K11 Owners Group

[Flying Duck]

In preparation for a trip down to California, I was adding a throttle friction screw to my RS since it came "free" on my parts bike. When I had the handlebars loosened to feed some heated grip wire into the bars I noticed that the right rubber spacer for the handlebar bracket was MUSH, absolute MUSH. I was shocked , shocked, I tell ya..

It wasn't near as noticeable with the handlebars clamped down on both sides but was, by itself, positively loosey goosey.

I'm kind of surprised that it's so far gone since the bike only has 34k now but I guess it must have been the salt in the air in Malibu or something.

Anyhow, just posting so that others might give theirs a check. Pull the dash pad off, loosen the handlebar clamps and give each side a shake.

Guess what I'm up to tomorrow?

(Today was the first time I'd been riding in weeks due to a trip and the local rain. Mmmmmm..... motorcycles. )
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93 LT (x2)
94 RS
86-97 K75F(K75/100/1100 Frankenbrick)
86 K75C w/paralever, hi perf cams,TURBO!
91 & 92 K75Ss
91 K1
86 custom K100
14 WR250R
IBA #17739 (SS1K, BBG, 50CC)
Buy parts HERE

[Off the grid]

Drake could you post a pic or 2?

The description was a bit vague.


I have not ridden since Oct 18th.

Should be getting the bike back tomorrow or thurs.

It feels like my soul is aching, this is why I told the wife I need 2 bikes.
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Bane of your existence since July 2006
2007 Triumph Tiger ABS. "Sabertooth"
2009 Husqvarna TE610. "The dirty Italian mistress"

[duckbubbles]

I replaced my originals a couple of years ago. At first I didn't like it because they now transmitted a lot more buzz than the old ones. I've gotten used to it and actually like the firmer feel of the bar mounting.

Frank
_________________
85 K100/1100RS, 321,000 miles, 25 years
96 Ducati 900SS/SP, sold it
05 R1200ST, 35,000 miles, 5 years
400,000 BMW miles

[Geoff]

If you don't like mushy bars, check out this tech article: http://www.k11og.org/tech/k11tech_rigidbars.shtml
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2000 R1100RT
2008 H-D Electra Glide Ultra Classic

[Flying Duck]

[Flying Duck]

So instead of paying BMW $30 for a couple of chunks of rubber, I pulled the old ones from my parts RS since they seemed to be in much better shape.

If you do this, loosen the nuts at the bottom before removing the handlebars - the handlebars keep the brakets from spinning when you remove the lock nuts.

They're in there pretty tight so I had to make my own BMW special tool to pull them up and out: (1/4 extension and a pair of Vice Grips )




Check out the ones on the right, those are what was in there and they were pretty corroded inside - though the problem seemed to be with the rubber bits. I replaced them with the ones from my parts RS - on the left. Despite being in Malibu and exposed to a lot of salt in the air, I really haven't found much corrosion on this bike aside from this.




They still felt a little mushy so following the tech article here I found some washers in the basement to stiffen them up. Boy, they are close to rock solid now. I'll see how bad the vibes are like this and if I like this then I'll replace these with stainless washers.



This was pretty darned easy to do. About a 1 on a scale of 1 to 5.
_________________
93 LT (x2)
94 RS
86-97 K75F(K75/100/1100 Frankenbrick)
86 K75C w/paralever, hi perf cams,TURBO!
91 & 92 K75Ss
91 K1
86 custom K100
14 WR250R
IBA #17739 (SS1K, BBG, 50CC)
Buy parts HERE

[Das Boot]

Duck,

I did the same project in the Spring. I replaced the rubber cushions and added the washers the same as you. I also noticed my lower mounts were badly rusted too, I replaced mine at $92.00 each I wasnt fortuante enough to have a donor bike. I am not a big fan of the design, I dont know why they just didnt use for studs that would thread into the top cap part and have four nuts to hold them done, instead of that overly machined part?
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Dom

[Stoked Steve]

Funny that you guys should bring this subject up, I am the unintentional winner of a used set of stock handlebar risers on EBay, but I didn't fully understand what they were until I bid on them ($19.95). I saw "handlebar risers" in the descritption and bid on them thinking they would raise my bars, D'oh!

So, when I'm installing the new barbacks I just received from Scott (seperate thread), I'll check my rubbers and mounts and do the washer tightening up as well.

Thanks again for all the tips, links and great information.
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Steve
Virginia Beach, VA
93 K1100RS Mystic Red SOLD
12 Suzuki DL650A VStrom

[Stoked Steve]

I've been piddling with this project this morning, and I think my bike is missing something. Question, is the item #3 in the above diagram another washer that goes on top, under the handlebar clamp? Because mine doesn't have these, the handle bar mounts are resting directly on the triple clamp frame.

When I added the prescribed washer to the bottom and tighten them up, it made no real difference, the stock black washer does not bottom out on the triple clamp, and the new washer is just up against the rubber, not making any real difference in firmness. Howvere the picture in my manual does not show item #3 (washer?) in the exploded view.

