K75S DIY painting (& polished tank) thread

[Zagando]

My last post didn't upload so here goes again:













Tomorrow I have to get up at 5:30 for a run to the airport and then back home to go to work; it'll be a long day so I'll be brief.

There's a great link to the CATZ XLO installation on a K75 on page 14 of this very same thread---see POST #199; it's the second link down.

I got the ss spacers from McMaster Carr and the 90mm ss bolts were from Desmo Parts in Houston. Got the CATZ lights off of ebay (jcatz) when he still had some of the amber lensed models...

I'll be back to field any further questions about the install day after tomorrow or thereabouts. I sure do like these lights and the easy and secure mounting sytem!

Cheers!

[robsryder]

I've enjoyed reading of your work on this K75S and I like seeing the photos. I've obtained a set of the Spiegler braided stainless brake lines for my 92 ABS-equipped K75S and will so a similar brake line replacement. As I mentioned in a previous post I've had good success using my Mity-Vac - I just don't know if I'll have the patience to take as many photos as shown here.

I'm also planning to add some aux lights to my K75S. I am considering using the front fender mount points, but I was thinking of using the aft most mounting points. I will be using these LED lights -
http://stores.intuitwebsites.com/hst...StoreFront.bok (use the code "inmate" for a 10% discount).

I'll place the 24W light on the right side to more fully illuminate the forward side of the road. I'll place a 10W spot light on the left side to illuminate the front of the road while not blinding oncoming drivers. I've also ordered one of the wireless dimmers for use with these LED lights. I have these LED lights on my Triumph Tiger and they do a very nice job of providing extra visibility and illumination.

[barryg]

I really enjoyed the thread on your bike. Nice work, and thx for sharing.

[Zagando]

Thanks rob and Barry for your kind comments. Despite some rough patches along the way it was a great learning experience as well as a labor of love.

I'll be curious to hear how your Spiegler installation goes, Rob. Feel free to PM me or post some questions if you have any; perhaps I can give you some pointers. Despite my front (top) line being a bit on the short side I ended up going with it instead of sending it back to Spiegler for another one---it just fits and I made sure I can turn the bars to full stop either side without binding---I lucked out.

Getting the ICM out of the way is a bit tricky (so you can gain access to the brake pipe/line junction underneath it) but a bit of WD40 or silicon spray helps a lot.

Now that I've got new fluid in the system and the brakes are working fine I, too, will probably just use my Mity Vac for periodic bleeds to keep the fluid fresh in my thoroughly damp and humid environment.

Should you or anyone else reading this decide to use a pressure bleeder I'd recommend filling it with about a full quart or more of fluid instead of an amount that is underneath the bottom of the pump housing. Yes, you will introduce a ton of air bubbles into the new fluid this way, BUT if you have a valve on the hose going to the bleed nipple all you need to do is keep it shut for a few minutes so the bubbles have time to all rise to the surface inside the pump before you let the fluid flow into the ABS pot or caliper---simple and effective (wish I'd realized this sooner!).

The single thing that still perplexes me is how to pressure bleed the rear resevoir without having it leak like a sieve! I swear I had the gasket and cap in place correctly so the culprit must be that little pressure relief notch on the side rim of the white plastic resevoir cup.

I posed this question in another thread in this forum several days ago but no one has responded as of yet. The only solution I can think of is to use a commercial pressure bleeder with one of those flat rubber "lids" that can be firmly clamped down over the top so as to let no fluid or pressure escape, n'est-ce pas? I don't know how else it could be done otherwise and I'm amazed that I ever got enough fluid without air in the rear resevoir last go-around.

I may also try some speed bleeders that Tom sent me a while back; I held off using them as I heard lots of differing opinions and I wanted to go by what BMW recommended first.

So I've completed the first two stages of what may eventually become a four or five- stage renovation---I hope to be able to get the bike's splines freshly lubed in the not-too-distant future, along with either a new rear shock or have the current (Works) shock rebuilt. The front forks are getting a tiny bit pitted from rust (lots of acid rain in this part of Hawaii, sadly enough) and I've never even drained the fork oil before. Maybe at least a fresh application of fork oil will be the next thing at the top of my To Do list and the fork tubes can be replaced later on when I can afford to have it done professionally. The only other thing I'm thinking about doing is having the rather old Corbin recovered or refoamed as it's begin to develop minor cracks here and there---but it's sound otherwise and very comfortable for me.

In the meantime I'll get back into riding on days when it's not pouring down torrents of cold rain up here and have fun just making grocery runs into town every week. Those 3rd generation hard bags hold a fair amount of goods and the top case and Multivario always come in handy more often than not.

