After finishing the re-installation of the FD today and cleaning things up a bit, I decided I might whack on a set of footrest mounts that I had cleaned up. It was only after removing the right side mount from the bike and comparing it to the shiny one that I discovered they were different. The location screw holes are smaller and clearly take smaller diameter grommets. Mine is an 85' K100RT. Does anyone recognise these other ones? Would they be from an earlier or later bike?



Sean.

They are from the later non ABS type around 87 on maybe 88 which was when the ABS was introduced.

Rick, thanks for that.
I think I'd still like to use them, and will now at least know what I'm looking at when ordering the rubber bits.
Cheers.
Sean.

which rubber bits they bolt straight on the gearbox and don't vibrate as much as the rubber isolation ones. The rubber ones worked like the isolastic mounts Norton used they multiply the vibration by the revs till you go numb.

Really? Hmm...something to think about....no rubbers. Any sleeves? ( I suppose I should get up and go out to the other kitchen and have a look at the holes again. )
My MkIII Interstate had adjustable isolastics.
That way you could control how many teeth fell out per km.

No sleeves only 3 x 8mm socket head bolts about 25mm long

Before you go any further have a good look on the left side, how the exhaust mounts!! The right side is easily exchangeable, the left is slightly different (don't ask how I know and particularly when I found out!).

Ah ok....thanks for that Rene!

The newer peg arrangements, and exhaust mount, changed from 10/85 on.

About newer bridges and exhaust mount, it`s a different mount with or w/o panniers.
Since the Z-frames is located between the bridge and the exhaust mount.

Do the footrest assemblies from the early type fit straight on to the later type of mounts?

It`s not a straight fit, since the exhaust mount also was changed at the same time.
(also mentioned earlier in this thread).

I mean just the actual footrests assemblies themselves (the part that your feet rests on!), are they the same on both types of brackets.

That shouldn`t be any problem, it was some differences...but only at the outer end and the rubbers.

Amazing, I have the 83 K and 87 K sitting next to one another and just looking at the two you would swear that they were identical, apart from the cosmetic changes. But as I have found out.......many differences and many that are not interchangeable. Was it the same when the 16 valve bikes were released?

The 16V have narrower footrest for the passenger, on earlier models it was identical...front, back.
I`ll guess the reason was the wider rear end footrest bridges on the paralevers.

ainsjac wrote:Amazing, I have the 83 K and 87 K sitting next to one another and just looking at the two you would swear that they were identical, apart from the cosmetic changes. But as I have found out.......many differences and many that are not interchangeable. Was it the same when the 16 valve bikes were released?

My question is:

Why?

Are they genuine improvements or just "updates"? I too, had no idea that there could be so many changes and even depending on what month your bike was built.

Sean./

Sean, I have been compiling a list in my head (bad place) of differences I have come across...so far. Best put them down.
Cosmetic, plastic bits that ARE interchangeable (10/85 was the month of change) blinkers, and the base of the ducktail,
tail light
rear mudguard/flap
switch gear panel
Maybe the left and right switchblocks.
Tool tray looks the same.
Maybe some one else can comment on whether the RT fairings etc were the same. I can only compare the 87 RT to 83 naked.
From a mechanical perspective I know the water/ oil pump is different, footpegs etc are different and further internal differences?
Why? Good question. I suspect that many items were modified because of reliability etc.. Maybe suppliers of small items changed....look at Australian car industry at the moment...small companies going broke etc.

A lot of the changes occur when the yearly production date for a particular model ends (usually August/September with BMW) and a new one starts, that's been going on in the car/motorbike business (and others) for yonks. Call it evolutionary change, but at least BMW didn't (until recently) re-skin or develop an entirely new model every other year as the Japanese have consistently, and the Americans to a smaller degree.

When I am chasing a second hand part for my 'bikes, unless I know for certain from past experience, I check out ETK to see what fits what and for how long for that model range.

At the end of the day, obsolescence is planned by a company's marketers to keep things 'fresh' and new, costs are reduced by bean counters, and engineers attempt to improve things.

It's gunna change, no matter what we think about it. Imagine what it's like for a parts man, a salesman or a mechanic in a shop; change for the sake of it and all those part numbers, new tools and techniques, and glossy brochures full of updated specs to have to keep up with.

Of course you can go to the present.....us. How many of our bikes are "standard" ? We change ours to suit our budget, our likes, dislikes, what we see on other bikes and of course to be "different". It just makes it hard for fixers as well as spare parts people.....Good luck TWB.

On the subject of parts diagrams, a friend in the U.S. sent out the BMW CDs titled EPC Electronic Parts Catalog and TIS Technical Information System 1982 -2006
What do you have to do to get these discs to work or do they only work on dealers systems?

They'll work on Windows systems, but need a few bits of info when you install them. Not too difficult and there's info on the web.

When opening the CD, you should be able to choose setup.
Then you choose sysadm-tools and ETK (TIS)..install.

That was how it was done under the older versions of windows..........
don`t know if this have been changed later on.