Am I missing something?
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Steve
Virginia Beach, VA
93 K1100RS Mystic Red SOLD
12 Suzuki DL650A VStrom

[Flying Duck]

Neither my parts RS nor my Rider RS has a #3 washer. (But it does show up in the ETK - weird, huh?)

The key on the additional washers (the silver ones in my pic) is that the diameter of the inside hole has to be slightly larger indiameter than the edge of the bottom of the metal sleeve inside the rubber piece. And then you need to make sure that it's perfectly centered when tightening things up.

Hope that helps.
_________________
93 LT (x2)
94 RS
86-97 K75F(K75/100/1100 Frankenbrick)
86 K75C w/paralever, hi perf cams,TURBO!
91 & 92 K75Ss
91 K1
86 custom K100
14 WR250R
IBA #17739 (SS1K, BBG, 50CC)
Buy parts HERE

[Stoked Steve]

One other thought, in the tech article linked above, it calls for a washer with an ID of 5/8" or maybe 9/16". the washers I was playing with are very much like the ones pictured in Duck's picture, they only have an ID of 7/16", I think this is too small to allow the metal sleeve inside the rubber to pass through, thus preventing the washer from compressing the rubber any further that the stock one.

Duck, how did yours work out? What was the ID of those washers you used?

Thanks.
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Steve
Virginia Beach, VA
93 K1100RS Mystic Red SOLD
12 Suzuki DL650A VStrom

[Stoked Steve]

You answered my question before I wrote it!
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Steve
Virginia Beach, VA
93 K1100RS Mystic Red SOLD
12 Suzuki DL650A VStrom

[Flying Duck]

[Stoked Steve]

Well. I got the right washers and completed this project. My rubber mounts seemed in good firm shape, so I left them alone.

I also did a barback installation at the same time, but relative to this addition, the bars are defintely firmer and more road irregularities are felt. There is some additional vibration as well, but nothing annoying, at least on the short ride I did yesterday. I'll need a longer ride to see if there any other issues, but it did seem to make things a bit more sporty, a bit more responsive to steering inputs.
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Steve
Virginia Beach, VA
93 K1100RS Mystic Red SOLD
12 Suzuki DL650A VStrom

[Flying Duck]

Since my rear tire was down to it's tread wear marker and I didn't want to have to buy a new tire in SF, I put the rear from my parts RS on my ride RS since it's got an almost new Avon Azaro on it. Then I took it for a test spin on the freeway just to make sure that it was true as the donor bike took a healthly broadside from a pickup and I'm fairly sure the front is out of true so I was suspect of the rear.

So I went out and ran it up to 80. Funny thing is I had forgotten about the handlebar mounts but i didn't notice anything so they must be OK. I have gel grips and 19oz bar ends so that probably helps. Now I can't wait to see if the bike's more flickable in the twisties.
_________________
93 LT (x2)
94 RS
86-97 K75F(K75/100/1100 Frankenbrick)
86 K75C w/paralever, hi perf cams,TURBO!
91 & 92 K75Ss
91 K1
86 custom K100
14 WR250R
IBA #17739 (SS1K, BBG, 50CC)
Buy parts HERE

[Flying Duck]

[Flying Duck]

Well, since adding the washers and replacing the clamps, I've ridden 800+ miles on slab at about 80 mph, ridden the Southern California coast and Hwy 58 and gone out for a long day ride of assorted twisties with the Bug-eyed Brick.

I don't know if the big ole Salamander bar end weights have an impact or what but everything seems fine and the bars are working out great and are almost solid. There's A LITTLE vibration but it doesn't seem bad at all and I don't even notice it unless I pay attention.

Conclusion: I'm glad I did it.

Next job: Do the LT too!
_________________
93 LT (x2)
94 RS
86-97 K75F(K75/100/1100 Frankenbrick)
86 K75C w/paralever, hi perf cams,TURBO!
91 & 92 K75Ss
91 K1
86 custom K100
14 WR250R
IBA #17739 (SS1K, BBG, 50CC)
Buy parts HERE

[Moondog]

I know this is an old thread but it has some good info. I recently replaced my handlebar rubbers and they are loose as a goose. I see my next course of action with the washer trick but before that did anyone see a torque to apply to the assembly?

[gladstone]

Sorry, can't help with the torque, but I fixed mine the other day. Even with new rubbers they were still loose, so I applied the washer/spacer fix but the vibes above 5k were really bad.

So I took the whole thing apart again and saw that they were only loose at the top where the rubber flairs into a cone shape. All I did was glue some 2mm thick rubber strips (cut to shape) onto the cone section to widen them both.

Then hammered them into place, and they're really solid without the washer fix - and no more bad vibes.

Cheers
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1993 K1100LT (x2!)
1998 R1100R - gone
1994 R1100GS - gone
1990 K100RS 16V - gone

[Mystic Red]