Please help, I've crossed over to the dark side!

[warredon]

After riding BMW airheads since the 70’s I have acquired a 91 K1 with 48k on the clock. I really didn’t have much interest in a bike like this, but it was offered to me at a price that I just couldn’t refuse. I found it three miles from my house, and I was pleasantly surprised to see how well this machine had been cared for. It came with a Corbin seat along with the original seat. It has the Luftmeister chip and pipe. It’s running MEZ2 tires which appear to have a lot of life left. It also came with an extra battery, oil filter, the original chip and pipe, a repair manual, and a new set of K1 graphics.

I know very little about any of the K bikes, so I’m asking any advice that might help me on this new endeavor. I would like people’s opinions and experience concerning oil, tires, etc. It’s currently using Mobil 1 10W30. Is this okay to use year round living in the south? Are there any must do’s, or must don’ts that I should know about? What is the general opinion on the Luftmeister chip & pipe? Should I go back to stock? What difference would I notice including MPG? Is this something I can do rather easily? I was always able to do about 98 per cent of the maintenance to my airheads.

This is a new world to me, so I’m sure I will be asking a lot of questions on this forum once I start putting a few miles on it.

Thanks!

[phil]

Nice looking bike...

[dancogan]

Phew! I thought maybe you had bought an HD. :thumb

[phil]

Phew! I thought maybe you had bought an HD. :thumb


Hehehe...Hardley Ableson....

[Rasbutan]

My advice to you is to sell me the bike. Its too late for me now, I'll never recover from the dark side.

"Powerful the dark side is." Yoda

[wmubrown]

My advice to you is to sell me the bike. Its too late for me now, I'll never recover from the dark side.

"Powerful the dark side is." Yoda

Damn... someone beat me to it... *I* was going to suggest it could have a new home here!

As for oil, I've used only Mobil 1 in my K-bikes, it provides a noticeable difference in performance (especially their synth gear lube for the tranny) but 15W50 is highly recommended for bikes over the 10W30. I've used both and the 15W50 is harder to find, but the bike seems to run cooler using it - though I have no hard data for that. When using synthetics, they have more stable viscosity than dinofluid, so it really doesn't matter a whole lot. Go with what's available.

[riderR1150GSAdv]

Sweet ride! :thumb Congrats :clap

Ps; next time don't scare us so much with that 'dark side' stuff :p :laugh :laugh

[BMWDEAN]

Forgive my ignorance, but, tell me, where <b>is</b> the "dark side?"

[wmubrown]

Forgive my ignorance, but, tell me, where <b>is</b> the "dark side?"
The dark side lurks in the heart of every K-engine... and is the force that draws R-bike owners over.

[hcmiller52]

Great bike! I am an R owner and decided to buy a K-bike for something different than my 1150GS Adv., so I bought a '98 K12RS a couple of months ago. I love this bike just as much - for different reasons - as my R bike. It is unbelieveably smooth and powerful, almost like it has an electric motor. It's also pretty easy to work on.

Congrats!

[eric2]

The least garish color of the K1, a real classic and great find. Don't see anything wrong with what your doing but junk that god forsaken lufty pipe ASAP. It's loud and the folks who've tested these on the dyno found it makes less power than the stock pipe, at least on the 2 valve models. You're in for quite a treat coming from airheads. I rode those for 15 years before my first K bike and its hard to find anything that an airhead does better.

Best,

[warredon]

Don't see anything wrong with what your doing but junk that god forsaken lufty pipe ASAP. It's loud and the folks who've tested these on the dyno found it makes less power than the stock pipe, at least on the 2 valve models.


Is it all right to replace the Luftmeister pipe with the stock pipe, but leave the Luftmeister chip installed? BTW, this does have the 4 valve head.

[EMSimon]

Depending on how tall you are, you wil find the K1 one of the least comfortable bikes to use for long trips. As it is a two-seater, the rider footpeg position is too far forward and as it was supposed to be a "Sportbike" they are too far up (desired ground clearance)
This will bend your knees and raise them too much. I find my K1 to be the least comfortable bike of the whole bunch as far as my legs are concerned. And there is nothing available to relocate the pegs.

Whenever possible, park the bike on the centerstand. If you use the side-stand for extended periods of time, the bike will smoke quite a bit upon start-up as the oil drains into the head and finds its way into the combustion chambers.

The early 1000cc 4-valve motors like the one in the K1 have a huge hole in the power band between 4000 and 5500 rpm or thereabouts. I am not sure, whether the Luftmeister components will cure this, but mine improved a bit when I installed Euro cams and ECU.

[wmubrown]

Whenever possible, park the bike on the centerstand. If you use the side-stand for extended periods of time, the bike will smoke quite a bit upon start-up as the oil drains into the head and finds its way into the combustion chambers.

But that's true of a LOT of K's... not just the K1. I don't think my K1100 smokes, or at least not much, but both of my K100's did.

