What I did to someone else's bike today

Fanum said:

Dumb question of the day.......

Why have plug cap 2 facing forwards so you've got that extreme bend in it?

Couldn't it face backwards then take out the slack elsewhere?

Click to expand...

I'm guessing the shape of the casting recess wont allow them all to face the same way...looks like the 'hump' in the middle would get in the way...

Fanum said:

Dumb question of the day.......

Why have plug cap 2 facing forwards so you've got that extreme bend in it?

Couldn't it face backwards then take out the slack elsewhere?

Click to expand...

Plug cap number four also faces forward.

Coolcarbon said:

I'm guessing the shape of the casting recess wont allow them all to face the same way...looks like the 'hump' in the middle would get in the way...

Click to expand...

That's it.

The shoulders of the casting would prevent the plug cap seating fully. HT leads 2 & 4 are actually longer than 1 & 3 despite it being a shorter distance from the coils. On models with a cover over the HT leads, there is limited space. On bikes without that have fairing panels covering everything they could have used straight plug caps but why change something that works?

Anyway, today I began by preparing the marked handlebar end weights plus the battery retaining/Motronic mounting plate for paint:



Then got the first coat on:



While that was going off, I began cleaning stuff:





Frame given a clean and polish:









Time for a second coat of paint and the first coat on the ABS control unit carrier:



More scrubbing of the two parts of the rear mudguard (before):



Fitted the new battery now that it's fully charged:



Then the front half of the cleaned mudguard:



Plenty still to do but I've decided to watch the MotoGP (ever the optimist, hoping for some entertainment ).

Rear section of the mudguard and the tail-lamp unit back on:



Next thing was to steel myself to sorting the alarm mounting. When I stripped the bike I found that the wiring was just shoved into anywhere that it would wedge itself and more problematically, the box and siren were stuck to the rear section of the mudguard with double-sided sticky.

The problem is that the mudguard is in two sections because the rearmost part has to be removed to get the wheel out. With the alarm stuck to it that wasn't going to help. There's limited space so the only place is the very rear of the underseat area.

Once I'd found the best route for the wires, I used some of this to fix the alarm unit and siren instead of double-sided sticky:



I used a P-Clip through the centre fixing to hold the main alarm loom and mounted the movement sensor with double-sided sticky to the main unit and then the velcro to keep it in place:



This means that the whole thing can be detached and re-attached easily when the wheel needs to come out. Even a workbench with a wheel drop plate doesn't avoid the need to remove the rear section of the mudguard. The wheel must come out to the rear, it won't clear the final drive otherwise and there's a cut-out section of the silencer cover to accommodate this. Even so, it still catches slightly if the tyre is fully inflated.

The final coat of paint is on the battery strap and ABS control unit carrier. I should be able to make the final connections tomorrow. I don't think that my neighbours would be too pleased with the alarm going off at this time of day if it's wrong.

I dont know what I'm gona do when you've finished it

BlueBird said:

I dont know what I'm gona do when you've finished it

Click to expand...

You could come visit and pay homage To MikeP's work once resident in it's bubble @ Bridgwater next the Parrot ...

Bit of a milestone today, coupled the new battery and checked the operation of things electric.

First, the repainted ABS control unit carrier was re-fitted:



The repainted battery retaining strap-cum-Motronic mounting plate was re-fitted using the newly polished long retaining screws:



The ABS control unit re-connected and the rear brake master-cylinder re-fitted. I slipped a suitable size length of heat-shrink over the arms of the retaining clip. It handles any brake fluid attack better than paint alone and prevents the unsightly staining of the plastic:



Next, in goes the Motronic "brain" and it's screwed down to the battery strap. When I stripped the bike, I found that the single (nearside) fixing was broken on the Motronic unit. It's a part of the casing so impossible to replace without changing the whole unit. I suspect that when the alarm was fitted and all of this had to be stripped out, someone was a bit heavy-handed when re-assembling it.

I bonded the broken bit back on with Araldite and a large washer too. It seems to have worked. I just wouldn't put too much stress on it (not that the unit can go anywhere, there are two fixings on the other side that are intact).



I reconnected the indicators, the parking light and a spare headlamp bulb I have, then checked everything worked as before. It does.

Next, reset the ABS.

On the main loom to the Motronic is a three pin plug with a blank in the end (the blue bit):



With the blank removed, a wire in the middle of the three female connections in the plug:



Then earthed:



It's a case of ignition on and pressing the ABS test switch (temporarily reconnected for the purpose) and counting off ten seconds or so. The flashing lights change to confirm the reset is complete.

I'd have taken photos but my camera battery gave up at this point.

Next job, drain the fuel tank, change the fuel filter and remove the old tank badges.

Then it will be the next big milestone, roll it outside (in case it goes bang ) then fire it up to check for leaks.

