Hi guys,

I've been quite active on most of the "other" forums for some time now and see some old friends already here [ Ajays, and others].

I came late in my motorcycling life to Beemers [ 7 years ago ], and have spent the interim making up for lost time!

Although I've been a motorcyclist all my life, I spent my "day job" designing manufacturing and selling Replica Sports cars [ last 35 years ] - Cobra, Porsche Speedster and 550 Spyder and Jaguar XK120. Now retired - although I still do consultancy work for a couple of mates still in the business [ Cobra, Jaguar C and D Type and XKSS] - keeps me out of the allotment for a few years yet.

I am a tinkerer, customiser, call it what you will - but a factory machine to me is a blank canvas ready to be modified.

So - several K100's all being modified - Streetfighter [ now the Mk3 version ], Race Rep [ can't afford an S1000R - whatever], Sixties style Cafe Racer, and two versions of a Traditional trike - Hooligan and Tourer.

Same with two k1100's that came my way - Streetfighter [ Mk 4] and the other as a "spare" - maybe a "Y" trike, quite fancy one of those.
Had a brief flirtation with Airheads [ Cafe Racer and Flat Tracker ] - but I've had to cut back on my projects if I want to see them finished this side of a wheelchair!

My other mission in life is to drive down the cost of aftermarket spares, and with my old business colleague, we're doing just that.

I look forward to a hearty interchange of ideas

Howdy Beachcomber & welcome,

I recognise your avatar from the flying brick pages.

hey beachcomber, good to see you here as well...

I am also enjoying reading your posts on "other" forum.
Nice to see you here as I think you have a great mechanical experience and you seem to be pretty open to other people view.
We look forward to have you sharing your experience with us.

Welcome aboard.

Bert

Hi Bert, Alex, Bonzo,

thanx for the welcome and kind words.

Yes - open mind - as a design engineer of some 45 years + experience, ONE thing you never do - is stop learning!

I always listen to other's points of view - if I think it's cobblers, I'll say so, but only if I am 100% certain of my facts. I recently sent in a treatise [ to a well known BMW Club ] on the Urban Myth that fitting a 1" shorter shock absorber would cause your UJ to lock up and potentially throw the rider down the road. Despite corresponding back and forth, AND the fact the Editor was crying out for material last November - the article hasn't been printed yet. The Editor has been a stalwart of the Urban Myth - cynical, moi?

I spent 3 days with my K100 and K1100 on a jig bench taking measurements [ as a good engineer would do ] to investigate the possibilities. My conclusion was that it is IMPOSSIBLE for the UJ to reach a critical angle which would cause lock up or failure. Ah well.

I have been responsible for the design and manufacture of some dozen [ sorry - 12 ] replica and original style Sports Cars with over £2M of product liability insurance at the peak of my business. How many claims in 35 years of business - NONE. Certainly less than TOYOTA - ha,ha,ha. OK I only made around 1500 cars - not 15 million!

What does a design engineer do when he retires? Well, I still do consultancy work for a few of my old business colleagues and apart from "playing" with Kays, I am designing a Traditional Trike [ 1 front wheel / 2 rear ] AND a "Y" Trike [ 2 x front/1 rear ]. One of the Trad Trikes will be an "Hooligan" version, whilst the other [ for a friend ] will be a Tourer. I'm doing this for the day when I can no longer ride a solo due to encroaching arthritis. The Y Trike is just a bit of fun - however, my pal at Realm thinks both trikes have commercial potential.................. I keep saying - I'm retired.

I am fortunate that my old business buddy and life long friend from Realm still lets me play with his own Replica products - C and D Type Jaguars and Cobra, and from time to time calls on my experience to discuss problems. In return he allows me to follow my own particular whims - like shox, leads etc. for my own Kays.