Evening fellow K owners.
Names Jay and I have recently acquired an '85 K100RS.
As a young go getter who's stumbled upon a K bike that owes him next to nothing, My natural instinct was to chop the beast first and foremost.

So starting from the top :

I inherited the bike from my uncle who had picked up the machine a good 6 years back. He had nothing but grief from the bike yet still adored it and could not bring himself to let it go. So along comes young Jay after having lost a bike in a tragic manner and good old unc shows compassion and lets the solid old Beamer fall into trustworthy hands.
I take possession and the immediate issue for me is the cosmetic stance of the bike. It is horrendous at best. So after much deliberation I unleash a maelstrom of malicious behavior tearing bits off left right and center. Off comes the fairings, lights, seat, tank, engine covers, hangers, wheels and a complete fluid dump tops off the prelim to pent up rage release.

Next up comes some buffing and shining. The trees get a dose of the good stuff  along with many hours toil on the engine covers bringing them to a gleam that not even the likes of some brand new bikes would appreciate.

All fluids replaced and new filters all round (including a couple of K&N bad boys), I felt it was time to give her a kick in the guts and let her know who's boss. But wait - the first glitch appears. with some symptoms similar to a that of a flat bat or relay issue, I start reading the trusty k forum and with a matter of pure logical deduction and many hours reading I figure out that the brushes have gone to nether regions and have to rebuild the starter.
Starter all done and dusted I refit it to find the same symptoms persisting. ( some people may laugh at the next bit)
Being a bit of a nube I was not paying proper attention when stripping the starter housing. Upon rebuild I make the mistake of putting the main starter housing on upside down. This in turn causes the starter to spin backwards and a little head scratching when the starter is remounted in position. Again a matter of deduction and a pure godsend that I didn't cause some very expensive damage with my mistake, the problem is solvered.

This brings us more or less to the current state of affairs with the project and a little inkling that I may need the advice of a more experienced DIY tinkler.

Plan is to mount clip on handlebars, aftermarket chrome switch blocks(which are proving very hard to come by), rear set foot pegs, chop the original seat base and have it refoamed / upholstered, cut the seat frame bars shorter, drop the forks through the triple trees an inch or so, discs machined, new rubber, new aftermarket exhaust tip, radiator shroud / rad guard, aftermarket headlight and indicators all round.

As I may have mentioned - I am a bit of a newby with this so would rather appreciate any advice one could gather on the subject or any suggestions that people might lend as for the acquirement of parts ( especially in Aus) would be accepted graciously. 

Cannot wait to get back on the road and pics will most certainly follow

Nice intro Jay welcome to the forum. Many aussie guys here and many tech gurus, no problem seems to phase them

but some do take time. Chops are common here also with divided opinion on the sacreledge or otherwise however

critisism is always polite! Shleffers ( hope i got that right) did some really innovative work, someone will link you to it.

In my humble opinion too many fall into the same old same old category, ho hum. But go for it! We love a good read and 

pics.

Ghost

I'll offer a welcome. As to chopping - fine by me. Or leave it alone. It's your bike.

What I did take offense to, however, is dropping in on a place that is dedicated to a particular model of bike and calling it "horrendous" looking. You do realize that many here haven't chopped and love the look of their bikes, right? Find some tact and enjoy your stay.

JHWeatho wrote:the engine covers bringing them to a gleam that not even the likes of some brand new bikes would appreciate.

This shiny?

Hi Jay,
Good to have you with us I suggest you dump the bad boys where they belong and stick to the good guys (genuine parts) the K & N air filters are reputed to let in too much dirt as reported by Tom Cutter the BMW specialist and others.
Regards,
K-BIKE

K-BIKE wrote:Hi Jay,
Good to have you with us I suggest you dump the bad boys where they belong and stick to the good guys (genuine parts) the K & N air filters are reputed to let in too much dirt as reported by Tom Cutter the BMW specialist and others.
Regards,
K-BIKE

Agreed on ditching the K&N air filter - OEM one is better.