Well it's been pissing down this morning so it's plan B and hope the rain stops later.

Plan B is to set about some details beginning with the helmet locks:



Not the most secure of locks but they either allow a strap to be passed through the "tuning-fork" shaped slide thing or that can be removed and the similar shaped slide of a BMW system helmet just clicked in instead (BMW changed the helmet buckles to a different design on the later System Helmets).

These live under the rear cubby lids and are fixed to one of the support brackets:



The air-box intake tube, pillion grab handle and alternator side cover:



Cleaned and polished alternator cover back in place after sorting out the cable runs behind and the fasteners replaced with stainless steel:



The air-box intake tube back in place:



Grab handle and tail cover piece polished and (the latter temporarily) re-fitted:



I cleaned up the inside of the nearside rear panel:



Fed the indicator wires back inside the cubby and re-seated the grommet:



Then offered it up, secured it (gently, all fixings a little at a time) and treated it to a coat of Zymol polish (Mmm, coconut ):







The handlebar end weights back on just waiting for a polish:

Took the seat cover and gave it a polish:



Scrubbed the pad:



Re-assembled it and replaced the mounting point:



Gave the screen a clean:



Then removed the tank badges:



Before emptying the tank of the indeterminate age fuel (it looked quite dark) and then fitting a new filter:



While the fuel cap was out, I cleaned the filler neck and the cap of the accumulated white fluff that is the result of electrolysis:



I'm convinced that the corrosion accounts for more water getting into K-Series tanks than any other single cause. The white crud builds up between the body of the cap and the rubber gasket and also between the tank and the gasket (the crud has been cleaned from the filler cap in the below):



Once the gasket is cleaned, I gave both sides a smear of rubber grease to slow the electrolysis:



The tank is back on and connected up. Later I'll clean and polish the upper surfaces then fit the new tank badges (best done when the tank is fitted to get the alignment correct).

Last night the tank went back on and I replaced the badges:



It was treated to a good polish (as were the end weights):



Next job was to re-assemble the seat latch mechanism. It's essentially the same as that of the low seat models but instead of the release being operated by a rod that's actuated by the normal seat lock on the frame, these are cable operated with the handle inside the nearside cubby.



When Mike delivered the bike, he pointed out that the seat didn't fit properly. At the front, it sat too high and too far back from the rubber shroud.

Last night I re-fitted the shroud (temporarily as it hasn't yet had a scrub and polish) and fiddled with the lock mechanism to try and sort out the height problem.

This is as good as I could make it:



It's still bad but not as bad as it was. Next thing was to adjust the latch on the seat itself but here's where I found a problem: The latch on the underside of the seat should be held by two screws with fore and aft adjustment. Instead it was held by four self-tapping screws, not only that but it was upside down.

The two arms of the latch should sit inside two matching grooves.

With it off it all became clear:



There's also the remains of some glue that was used to try and repair the broken section:



I replaced the latch, the correct way-up by using the four screws, only three of which actually did anything, the fourth was screwed into fresh air.

Offering the seat back onto the bike there was some improvement but not much simply because the plastic seat base flexed, allowing the whole thing to pull against the rubber pads and the frame rails:



I had a quick look at the fiche before turning-in. The good news is that of all the seat versions, only the black is still available as a complete item and not just a new cover. The bad news is that it's over 500 quid!

Sleep is a good idea and in the morning I'd thought of a fix that might work. So this morning I cut a piece of aluminium plate to fit inside the hole left by the shattered plastic. The idea being that the plate, cut longer than the recess will pull towards the latch when it's drilled and tapped with a suitable thread when the original mounting holes in the latch are used.

Well that's what I did (photo isn't too good but the plate is in and bonded to the underside of the plastic):



The pliers and the button-head screw were used to position the plate and to hold it in place while the glue went off:



A bit later and the latch is fitted and can be adjusted fore and aft as intended. It's also less likely to pull and distort the seat pan:



The results:



Still not perfect but possibly acceptable...........Mike?

The only explanation for the damage to the seat base where the latch mounts, is that someone didn't know how to remove the seat and forced it.

I put ten litres of fresh fuel into the tank and then made a big mistake.














I'd forgotten how addictive the sound of a 16-Valve K100 motor is.

Worse, I swung my leg over and was happy to discover that the position is still the most comfortable I've ever known (yes, even the rear-set pegs I find to be perfectly placed). The years rolled away and I was back on my much loved and sorely missed red & yellow K1.

The ABS re-set was successful and here the tacho shows the bike with a couple of thousand revs showing and the ABS light extinguished as it should.



There are a few more things to attend to (the devil is in the detail) and hopefully the painted parts will be ready by next Monday at the latest.

Hopefully I will be able to get it MoT'd on a dry day and then get some outdoor photos of the finished article.