I renewed my registration and retrieved my special plate while I was in town this morning; I was the first person in line at 8am sharp.

A cold wind is now blowing in from the North Pacific here but I think I'll go outside and install my plate anyway; tomorrow could be the day for a good long ride down to the warm shores of the Puna coast to see the waves crash along the rocks...

[TinyTrains]

Great job and very unique looking bike.

Enjoy and 73's
Scott, AB6YS.

[Zagando]

Small world, Scott! 73 de NH7RO qrv 17 & 10m often...

[Zagando]

At some point in the future I will compile an extensive (if not complete) list of changes that I made to the bike as well as some side-by-side Before and After photos for those interested.

There's still a few spots of rust on some of the non-stainless bolts and bits on the bike that I need to attend to but I'm as good as done for now.

I went on a 60-mile ride after work the other day and there were no problems other than the 4 way flashers and the heated grips seem to no longer be working*---I must have not reconnected them when I was undoing a bunch of connectors underneath the tank so I could get the ICM out. Eventually I'll get to this but I don't use them much unless I'm riding after dark. *(just realized I forgot to check all the fuses---maybe there's an easy fix at hand, if)

The Catz lights seem to be much more noticeable than the Optiluxes I used before them and I'm quite pleased with the way things turned out. I have them wired so I can run them with the low beam (all of the time even though they're also switcheable on/off) and the Hellas with the high beam.

Kudos to Eastern Beaver for their H4 relay and other wiring upgrades/components, too.

The Spieglers are also a noticeable improvement and I feel confident that I'll be able to bleed the brakes using only the Mity Vac from now on.

I am still mystified as to why the new front master cylinder weeps a tiny bit of fluid, though. It weeps not even enough to drip a drop underneath but it's there almost all the time. I'll continue to monitor the situation closely and if anyone has any thoughts on this subject (as well as why I could not get the rear m/c resevoir to pressure bleed w/o major leaking) I'm all ears.

[toddlamp]

Very nice!

[Zagando]

After months of looking at the belly pan (painted but not installed) sitting on a shelf inside the house I decided to go ahead and cut the top section off as mentioned here in a reply to 98Lee a long time ago.

I never liked the look of the stock pan and much prefer the less obtrusive K100 style---so yesterday I hooked up my Dremel to our outdoor extension cord and got to work...

The Fibron cut fairly cleanly and I only had to file the cut sections a bit with a flat file. I could have filed them some more but the few marks left aren't going to be very noticeable.

Photos will be posted here later today if all goes well.

I'm headed back outside now to reinstall the pan brackets on the bike and spray the areas where the pan was cut. I happen to have a can of primer and some black metallic paint that will closely resemble the dark metallic grey that the rest of the bike is painted in.

[Zagando]

The cut-down belly pan is now back on the bike after being taken off almost two years ago.

I'm glad I cut off the top part of the front and installed it without the screen, too. It is so much easier to mount onto the two brackets now!

Here are some photos of the process:

(Just prior to attacking it with the Dremel)


(The front section that I wanted to remove)


(Ready for some paint on the cut sections)

[Zagando]

Here are some of the photos I took after remounting the pan:

[lostandwandering]

I like the results of your panectomy, (the whole bike too). Got me to thinking about doing something with mine. While I don't mind the appearance of the pan it's kind of a PITA to reinstall after an oil change. Thanks for the idea.

[acejones]

Great work !!

[Zagando]

Thanks, guys. One nice thing about having the front off is being able to see where the mounting bits should go when you're putting the pan back on.

I discovered the reason I was having so much trouble a year or two ago trying to remount the pan was that the two big rubber bushings were incorrectly positioned by a quarter inch or so. There are two holes that they fit into in the bottom of the pan and mine were originally mounted so that they were not pushed in quite far enough into the holes---making it next to impossible for their corresponding mounting bolts to reach the mount---thus major aggro... Now I know how they should be and mounting it up this go around took all of 30 seconds!

Anyone not sure: just make sure that the two-part plastic and rubber bushings do not protrude more than 1/8" or so on the underside.

A bit of Armour All or Back to Black also aids the remounting procedure.

I had considered cutting out a section out of the underside of the pan so I wouldn't have to remove it for oil and filter changes but I will probably hold off on that now. Besides possibly weakening the structure further it won't really be necessary.

Until I get around to possible suspension work at some point in time it's basically going to be ride, maintain, polish, clean and remove rust, ride, maintain, ...rinse and repeat from now on.

[k75s]

Are you still happy with your Catz lights?