Are there any common jobs on these K bikes, that you definitely wouldn’t tackle yourself or are you all fully fledged tackle anything type of people?

I've done pretty much every job short of an engine rebuild on my bricks.  While at first glance they may look intimidating, in reality they are some of the easiest bikes to work on if you take your time and stay organized as you take things apart. 

Besides the factory tool kit, a $100 shopping trip to Harbor Freight will get all the hand tools you will need to do almost any job that needs to be done. 

The location and orientation of the engine puts the throttle bodies and the valves right there in front of you when you need to work on them.  The worst job to me is reinstalling the alternator, lining up the dogs on the clutch with the slots in the monkey nutz.  No matter how many times I have done that job, I still haven't figured out the trick.

I keep my bikes scrupulously clean.  Over the years I have found that working on a clean machine is actually pleasant no matter what the job at hand may be.  A proper frame of mind is important, a long time ago an old mechanic told me that maintenance should be approached as foreplay.  Take your time and enjoy it, it makes the ride so much better when you do it right.  Sort of like Tantra and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Good to know. Cheers

"The worst job to me is reinstalling the alternator, lining up the dogs on the clutch with the slots in the monkey nutz.  No matter how many times I have done that job, I still haven't figured out the trick."

I used a marker pen and put lines on outter hub of alternator cog so I had an estimation of aligning it upon insertion. An itsy bitsy dab of RTV silicone to hold the nuts in place and it went in fairly quickly.  ;-)

Monkey nutz; I have a spare alternator driving dog. I RTV them in the cup and then put the spare driving dog in so that they are in the right position as the RTV cures. Then Armor All the gaps in the monkey nutz and the alternator goes on easily.

Monkey nutz: lots of silicone grease to make them nice and slippy, then line up the cast-in marker on the cup with the drive flange. Use over-length bolts to pull the alternator in, then swap the bolts for the right ones once things start moving. Easy.

The two easiest engines in the world to work on: Moto Guzzi Tonti V-twins and BMW K100 fours. They share a lot in common for ease of access and before anyone comments about access to the crankshaft, yes, you can get the pistons out of a Guzzi V-twin without removing the engine from the frame. It's fiddly as fck, mind, but I have done it (twice).

I haven't found an engine yet that can beat me but one came close - Kawasaki's KLR 650. By the time I'd replaced the pump seal for the third time (similar setup to the K100) I was really ready to consign the engine to the bin. That bike went on to tour eastern Europe back in the mid-Nineties and never missed a beat apparently, so I must have got it right in the end.

If you take the head off the K100, it's a bit too easy to miss tightening up the camshaft sprockets. Fortunately there is just enough room to get a 19mm spanner in there with the camchain cover still on. Not recommended if you don't have a good familiarity with what X-ft/lbs of torque should feel like, but LFB's engine is still in one piece 45,000-odd miles later.

Oh yeah - old three-quarters up there is dead right about working on a clean bike. I hate working on dirty engines.

Point-Seven-five wrote:While at first glance they may look intimidating, in reality they are some of the easiest bikes to work on if you take your time and stay organized as you take things apart. 

I have had my 85 K100 for 35 years and pretty much had it in parts several times, and it has a sidecar on it for over 20 years, which can bugger one up for access, but I have to agree with above comment.
And I have not operated my rig much over the last few years, but I still work on it.... new RH handlebar switch, rear tire adapter and car tire, regular brake bleeding, and I am about to get into replacing all the tubing for vacuum and gas, gonna replace all the tank internals, blah, blah.
I have never had a problem doing any of the work myself. My biggest surprise was removing the tranny to do the output spline lube.... I thought it was really heavy and had made provision for a jack under it to remove. Then I pulled out all the bolts and whoa, it really didn't weigh anything, so I just pulled it into my lap and carried it to the bench.
Mike

Have to agree with monkey nuts being a right royal PITA…not technically challenging at all but frustrating.

However my most hated job…replacing headlight bulb on my K100LT. For a job that could be needed to be done in the dark at the roadside…and should take a minute, BMW have excelled themselves by making it as inaccessible as possible. Just replaced the bulb on Heidi a couple of weeks back and remembered how much it annoyed me…and still have the scars and scabs on my hands as a memento.

Nothing like a scuffed knuckle to get you using words not suitable for everyone’s ears.