I did a 530 km fairly high speed run to the west at the weekend - nearly all motorway work at 140 - 160 kph might have even seen 180 (indicated) for a while but I can't quite remember where or when.

On the return leg I noticed that the bike was getting a bit squirrely on right hand curves - rock steady to the left, after which I started looking and feeling around for vibrations etc. I eventually discovered the side stand and left rear left footpeg had a very strong rhytmic vibration. Exhaust is the obvious culprit I guess but could it be anything else? 2 different issues? Opinions appreciated.

88

Check your front tyre for more wear on the right side than left. This can be caused by camber on the road but also an out of alignment of the front and rear wheels, far more difficult on a shaftie than chain drive but can still happen.
As to the vibration in the pegs maybe the rubber damper on the exhaust pipe for the side and centre stand.

check your rear shockie will, as this is typical rear shock behaviour
also the swing arm bearings ....
im about to do my bearings real soon .....at last ...

Will

I had a slight feeling of the same thing. As you know I am off road but the day after it went off road I picked up new tyres. Both front and rear were down on tread so I decided to go for both. The front had slight differences in wear patterns on laft and right, blamed on road camber as everything was checked last September when I did the head bearings. This is a more likely option since we do most of our mileage on non motorway routes where camber can be significant for drainage. Motorways use a porous self draining surface that lets most water drain through it so there is much less camber and sometimes none.

Having had another good long spin today - I'm inclined to suspect the rear shock. I was less loaded but it still bottomed out a couple of times.

Mine is the original BOGE, whats the best way to check it for function? Does anyone know if they can be rebuilt? It's giving me a pain in my wallet thinking about the cost of a replacement one.

88

88KE wrote:

Mine is the original BOGE, whats the best way to check it for function? Does anyone know if they can be rebuilt? It's giving me a pain in my wallet thinking about the cost of a replacement one.

88

Take the bike off the stand, bounce the rear as rapidly as you can and see how long it takes to settle.

It should rebound more than once but quickly settle. the longer it takes to settle the more goosed it is.

The Boge unit is not supposed to be a service item but given that other units supposedly are not serviceable yet are serviced by specialists, it may be worth trying a few of the suspension specialists, you may be lucky.

That said, the cost may make a replacement such as Realm Engineering's excellent K-Specific a better option.

http://www.realmengineering.com/page7.html

MikeP wrote:
Take the bike off the stand, bounce the rear as rapidly as you can and see how long it takes to settle.

It should rebound more than once but quickly settle. the longer it takes to settle the more goosed it is.

The Boge unit is not supposed to be a service item but given that other units supposedly are not serviceable yet are serviced by specialists, it may be worth trying a few of the suspension specialists, you may be lucky.

That said, the cost may make a replacement such as Realm Engineering's excellent K-Specific a better option.

http://www.realmengineering.com/page7.html

Thanks Mike

It appears to be knackered! With the assistance of a friend we bounced the rear - there was virtually no resistance on the down force but there was little or no rebound either, as soon as we stopped bouncing it settled. This would imply to me that it's working in one direction but not the other, Is that a correct assumption?

Don't despair, Will. You can rebuild it.
Check out this link. Sherlocks
£112.80 buys a brand new Bilstein damper unit which you can use to rebuild your shock. Instructions for idiots included.
Not difficult to do. Just need a drill to remove the tabs holding the adjustment collar and the unit comes apart. Or use a small cold chisel to knock the tabs off. Remember you're throwing that bit away.
Get the lend of a pair of small spring compressors to put it together again. Don't forget to paint the spring while its apart.
Not including painting, the whole job only takes about an hour.
Never going to perform like a Ram shock or similar but lets face it, it'll do the job.
At a third of the cost, too!

Cheers John, I'll look into that. It's really kaput now - I took the spin over the wicklow gap last night about dusk on the way home from kildare, I only met 3 cars between Hollywood and Arklow - You'd have loved it.

a really good option cj

hadnt seen that before ..

Was going to head out today and get a couple more photos for the Photo Rally. Going across to near Castlepollard and back down the Boyne valley to Drogheda harbour.
The K is naked again so watch out for snow showers today.

I read you post about the Bilstein replacement cartridge, but.......My original rear shock has a big rubber cushion sleeve around the center shaft I assume to soften the shock from a heavy dip.
Mine was all deteriorated and just crumbled away and fell out of the coils in little bits. Can that part be had new to install when changing the damper over to the old spring.
Also, what are the chances that the spring has lost a good deal of it's original temper and should be replaced as well. Springs wear out too???

Motorworks do the same unit for a similar price but don't see any mention of a replacement rubber bumper.
Can't remember if I re-used the rubber when I did my unit a couple of years ago. Shouldn't be difficult to source something similar. Maybe from a used car damper unit?
Notice the Hagon units just use a thick rubber washer.
I think its unlikely that the damper would ever be completely compressed unless the suspension was severely overloaded.
I suppose the spring would settle slightly over time but unless it was heated I'm not sure it would be that noticeable.
Looking at it coldly, with price difference between the damper and a new complete stock unit, you are paying £253 for a new spring.
Motorworks list a complete new Hagon shock for £179 which is what I have and it works fine.
I think too, that you have to bear in mind that many of us are on a budget and its difficult to justify spending hundreds on a shock when, in many cases, the bike didn't cost that much.
Its back to the old story that you can restore or improve a bike and it ends up worth less than what you spent on it.

aye !,,,,indeed cj

for most of us, we dont do what we do ...expecting to get rich ....or even make our money back .....

there are other reasons why we help our mates where we can or ride our old girls....

the aquired knowledge passed around in here is fantastic

enjoy !

88,

MT Spares Ltd here

I have a s/h stock K100 (not 16 valve) shock in good condition. Am sure we could come to an agreement. PM me if you are interested.

Cheers

Dave

Here it is 88. Very clean shock, almost rust free and looks sound.
Measures 350 mm eye to eye. Didn't notice a serial number on it?

PM sent Dave!
Will