Scud

Oh bummer... just saw your edit. I was out looking at the axle, spacer, and front wheel internals from my 2002 parts bike. I think those parts might have been compatible with the 2001 fork bottoms. My 2003 is the same as your Ballabio, with the larger diameter hollow axle. To your question - even though it's hypothetical at this point: I don't think you'd have wanted to swap the bottoms after the rebuild anyway. GuzziTech only takes about a week, right?

Noble - happy to have provided a temptation. Never heard of Airhawk before, had to look it up. This company has a great sense of humor: Ask the ass pad tycoon. http://www.airhawk.net/ask-the-ass-pad-tycoon.aspx

Re price - I just bought a BMW K75s with luggage for about the same price as putting new hard cases on a V11. Just as a point of comparison... Steve pointed out that my parts bike had a Ventura rack on it. So if you decide to go that direction, I have a main bracket available for cheap. Here's a picture of the way Ventura rack mounts on the V11 subframe (see post #20): http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=19236&page=2

It is a very sturdy piece. It is a pretty thick casting, not a sheet metal stamping like on most cars. Agreed. I have supported the whole bike's weight with a car floor jack and some wood. The only thing I worry about is putting too much pressure on one fin with a metal lifting surface - that's why I use wood, which absorbs some of the stress. While it's up in the air, you may as well measure your suspension sag... My platform jack arrived yesterday. I had seen pictures of other people using them, especially with lift tables - it seemed a great solution. It's a very nice device, and only about the size of a large book.

You have some great pipes there, but they're not so friendly toward saddlebags. That Moto Guzzi Titanium kit comes with shorter-than-stock brackets - so the passenger pegs are also higher. The pipes are closer together at the tips too (compared to stock). I have those pipes on my LeMans, and I found a practical, although not "beautiful" solution with the Giant Loop Great Basin bag. More luggage discussion at the link below, including pics of bags on a few different bikes - and my Giant Loop bag at the end. http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=18943

OMG, that's crazy. Me too. In about 7th grade I broke a bunch of thermometers and collected all the mercury - also rolled it around in my hands. Multiple thermometers broken = V112 I like heavy metal music too. Coincidence? I think not.

Not cheap, but it'll get a lot of use. The way I'm getting the front wheel off the ground now is not very stable - and one mistake could cost a lot more than $80. I'm gonna help my buddy put some tires on his Harley Sportster soon - but we couldn't figure out how to lift it with tools I had available. This little beauty will do the trick.

Factory stand seems great - till you need to take off the porkchops for some reason. Then you need another way to support the bike. I've just ordered a small platform jack. http://www.amazon.com/Motorcycle-Center-Scissor-Hoist-Stand/dp/B00E8HGCEY/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1447081835&sr=8-5&keywords=platform+jack

Zooter, I think your 2002 bike probably already has a manual petcock. The tank's "dangly bits" from left to right in this picture are: Fuel level sender, manual petcock, fuel pressure regulator. I don't know what year MG switched from electric to manual petcock, but the two 2002s I've seen both had manual - all parts in picture removed from 2002 LeMans.

Update: I've made 14 sales so far, and proceeds have been enough to put me at a break-even position with respect to cash, which means all the parts I intend to keep are "free" for my labor. I will keep parts that are easily worth over $1,000 to me - probably a lot more if I count up all the little things too. I still have several boxes of stuff that I don't intend to keep. I'm holding the complete engine and transmission until I swap out the Scura clutch and determine whether the low oil-pressure in my LeMans is an actual problem or not. I might even practice painting the motor and tranny, since they have the bubbling 2002 paint and are already easily accessible. Whenever I get around to selling the motor and tranny, it will cover the Titanium Kit Racing Exhaust that I could not let Harper's keep for $1,000. Meanwhile, I thought I'd share the most important parts of this parting-out effort: It's been fun to be able to find things to get other people's bikes back on the road, back to stock, or to help with their projects. I am keeping a spreadsheet with my money invested and sales - and a separate PayPal account. This has helped tremendously with the "motorcycles" line-item in the family budget. FWIW - I don't actually have such a budget, but you get the idea... I can say - "Look at all these parts I sold... and look at the new parts that showed up... and it's all self-funded in my isolated PayPal account." So... if you're looking for a way to increase your "motorcycle budget", this has worked very well for me. I am also parting out a 2000 BMW R1100RT, which so far netted enough to buy a K75s.