The K&Ns also require more frequent re-oiling than recommended given the heat in the K's engine compartment.

Thanks for the welcome guys.

Just a quick clarification to begin with for moose97- I havn't come here to offend people my friend, I am simply stating a fact for my particular machine. The state it was handed over to me in was deplorable. Plastics were missing, cracked, bogged up, and simply in a sad state of affairs (some beyond repair). I live in what could be classed as a rural area of Australia and the resources I felt necessary for me to return the bike to it's former glory were, as far as I'm concerned, unavailable. I figured the best option given my individual circumstances (finances & experience) was to proceed with a chop. I will not hesitate to say that I do not regret the decision. I am in turn trying to keep a lot of original parts on the bike, modifying as little as possible structurally, keeping all original parts for the interest of resale( If I ever get rid of her) and getting pieces fabricated in the interest of possible latter resurrection.

As for duck  - I am impressed good sir. I have put many hours of hand sanding into these pieces with wet n dry up to 400 grade as well as a lot of hand polishing and machine buffing and yet, hands down, your covers still take the cake. I would luv to know how you went about it. Especially in the grooves between all the fins for instance. I was planning on simply painting in there and color matching the paint to some annodized footpegs and hand grips or something of the likes. 

As for the filters - the only reason I went with them is the ease of removal with the K&N oil filter having the 17mm nut on the bottom. I did not have the specific oil filter removal tool when removing the previous filter and due to its tightness I had to lay the bike flat on its right side remove the whole sump pan and stick 2 large screwdrivers through the bottom of the tin and twist with a large steel rod. Obviously the previous filter was unnecessarily overtightened but I figured to save the hassle I'll go with K&N purely for the ease of having the bottom removal nut. When it comes to the air filter, I hadn't even taken into consideration the engine heat and will most certainly have to keep eyes on it. But for now it does seem to run a fair bit better than when I was running the standard OEM factory filter. It was suffering from dead spot symptoms similar to that of a choked up engine. (And before it's suggested - I did check to make sure the old filter was not simply clogged beyond belief, It was in rather good condition) For now, seeing as though they are brand new, I will run it back into life with them and inspect them religiously.

A quick question while I'm here today - I've had it suggested to me that the tri spoke rims can accommodate a slightly wider rubber than the "Y spoke". Can you guys confirm or dismiss this for me with certainty? If so would it need an offset spacer or modification to the final drive or bolt directly?

Am also looking for some after-market switch blocks ( I was hoping in chrome) due to the fact that mine are broken left and right. Does anyone know of any switch blocks that might transfer off another bike / model without too much drama?

I will eventually upload pics when I figure out how to go about it. Yes, even an arrogant mid 20's something can't figure that one out.

Thanks again and I look forward to your replies

'85 K100rs

The shiny engine covers took exactly zero hours of elbow grease.  There's a local ceramic coating shop that offers a product named "Chromex."  For $120 they media blasted both covers and then coated them. I've used this in the past to spiff up typically discolored K75 headers as well. ($75 per set of headers)

The 3 spoke front wheel is the same size as the Y-spoke - 2.5x18

The 3 spoke rear wheel is 1/4" wider - 3x17 vs. 2.75x18

IMO one BIG advantage of the 3 spokers is that the wider rear enables you to run radials which greatly improves handling on a K75/100.

It might be worth pointing out that not all three-spoke wheels are the same, there are different sizes and brake disc mountings.

There are the version that were fitted to the late K75: These would be a straight swap for the Y-spoke (except the K75C with a drum rear brake): 2.5"X18" & 3.0"x17"

There are the narrower three-spoke versions (as fitted to the K1100LT) but have different brake disc mountings: (same sizes as the three-spoke K75 wheel).

The K1/K100 16v/K1100RS wheels are wider and may require other modifications to fit non-Paralever bikes: 3.5"x17" & 4.5"x18"