[A]

Surfing through local Craigslist, found this 85 K100 w/22k mi. for sale at good price. Showed up to take a look, seller was tired of people calling but never show up.

Battery is dead, jumped it with a car battery and fired it up. talked some more and made a deal under $2k.

Bike came with side cases, spare ECU, hall effect sensor, windshield and aftermarket rear shock.

For a 25 year old bike, it’s not in too bad of shape.

Tires are 4 years old, but has plenty of tread..

Brake lines are OEM, I should look for some replacement ones ASAP..

Brakes squeal like mad when close to stop…. but quiet when you get on them hard at speed..

Riding it feels like steering a Mack truck engine, you’re really “on” the bike rather than “in” the bike. But it does run pretty smooth.. no odd shaking or vibe..

Shifting is a bit rough, likely need a spline lube… that’s gonna take a few weeks.

State inspection sticker is good until May 2011, maybe I’ll ride it around until then before tackling the spline lube.

I’m getting myself a vintage license plate..

[Jeff in Kentucky]

It looks great, I like the black color and the custom seat. For the brakes, I would take some fine sandpaper and hold it on both sides of the front rotors and the back rotor, one at a time while spinning the tire backwards with your other hand (jack under the front or back of the frame). This will resurface the rotors, similar to putting car rotors on a lathe. It is a rare older bike with 2 front rotors and 1 rear rotor, and solid aluminum alloy wheels for tubeless tires.

[TrialsRider]

Would really look fly with a gunfighter seat and low bars. …there is no lower frame to jack against. Use the center stand almost any time you park it, oil leaks into the cylinders real easy on the side stand with the 85. Lawn tractor battery can be made to fit if you want to save 100+$

Wait until you see how fast she is, caution though, it takes a lot of open space to find the rev limiter in the top three gears 😮

PS. Steel wool works great on the dull aluminum.

[Jeff in Kentucky]

I forgot about the centerstand to raise the back tire off the ground- the last time I had a centerstand was in 1985. To raise the front tire off the ground, there is probably someplace under the front of the engine that is safe to jack- what I do is leave the kickstand down, and jack on the front on the side away from the sidestand, to form a triangle with the back tire, the sidestand, and the jack to hold up the front tire safely.

[TrialsRider]

Cylinder head off to the left side maybe, but A’s bike has the belly pan added from a newer model K bike. Oil pan runs the length of the block and nothing but water pump housing in front of that. You can put her on the center stand and have the wife sit on the passenger saddle, that will raise the front wheel safely (as long as she doesn’t dismount quickly) Jacking against the side stand would put the bike on a wicked lean angle and K100 is an extremely heavy motorcycle, you don’t want it falling.

Interesting sidenote: K bikes don’t have a stupid kill switch on the side stand, they have a cable that runs off the clutch lever cable and that flips up the side stand incase you forget and leave it down… clever Bavarians;)

[Jeff in Kentucky]

Another option is to hang a come-along from the ceiling, and tie rope on both sides of the handlebar attachments, to winch up the front end just enough to get the front tire off the ground. This is also useful for changing the fork oil (handlebars removed and rope tied to the both sides of the triple tree), so the top fork caps do not fly off and maybe smack you in the face.

[TrialsRider]

I do that with my light bikes, but the K bike at 500+ lbs would bring my garage ceiling down to meet the floor:| Standard K100 bars might offer lots of attachment points too, but the RS is all body work and dash padded flat bar, it’s a real hazard to elevate it for service:(

Question for A, your front wheel looks small, has your bike been fitted with a newer model, smaller front rim? Front fork brace is a very slick add on and mine is reliant on the big titanium axle for all it’s fork rigidity, I could never figure out how to brace it like that.

[A]

18″ front wheel, normal size..

Fork brace came with bike as purchased..

Previous owner have replaced the OEM handlebar for some super wide bars with sweep back.. I’m looking to replace it with some MX bars with crossbar to mount my GPS.

[Jeff in Kentucky]

The 3 types of bike stands that most people use, you only need one of the front 2 with a centerstand for the back tire, unless you get someone to sit on the passenger seat with the center stand down to hold the front wheel up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcAcksusoXk&feature=related

To save money, I use this type of car trolley jack below- the wheels on it make it easy to position under the front of the frame away from the kickstand to lift the front tire, or under the side of the swingarm away from the kickstand to lift the back tire since I have no center stand. I leave the kickstand down to support the bike- some heavier bikes may need a piece of wood to raise the kickstand higher, so the bike does not lean as much. I only lift the tire off the ground a half inch for chain and back rim maintenance, or to spin the front wheel for rim cleaning and rotor resurfacing. I raise the back tire maybe 2 inches off the ground for more room to change the engine oil, and after 8 oil changes have never had the bike start to fall. I taped a piece of wood to the lift point, so it does not damage the finish on the bike:

http://www.trolleyjack.us/node-15690151-B000H4I5VK-Powerbuilt_640181_Garage_2_Ton_Trolley_Jack.html

[A]

I just use the jack that’s in my car trunk, a block of wood against the bottom of engine block.. easily life the front end while the bike is on its center stand.

[Author]

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