Hello everyone. The names Terry, Terry Dactyl and I am not only new to this 'ere forum, but also new to BMW ownership. The last bike I owned was a Kawasaki GPZ900R back in the '80's, and not had a bike since! Had loads of cars and now got a few kids, and I must admit, I didn't think I'd ever have a bike again - I was too fast in them days! - but here I am with a 1987 K100RS. It's on a Cat D import (to the UK), though I'm not sure what that means, and weather it has any significant affect on anything. It has 76500km on the clock (4800miles) and seems to be in pretty good shape for 800quid. The idea is I'm going to be doing a bit of despatching on it. Having said that, my first couple of hundred miles have made me realise just how scary ridding a bike can be! (Ha!) Man, you shoulda seen me when I first rode off from the shop! Bear in mind the GPZ (in my early 20's) was f-a-s-t!, it handled, and stopped and then went even faster. Guys, I could'nt stop riding it! I covered 12000 miles in three months and had the best time of my life (on a bike). Now, I'm having to start all over again! So, I need some reasurance from you guys. At the moment the K seems a bit unstable. Running over white lines, and even changes in road surface gets it wobbling and I'm a bit unsure about getting the thing leaned over in fear of it just falling over. I've checked all the bearings (head and wheels) and everything is good so I'm assuming it's the tyres. It's got nearly new Pirelli's. I know the old 1970's Z900 had a hinge in the middle of the frame, but I didn't realise the germans would think this was a good thing! It's me, I'm sure, just learning how to ride again and getting back in the groove. By the way, where do I find info on servicing etc round here? Speak to y'all later. Terry the Dactyl (I'm hoping to introduce my cousin Percy soon, Percy Verence).

Welcome aboard Terry. There are many of us who have returned to riding via the K bike after many years off. It sounds like you've got a good bike there and it's highly unusual that you should notice any instability like you've described. The folks here can help you work through it if you can provide a little more detail. I also suggest you read the link on the Portal page titled "you just bought a used K100".

As you probably noticed the advice is to check everything and start from there with a known quantity.
These critters have a tapered roller bearing for the swinging arm pivot, this could be where the problem is but firstly the more modern thinking on tyre pressures needs to be adhered to.
Front 36-40psi maybe a tad more and rear 40-44psi. Since the bricks were designed the tyre technology has changed a heap so the higher pressures.
Also check the head bearings for being too tight, I know you just installed them but after you correctly tension them a worn thread can cause them to become over tight when the locking nut is done up. Its a bit of trial to get them right if this is the case.
Check the wheel alignment with a straight edge or string line, occasionally a repair after an accident is not done correctly or the misalinment is simply not noticed.
Another thing is check if the crown bearings are worn in the final drive by holding the rear wheel top and bottom and see if it will wobble.

Terry Dactyl wrote:Terry the Dactyl (I'm hoping to introduce my cousin Percy soon, Percy Verence).

After you get the handling sorted it might be a good idea to take it for a good old fashioned high speed fang to be sure it starts, goes and stops the way it should, lest you have a prang and are contacted by the law firm, Dewey, Skrewem and Howe.

Hello Terry and welcome. I was scared too with K 100 RS when bought it 11 years ago and drove it home first time. I didnt find comfortable relaxed driving position with that really narrow bars of RS, feeling was that bike drive me, not me drive bike. So after a while switched to higher and 10 cm wider K 100 bars. Bingo.

My advice is to check rear shock (known weak point) and give it for rebuild, or buy new one (in GB its not so expencive like in rest of Europe). Change fluid in front forks, change the tires, check the preload of head bearings...

Safe ride

Thamks for the responces and the advice guys, will have a look at the various suggestions and er....keep you posted!

Welcome Terry Dactyl
I have an RT and found the higher and wider bars very comforting. I know your feeling as I rode a mates RS
once and thought what sort of pigeon chested individuals ride like this. Since then I have seen some of them, self explanatory.
(Ok I have opened myself up a bit there, expect incoming soon).
Nice to have to aboard.
RT

Welcome to a cool site.
I've had both a RS and a RT. After riding the RT for years I found the RS a handful. Narrow and low bars were not to my taste, so I promised myself h.bar risers which seems to get good reports.
The K is a bike you 'ride'. Takes a while to get the balance and feel, but once you have got it there is no other like it. Remember the shaft drive needs careful gear shifts if you have never had one.
Dispatch. Been there. Its summer right now! Maybe a more modern lighter bike might be a better idea? It takes time to get your wings back. Keep at it and go careful.
Rear shock worn out? Head bearings tight? Front fork problems? Wheel balance? Tyre pressure!!!

Got to say, I didn't expect to recieve such a warm welcome from everyone (this is nice!). Dino, I kinow what you are saying, at the moment I feel I am sat on top of the bike, where as with the 900R I used to sit in it (a bit like a fighter pilot, like er....a certain Mr Cruise - I was young then!) I'll get my head round it. Boristhebike - must admit I would have a more modern bike for the job, I simply can't afford it. My theory was to buy something that had been designed to do a lot of miles relatively safely. I'm sure the K will do it, I've just got to get used to it. To be honest I bought an FJ12 to start with, but it became apparent the seller didn't tell me about all the problems I started to find after a couple of days, so part exchanged it for the K (which I had already looked at) a couple of weeks later (I told them what I had found wrong with it by the way). Any way, nice to talk to y'all. See y'all later. Terry.

Welcome Terry. I bought an LT after a 15yr absence and got comfortable with it fairly quickly. I recently test rode and RS, I love the look of them but within a mile I knew the lower, narrower bars would not be for me long term. The guys here also chipped in with advice on how the RS would handle in traffic vs the LT. The option for me was a set of naked K100 or K75 Bars. Higher and wider = more upright riding postion. Anyway I took too long to make up my mind and the bike was gone. Ditto to all the advice on checking everything & giving yourself a few hundred miles under the wheels to get the feel of it. But once you have you'll love the K.