[MCRyder]

After riding BMW airheads since the 70’s I have acquired a 91 K1 with 48k on the clock.
I know very little about any of the K bikes, so I’m asking any advice that might help me on this new endeavor. I would like people’s opinions and experience concerning oil, tires, etc. It’s currently using Mobil 1 10W30. Is this okay to use year round living in the south? Are there any must do’s, or must don’ts that I should know about?
Thanks!

First off, that's a great looking bike, congrats on the find :thumb !

I've used 20W50 dino in my K's for several years wih no problems. The thicker viscosity seems to do better in the hot weather season of East Texas. Synth oil also works well, I've heard good things about using synthetic trans fluid. As for tires, about any quality brand will do, it's all a matter of preference. I'm running Michelin Pilot Roads on my K11RS and have been very satisfied with the grip and wear.

As for do's and dont's:

MUST DO - ride this bike, a lot

MUST DON'T - let it sit in the garage for extended periods.

Enjoy!

[Mudbug]

After riding BMW airheads since the 70’s I have acquired a 91 K1 with 48k on the clock. It has the Luftmeister chip and pipe. It also came with ... the original chip and pipe ...

What is the general opinion on the Luftmeister chip & pipe? Should I go back to stock? What difference would I notice including MPG?

Thanks!

According to my information, the fuel injection is controlled my the Bosch Motronic unit that is located on top of the battery. From what I've learned there is no difference in performance to be gained with after market pipes. And I believe that the same holds true for the after market chip. The only reason to go back to stock exhaust and chip is to keep the bike original.

I have a 91 K100RS, the same bike except for faring, handle bars, and final drive ratio, that gets 47 - 50 mpg on the highway. Around town I get about 42 - 44 mpg.


You have a very nice bike. :) Your bike will get more attention than any Harley.

Is that a GPS installed?

[wmubrown]

A whole industry of tuners, community of racers and hobby wrenchers need to rethink their approach :dunno
No... it's just this application where the claims don't hold water. After market pipes have been tested on dynos, the claims are false, it actually causes a reduction in HP at the rear wheel. It's been posted on the web someplace.

[Mudbug]

There is no way for the 91 Motronic to know there is a different exhaust system. I don't believe that there is an O2 sensor on the bike.

My personal opinion is that after market exhausts and chips provide very little if any performance gain. The dollar per unit of believed performance gain is very high. Too high for me. A K1200RS exhaust comparison (http://www.k12rs.com/RideFast.htm) shows very little gain. Get the price of the exhausts and the chips and see if the handfull of stated HP and torgue gain is worth it.

Other brands motorcycles, like Harley-Davidsion, will benefit greatly from $2,000.00 of the proper engine mods. Just not BMW.

[deilenberger]

Whenever possible, park the bike on the centerstand. If you use the side-stand for extended periods of time, the bike will smoke quite a bit upon start-up as the oil drains into the head and finds its way into the combustion chambers.The use of the centerstand isn't really THAT critical. The later bikes have pinned rings that prevent the ring gaps from lining up (which was most of the smoking problem cause) - and one simple change by the rider will prevent 99% of the smoking incidents..

Before putting the bike on the sidestand, keep it straight upright (or tipped very slightly to the right if you're tall enough) to the count of 20. Then put it on the sidestand. It won't smoke when you start it - since the oil in the bores has drained back into the sump.

And the sidestand is much more stable than the centerstand.. bigger triangular footprint.

[deilenberger]

No... it's just this application where the claims don't hold water. After market pipes have been tested on dynos, the claims are false, it actually causes a reduction in HP at the rear wheel. It's been posted on the web someplace.
Yup - probably my dyno runs. Tested Lufty and StainTune on different model K bikes (and Remus on an oilhead).

NONE of them made more overall power - even when combined with other "go fast" tricks (trick intakes, mushed fuel-pressure-regulators for higher fuel pressure.) One or two made 1-2HP additional power - at the last 1,000 RPM on the motor, where you'll never use it. Some of them caused significant LOSS of power (as much as 25%.)

FWIW - Motorcycle Consumer News did the same sort of test on aftermarket Goldwing pipes a number of years ago. The results were the same. NO additonal power, but frequently loss of power and unacceptable noise levels.

It's hard to beat a manufacturer like BMW that has almost a century of experience designing motors and exhausts, especially when you're doing it out of the back of some motorcycle shop. BWM has the engine dynos, the windtunnels, monitoring systems with big number crunching computers - all the good tools. It is unlikely they'll leave HP laying on the table for some dude in his garage to find.

Best performance upgrade for a BMW bike - a good rider training school. Reg Pridmores comes to mind - and this will travel with YOU no matter what bike you're riding.

[john1691]

I went with the Two Brothers for the sound. I'd been riding an old Kawi Ninja with a 4-1 Kerker, very loud. I couldn't hear the K1200RS with a stock pipe when riding with my sport bike buddies, so went to a louder system. It has more power than I (usually) use, so performance wasn't an issue.

john1691
2000 K1200RS