A highly polished "turd" - not one of Mike's sadly but a 1993 K75RT example with just under 70000 miles 
, 1 fastidious owner, fmwsh &c &c - is due to arrive here shortly. The photos give an indication of its overall condition. It's very shiny 
the questions are
(1) can you add "value(*)" to it by accessorising - e.g. an Autocom / GPS / smartphone setup ?
(2) can you add "value(*)" to it by upgrading the known weaknesses - e.g. fitting the 16V centrestand, the latest bike-specific digital H4 HID headlamp and additional auxiliary rear lights ?
(3) can you add "value(*)" to it by upgrading the suspension - e.g. the apparently excellent and vfm Realm Engineering RAM shock absorber and uprated fork springs ?
(*) subjective I know. Perception is one thing, hard cash is another.
I start from the premise that K75 motorcycles are as near bulletproof and potentially long-lived as is known to mankind - 250 000 mile plus examples are not legends (with suitable caveats about regular maintenance and inspections &c). I also keep in mind that by today's standards they are heavy, slow-steering and nearing the dreaded "classic" status.
But - there's always at least one, isn't there ? - it does appear to be the case that back in the day these bikes were built to a standard rather than a price
. On the whole - setting aside lighting and centrestand issues - high-quality, heavy duty and rugged items were used to build them and the results show. They are reliable, economical to run and maintain and they will quietly - fuel pump noise aside, of course - get on with the job day after day, year after year, decade after decade. 
Why do I want to add "value " ?
- it can pass as a winter project
- it may lay the foundation for an already nice bike to have many more years of useful life ahead
- it might even be "worth it" .....
May I canvas the panel's opinions, please ?
, 1 fastidious owner, fmwsh &c &c - is due to arrive here shortly. The photos give an indication of its overall condition. It's very shiny the questions are
(1) can you add "value(*)" to it by accessorising - e.g. an Autocom / GPS / smartphone setup ?
(2) can you add "value(*)" to it by upgrading the known weaknesses - e.g. fitting the 16V centrestand, the latest bike-specific digital H4 HID headlamp and additional auxiliary rear lights ?
(3) can you add "value(*)" to it by upgrading the suspension - e.g. the apparently excellent and vfm Realm Engineering RAM shock absorber and uprated fork springs ?
(*) subjective I know. Perception is one thing, hard cash is another.
I start from the premise that K75 motorcycles are as near bulletproof and potentially long-lived as is known to mankind - 250 000 mile plus examples are not legends (with suitable caveats about regular maintenance and inspections &c). I also keep in mind that by today's standards they are heavy, slow-steering and nearing the dreaded "classic" status.
But - there's always at least one, isn't there ? - it does appear to be the case that back in the day these bikes were built to a standard rather than a price
. On the whole - setting aside lighting and centrestand issues - high-quality, heavy duty and rugged items were used to build them and the results show. They are reliable, economical to run and maintain and they will quietly - fuel pump noise aside, of course - get on with the job day after day, year after year, decade after decade. Why do I want to add "value " ?
- it can pass as a winter project
- it may lay the foundation for an already nice bike to have many more years of useful life ahead
- it might even be "worth it" .....
May I canvas the panel's opinions, please ?
