnian licence plates.

As spare parts are awfully expensive if I get them from BMW official dealer here in Sarajevo (whose repair shop don't even deal with bikes, they maintain just cars), I have my source from a friend who is local "magician" for BMWs in Split, Croatia, and from nice people in Motorworks (2nd hand parts for peanuts price) and Motobins, UK. That just shows you how much enthusiasm one has to invest, if he wants to ride this beautiful bike... Waiting for intercity bus to bring the parts (my friend just gives them to the driver - avoid paying customs in that way ), or that they arrive by post from another side of Europe.

Cheers,
Tarik

yes motobins and motorworks are popular here as well .

cheers ..

charlie99 wrote:wow ...nice pic tarik. those ski jump ramps look amazing

maybe a pic of your "k" would be nice too

cheers from downunder

BTW: Ski jumps are at Mt.Igman, some 40 km from Sarajevo. Built for the Winter Olympics '84, damaged in the '92-'95 war, now destroyed. Who likes skiing and other winter sports, mountains around Sarajevo offer splendid terrains, and are quite affordable. Budget airlines' flights available from several airports in Germany (nobody with sound mind would try coming with his BIKE in winter to Bosnia )

So I finally found some time to take a few pics of my K 100 LT. I still didn't get all the parts whcih I need to make it roadworthy and have it registered. There is so much snow in Sarajevo right now (winter sports fans, where are you?) so no chance of riding a motorbike for some time anyway... K 100 LT 1 K 100 LT 2 K 100 LT 3

great pics woohoo