Hi there

a few months back I got hold of two K100RS's, it seemed like a good deal at the time... and what a lovely bike the K has turned out to be. Its comfy, reliable, economical [50+mpg] and a real mile muncher, although living on an island can be a bit limiting at times!
I don't need the other one and was considering breaking it, although its a perfectly good 'A' reg high miler, what do you think?

Rob

Hi Rob,
Welcome aboard, the IOW is a very pleasant spot to live on I must say. I am pleased for you that the snow has held off, we are enjoying really sunny warm weather and are all decked out in shorts and short sleeved shirts as we down an ale or three around the barbecue.

If you have the space for it I would keep it then you can look upon it as a source of spare parts for your ride bike or as a project for a restoration. I suspect we will see these begin to creep up in value as time goes on. One only needs to think of bikes like the BSA Gold Star which was never a particularly inspired design and that is hugely collectible now, there are even people who collect BSA Bantam bikes! It takes all sorts to make a world but we on the other hand have found the one true path - the glorious K
Regards,
K-BIKE

so much for snow free! The county has just ground to a halt with the snow.... no work for me tomorrow then [hopefully ]
I think I'll hold on to the old BM - the tyres are brand new so that'll save a few quid when the time comes maybe.

Hi Rob,
My son is winging his way back to England as I type and I see there is up to 40 cm of snow forecast to hit parts of Britain with the south east to be hard hit as well. Don't envy him going back I must say. As someone originally from Britain I recall some miserable winters there. Summer is great but too cold in the winter for me especially as I have become conditioned to NZ's climate.

Take care regarding the tyres I would consider putting the newest best ones on your regular ride bike as they should have the most grip. As they get old it is said tyres harden up and the grip becomes compromised, I have never measured that but it seems logical.
Regards,
K-BIKE

Easy to understand why a soft tire has a better grip….
With soft rubber, the asperities or harshness of the road will imprint themselves into the tire increasing the surface of contact and the grip. A hard rubber will stay flat and rides only on the top of these asperities and the surface of contact gets greatly reduced.

I understand why a soft tyre grips better what I have no personal proof of is that as tyres age in storage that they get harder and less grippy, plenty of anecdotal stuff but I have not seen any facts. I changed the front tyre on my K as although it had plenty of tread it was old and felt hard. No way I want to try to recover from a front wheel skid! Back tyre was new and a Metzeler Roadtec Z6.
Regards,
K-BIKE

The only frequent problem related to age is dry rot, where you'll see small cracks start to develop between the treads. 

Welcome to the forum. My English must be bad, I keep wanting to say White, or Wright.  

AJ,

That post was 4 years old. although the advice re the tyres is spot on.....The cold and frost and snow at th time of the original post must have induced an extremely long hibernation.

 

Reifenwerke Heidenau do a lot of niché tyres that can be highly recommended. A lot of them has Silica technology and are even road legal according to German TUV-Bureaucrazy in the winter as they carry a M+S branding. Head of the Tech Dept is a Mr. Oljeschnik sr., whose son is part of the biz as well. You can either google or get in touch with me in order to get the contact details.

Mick

Welcome!

Ta,
Mick