oK - a pair of K75GS conversions at the bottom of that link. The adventure bike market does not currently have many options in the 600-900cc range - so why not build your own out of a brick? The stock swingarm looks pretty beefy... I've heard about the smoking and the previous owner also warned me about it - but I think it's totally preventable by using the centerstand. My boxers also smoked a little sometimes after being on the sidestand for a while (one cylinder pointed down). But the Ks have 3 or 4 cylinders pointed down, so at least one valve is always open, and the oil drains into the heads. I always wondered why they didn't build them with the driveshaft on the left. I mean, it's a brilliant and efficient design - the crankshaft is basically inline with the driveshaft and only one 90-degree angle is required to get the power to the ground. But if the driveshaft were on the left, then the oil would drain into the pan instead of the head when the bike's on the sidestand. An advantage I just noticed to the K-bikes (vs. next-gen oilhead boxers): they used high quality wiring harnesses. Somewhere in the mid 90s to early 2000s' BMW started using biodegradable harness sheaths - and the sheaths deteriorated way before the end of the bike's useful life (so you had to re-wrap the whole thing). The harness sheaths on the bike I just got are in excellent condition - despite the fact that the rest of the bike is pretty badly weathered. And this has to be easiest-starting bike I've ever owned - I mean, there's no "ritual" to it - just push the button.

Well, the Ks are not supposed to be dirt bikes... but I did venture into the sand yesterday while crossing the Mojave Desert - just for the hell of it. @LowRyter - Maybe look at the older, oilhead BMWs - the R1100RT (5-speed) and R1150RT (6-speed). I had an R1100RT for a long time: very comfortable, efficient, etc. As for bricks - a K100RS or K100RT would make a nice two-up machine. There was even a K75RT for a few years. I like the looks of the K-S and K-RS models more than the K-RTs. The K-bike gives me more feeling of the road than the R1100RT did. While the K engine "sound is not particularly inspiring" a quiet bike is nice for two-up touring. The K-bikes also make cool whirring gear sounds - like spooling up a jet engine.

Sadly, both rider footpegs snapped in the crash that caused the parting-out. However, another member who was looking for the pegs mentioned that the rider and passenger pegs are the same casting. The passenger pegs have two holes drilled - one for the pivot pin, and the other for a spring and ball. The rider peg has one hole for the pivot pin - and a big notch cut out where the pivot pin passes through the spring. Therefore, a machinist could probably convert a passenger peg to a rider peg. There are probably lots of spare passenger pegs out there - and I do have a pair of those.

I always disconnect the battery before I swap out major or complex electrical things. This might be an unnecessary precaution, but it only takes a minute. The recommended TPS setting is a little different than stock. I talked to Curtis Harper. He said they were mislabeled in a Moto Guzzi warehouse - then somebody opened the boxes. Fun story - and not at all surprising, really. The Ti kit comes nicely packaged, eh? Except the paint on the hangers is terrible - mine don't even match.

I was one of the die-hard boxer purists when the K bikes came out - plus I couldn't afford anything new at the time. I had a 1981 R100CS (little known model, basically the same as the 100S). I asked my girlfriend (now wife) to marry me on a ride down PCH back from a weekend in Monterey. She registered for our wedding at a department store, I registered at the BMW dealer and my buddies gave me tires and oil as wedding gifts. We used to ride two-up a lot - and she's been hinting that she might ride with me again if I got something "more comfortable." So... if she likes the K, I'll dress it up a bit more. She also wants the motorcycle to be "cute." The K75s is "cute" - right? In retrospect, I find it amazing to think that in 1987 you could walk into a BMW motorcycle dealer and choose between: R80 airhead, or various R100 airhead models - now considered classic or vintage bikes. K75 or K100 models with fuel injection and ABS (a motorcycling first). As to music - well, I was actually making Scura sounds in my head when I did the mountain pass yesterday... But the 250 miles (across Mojave Desert and greater Los Angeles Metro and slab-sprawl) that followed were easy miles on the K-bike. Even with shitty tires, a poor shock, and in need of a tune, it was smooth, stable, and comfortable.