88KE

RT, I was brought up on Nortons and Vincents with narrow bars so my arms wouldn't stretch as far as an RT.

Paul.

I'm getting used to the bars now. I suppose if anything I just ride with my hands part way over the bar ends. The main thing is, it's all in my head at the moment. When I was a kid I just 'did it' without thinking, now older (and wiser.....I suppose), I'm actually thinking about what I am doing, and it's that awareness (of potential danger) that's stopping me from getting the thing over (and enjoying it). I mean, my first bike was a Suzuki TS100 (trail bike - I was 17yrs old) and I remember putting the pegs on the floor on a roundabout in Rotherham (Swinton actually), with nobbly tyres on!! I could feel each lump as the tyre went round (lol).....man, what were we like, eh?! (thats what I thought when I got home and leaned the bike over (stood still) until the pegs touched the floor to see how far I was leaning over)

Hahah! That's a bloody long way over on one of those. I had a mate who had knobblies on his 350 RD because he couldn't afford new rubber. I still remember him saying to me ( who had road tyres on a TSS Triumph Blazer), " You can scratch the pegs no worries in the dry...bit dicey in the wet though".

Terry - is that bike you bought a blue RS in leicester I'm looking at on Gumtree? If so it looks good value for money. Did you find out what CAT D import meants or does it reffer to 2 things a) imported and b) Category D insurance damage? (which would account for the r/side lower panel.)

from the "honest-John" website.... "Category D - Repairable. Probably non-structural damage. May have been economic to repair, but insurer doesn't want to."

88KE

good one terry .... oh! for the times when we were young and dumb



did the same on an old duke ...raised about 2 inches on conis.... metzeler block on the front and bridgestone on the rear ...when i looked at the lean angle ....amazing !!! that im still here

88KE. Yep, thats mine. Not really sure if I want to sell it to be honest. I suppose it's on there to see if anypne would be interested, as it happens.....no! About 40 people have looked at it but no contact this way. If someone did come up with the money, then it would go, and I'd buy a '96 R1100RT (or sim) to do the despatching on if I could find one at the right price (one went on ebay the other week for £1220 - though I must say, I've seen a fabulous looking GPZ1000RX on the MCN web site for 13 hundred quid). Things are a bit in the air regarding despatching by the way. When you look at the cost and demand for running a bike or a van, the van comes out on top all the time (due to demand). I'd like to keep the bike and have some fun on it, but wonder how much time I will have considering van couriers are covering 90k miles a year. We'll see.

Welcome to the forum Terry - when I first rode my K100RT it was so very different to anything that I had ridden before that I thought that I had made a huge mistake. However, during the course of the ride home from Paington (Devon) to Launceston (Cornwall) I started to work out some of the bikes nuances - it all felt weird at the time. Within only a few weeks of ownership and trying the bike out on different roads etc. I had fallen in love big time. These old K's are capable of pretty much anything that you care to throw at them (in spades). I loved mine so much that shortly afterwards I bought a newer K1100 LT to add to the garage. I love that bike too and it was not so very different to the K100 which I had by now got the hang of. This truly is a remarkable bit of machinery and I love both of them to bits (have to confess that I still prefer the K100 (1984 - 106,000 miles now and still running well mostly). Once more, welcome to the forum

Terry, handling of K bike depends a lot of proper head bearing adjustment, specially RS with that narrow bars. To check and adjust cost nothing. If it isnt correct your drive feeling will be strange all the time.

Regards

Hello again.

Def getting used to this thang! Done 3 or 4 hundred miles now, changed a few things here and there (brakes, oils etc) and enjoying living with my new partner Kay!. Went out to Rutland Water the other day. Nice road with lots of fast sweeping corners, up and over the hills. It took me about tens mins or so to realise........if I assume the position, get my head down, squeeze the tank with my legs and stop being so freaked out about crashing, then the K is loads of fun! Man it brought back some memories! BIG grin all the way there and back . Now can't stop riding it.....still need some better tyres though these MT08/09's are a bit shaba dab! (Pirelli Sports Demons have been recommended).

(Below) The K100RS, not bad for 700 quid! with just over 40K miles on it. Also has (small) original top box and (now) one side pannier bought for £20. We're now almost ready to go despatching! (Thanks to lesso by the way for the pannier offer, sorry I could'nt get 'em. He's got plenty more stuff if you need some spares). Speak t'y'all later. Terry.

Go with the pirelli Demons Terry, you won't be dissapointed. Have a read of this thread for some grea info on pressures too. You'll see from it a good few on here have fitted wider profile demons to good effect. I couldn't believe how much better my LT felt with them. The RS is looking good in them thar picshurs!

88KE

88KE. Thanks for that. Just had a quick look, and pretty much decided I'll get the Demons (gonna be a couple of weeks yet mind - got to earn a bit of dosh). Noticed your bike by the way. How much further have you got with it?

Not much Terry, covers off hoping to get them blasted this week and start reassembling at the weekend.
88

Hey Terry,

Welcome to the forum... I would have added my 2 pence worth of advice on the handling issue your having but the only thing not to have been said is stop going over the white lines and weave instead! I had a similar problem with my LT all it needed was the 15year old or so fork oil to be replaced!

I am guessing your photo doesn't do your bike justice! Grainy photo but I can see it is a very clean and tidy motor, with what looks like nearly new finish to the paintwork!

Hi Terry,
Great to have you with us and a good time to get into the K with the weather taking a bit of an improvement the bike looks great!
Regards,
K-BIKE