Mike, very nice job you are doing

I have a very slight weep around the master cylinder sight glass, any idea how to cure that?

would just love one of your bikes Mike -cracking job!

Seat looks good Mike, your problem solving is second to none...

Does that mean that the 'Ump' sits squarely now?

As for a new one..£500 ......

Still incredibly impressed - really looking good

Andres

timeandtide said:

would just love one of your bikes Mike -cracking job!

Click to expand...

I may have to sell the 'Turd' and buy a certain red & yellow K1 that's coming here soon.

Outtomunch said:

Still incredibly impressed - really looking good

Andres

Click to expand...

Cheers Andres, that means a lot to me.

England-Kev said:

Mike, very nice job you are doing

I have a very slight weep around the master cylinder sight glass, any idea how to cure that?

Click to expand...

Thanks Kev. I'd suggest replacing it next time you do an oil change. It's the same process as Steptoe has described in the technical section.

Coolcarbon said:

Seat looks good Mike, your problem solving is second to none...

Does that mean that the 'Ump' sits squarely now?

Click to expand...

Nearly. It needs the offside rear panel in place to be certain. One thing though, the two screw holes are not at equal distances from the rear of the seat; I measured them because the hump looks slightly pissed. There's some room to make new holes in the hump to properly line-up as long as the old ones can be hidden in some way. I'm working on it but it may prove to be beyond my problem solving abilities.

bloody good work mike its looking sweet

would you say that the build quality of these earlier bikes far surpasses that of today variety

chad said:

bloody good work mike its looking sweet

would you say that the build quality of these earlier bikes far surpasses that of today variety

Click to expand...

I do believe that you are inciting me to wax lyrical Chad.

Perhaps it would be better to keep it a secret, that way the bargains will persist for longer (unless you're selling of course)?

I took most of the day off yesterday as it was nice and went out for a bimble on the 'Turd'.

I also popped into Ocean to pick-up the latest order, not something they'll make a huge profit on. £1.30 for a spacer.

When I removed the gearbox, I noticed that the frame to gearbox bolt didn't have the usual spacer between the frame and the gearbox casing. As the tax disc holder had been mounted on this bolt, I assume that the spacer fell out and was lost when whoever stuck the holder there.

On re-assembly, the bolt was re-torqued and there was a gap between the frame and the gearbox. I measured the gap and ordered the spacer to fit (they're available in different thicknesses). Here it is before fitting:



While waiting for the re-painted parts to arrive, I gave the ones I have here a proper clean and polish:



Although it's not really possible to get the alignment right until the offside-rear panel is fitted, I wanted to try the rear seat cover (hump) in place:



I think that it may have been stored off the bike for some years, possibly in such a way that the plastic (it's very soft and flexible) has settled slightly out-of-shape.



There's a definite twist in it at present:



I hope that it will straighten-out by being back on the bike. I may try a gentle heat and some manual twisting if needs be.

There's a few gouges in the offside mirror body:



The edges of the gouges were gently rubbed away with a very fine-grit paper:



Before a polish. It's by no means an invisible repair but it's not quite so glaringly obvious:



While the mirror was off, I cleaned the nooks and crannies of the brake master-cylinder area. There's the beginnings of the usual lifting of the finish visible. in time it will probably burst out in white blisters:



Before removing the mirror, I was wondering how best to deal with this:



The allen screw is left-hand thread so resorting to raiding my stainless supply wasn't going to be a fix. Just cleaning it and putting a dob of paint in there would be a short-term fix; even if the bike never sees a wet day again, just washing it will leave the screw head full of water.

I rummaged in my drawer of "might be worth keeping" bits and found a pair of plastic "things":



Goodness knows what they are or where they came from but after cleaning the allen screw and cutting the plastic "thing" to the correct length:



It just needs to be popped-out with a small screwdriver to access the allen screw head.

I cleaned the offside helmet lock ready for re-fitting:







The handlebar clamps were removed one at a time, cleaned, polished and re-fitted with stainless screws:





I quite enjoy the fiddly bits.


Edit: I've just noticed the trip. Who'd have thought that just rolling it about my garage would account for half a mile!

More gleamy-gleamy:



inside cleaned too:




Well I think that's about it until the body-shop tells me to collect the rest, probably some time next week.

I have a red and yellow one to look at tomorrow, one that I've been itching to see in the "flesh" since it was acquired by the last owner.

Looking good Mike.

Couple of things, how do you clean the switches (what with?) I have an 1100GS and the switches and housings are rough/dirty, and what did you clean the seats with?

Hope you dont mind me asking!

Steve.

MikeP said:

I quite enjoy the fiddly bits.


Edit: I've just noticed the trip. Who'd have thought that just rolling it about my garage would account for half a mile!

Click to expand...

Please tell me you didn't set the clock to that time for the photo...

Mike