I'll start - since I just did a fly and ride and brought one home. I think they have to be the cheapest, most reliable form of transportation available - pretty good performers, and a bit more "personality and quirkiness" than your standard boxer or other recent BMW models. I chose a later-year (1992) K75s, with low miles (40,000 of it's 200,000 or more useful life). Having recently left each of my V11s at the airport (which made me sick), I decided to get a "beater-bike." This one looks good from distance, but has been left out in the weather too much, which makes it OK for me to continue doing. $1,600 - but needs some work and tires. I rode it about 800 miles over a few days of work with customers in various cities on the way. Concluding with a fun ride of 370 miles to get it home today over a 6,000 foot pass through the Sequoia National Forest in the Sierra Nevada range. These K-bikes have massive electrical generators... and today I thought: "I might get myself some heated grips."

What do you all think of the original BMW K-bikes (late 1980s to mid 1990s)? Have you owned one in past? Do you have one now? Have you been thinking - dang those things are cheap and indestructible? The BMW Brick: discuss....

I've switched to a new organic. EMU 17951: Seriously, I use Maxima 20w-50 full synthetic and it's fine. The manuals for these bikes specify a synthetic oil - the 2003 and later specify a lighter weight than than the earlier years.

I have the Ohlins on my Sucra and installed a Shindy on my LeMans. I have them both backed off almost all the way - just a a few clicks in. I'm not sure I could tell the difference between dampers. A used Ohlins might require a rebuild - so factor that cost (and time) into your decision. If your bike is wobbling, you might look elsewhere for the cause, instead of at the damper to cover-up the main problem. Causes could include issues with tires, spring settings, steering bearings, or other. Maybe somebody who knows suspension stuff really well can post more detail.

I'm interested too. I looked up the part number on Amazon, where some people said it's plug-and-play on some Harleys. http://www.amazon.com/Truck-Lite-27270C-Headlamp/dp/B007K8AA7I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1446403807&sr=8-1&keywords=led+headlight+27270C I'm not thrilled with the stock headlight and I do ride canyons at night just for fun - and now daylight "savings" time means my ride home from work will be in the dark too. Al - are you next? Take pics so I can copy...

I don't understand the Spud reference - unless this a potato joke, because the part in question is going to Jeff in Idaho. ("Great Potatoes") Who knew such a little part could be such a big problem? Be careful with those little buggers... or if somebody finds them, buy the whole box and share. Seems like a worthy addition to the fix-it-on-the-road kit (if you can find one).

Like machining your own fluid reservoirs into the triple clamp? That's cool that you can do stuff like that.

Replacement part on the way.... it is great fun to be able to salvage bits from my "parts-bike" boxes and solve a parts-sourcing problem.

Thanks for the seat-paint tip. I just noticed where you hid the front turn signals. Excellent. I wonder how she'd look with the same gold/orange on the head guards? Would that work or be "too much of a good thing?" The dark tail works well with the blue front - but full color matching would also be nice. I prefer the look of my red LeMans with all red (not the stock black tail). I have an extra tail section with some repairable road rash - then you could have it both ways. I'd be tempted to flat-black powercoat a few parts (pillion pegs and hangers, alternator cover, foot levers, rear brake master cylinder guard, etc.) - but that's me. The Rizoma fluid tanks are a beautiful, although a bit spendy, option. They'd be a nice pair of jewels to crown the work you've done. What gauges are those?

Gorgeous. In addition to the fairing, I love the gold/orange mirrors and wheel-stripes, the tasteful rear fender (using about 50% of the stock part), the color, custom plate, pipes, I could go on... oh did I mention the color? Wow. Impressive. Edit: just staring again. Is the seat dark brown? that's fabulous. Where did you get it done (or where did you get the material)?