K11 Owners Group

Stoked Steve · Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 8:12 pm Post subject:

Got my shock today! Wohoo! It only took two days from England, it showed as shipped on Tuesday the 14th and I thought maybe it would arrive tomorrow, but probably not until Monday. I was suprised to see it sitting on my doorstep when I got home today.

Pretty simple to assemble, took a minute to figure out I had to lower the rubber bumper to remove the top collar to slip the spring on. After that, I followed the instructions and mounted it no time.

Looks real sharp, nice quality and came with first rate stainless bolts and washers. I still need to set it up properly and play with the settings, but just pulling it off the center stand I could tell it was firmer and more solid than the stock.

I can't ride it right now, which is kiiling me, as I'm home alone with my son while the wife and daughter are off on a DC trip for the weekend.

I'm hoping I can sneak home early tomorrow and go for a quick ride, I also have a new Road Pilot 2 on the front that I'm also dying to try out...
_________________
Steve
Virginia Beach, VA
93 K1100RS Mystic Red SOLD
12 Suzuki DL650A VStrom

Off the grid · Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 8:22 pm Post subject:

That red spring looks sharp!
_________________
Bane of your existence since July 2006
2007 Triumph Tiger ABS. "Sabertooth"
2009 Husqvarna TE610. "The dirty Italian mistress"

Scott_Anderson · Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 9:04 pm Post subject:

Looks nice Steve, looking forward to seeing it up close and personal here in a couple of weeks.
_________________
Ride safe.

1997 K1100LT 0302488
2017 FLHTK Ultra Limited
Garmin StreetPilot 2820
Garmin Zumo 550
Garmin Zumo XT
"One who does not ask questions is ashamed to learn" Danish proverb
1995 K1100LT 0302044(R.I.P.)
1997 R1100RT ZC62149(sold)

Beachcomber · Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2009 5:07 am Post subject:

Steve,

First off glad you like it - so far. Wink

Adrian is trying out a new carrier - Jim's took 10 [?] days, which wasn't really acceptable - especially with the high cost.

Slight hiccup with John's when the guy who collected the parcel moved John from NH to VT !!!! Embarassed

That is being resolved now. All other US orders seem to have arrived without problem.

Second, AC is negotiating with the same carrier to bring the carriage costs down , but keep the good time schedule. A lot depends on the volume of business of course, but if he switches his UK and European freight to the same people [ under negotiation ] then the costs will come down. Cool

When I originally advised AC on "furniture" - fixing bolts, springs etc. I suggested that most conservative owners would probably go for Black spring. W R O N G!

Re: settings - I now have my spring preload at 25mm [ 1" ] and the dampening 3 clicks from the left stop. However, I ride solo and no luggage bags etc., mind you I AM a slim 245lbs. Wink

He's had to re-order twice as many Red, and even the yellow seems to be popular. The Red DOES look mighty cool though. BTW - your bike is a twin of mine! Laughing

When it's finished, my Race Rep was getting a Yellow spring, not so sure now!

AC has asked if you have any objection to adding your bike to the "customer" gallery?

TJ
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Beachcomber '93 K1100RS / '93 K1100LT and several K100's

Stoked Steve · Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2009 7:41 am Post subject:

Hey TJ, sure he can use my picture any way he wants, although it's not a very good one, I can take a better one and send it to him this weekend.
_________________
Steve
Virginia Beach, VA
93 K1100RS Mystic Red SOLD
12 Suzuki DL650A VStrom

LordGondor · Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2009 11:37 am Post subject:

I received my shock last week. I'm very happy with it. It was easy to install. So far the ride is good. I set the compression to the recommended 20mm to start. I haven't changed the settings yet. I'm not sure I ride hard enough to tell whether I should make it stiffer or not. I also set the damping to the recommended value. This is the first photo I have posted so I hope it works.

_________________
93 K1100RS
60K miles now. 30K by me.

Scott_Anderson · Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2009 1:22 pm Post subject:

You know, when I first see that color yellow, Ohlins comes to mind.
I think Steve should have painted his spring GOLD. Laughing

Now that would have been neat.
_________________
Ride safe.

1997 K1100LT 0302488
2017 FLHTK Ultra Limited
Garmin StreetPilot 2820
Garmin Zumo 550
Garmin Zumo XT
"One who does not ask questions is ashamed to learn" Danish proverb
1995 K1100LT 0302044(R.I.P.)
1997 R1100RT ZC62149(sold)

owrstrich · Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2009 1:27 pm Post subject:

very nice looking units...

im gonna need something for the midwest motobrick...

will be monitoring the k11og for ride reports on these units...

j o
_________________
yeeeeeehaaaaaaa...

Stoked Steve · Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2009 8:16 pm Post subject:

Got home early enough today to take a quick 35 mile romp through the country. I have a new Road Pilot 2 on the front so I was taking it easy through the twisties to scrub off the tire release compound. Before I went out, I scrubbed the tire with a stiff brush and some Comet granular cleaner to get as much of the slick stuff off as possible.

After a few short miles, the rear end was pogoing quite a bit, so I pulled over and cranked up the pre-load, but oddly enough it was a bit stiff on the wash board bumps, so I backed the clicker down to three clicks (from 4). Still was pogoing a bit on the bigger ups and downs so I pulled over again and cranked up the preload some more. Now it was getting tighter and more controlled, but I think a bit more preload is in order.

I'm always a bit squimish about hard cornering on a new tire, but by the end of the ride I was feeling a bit more confident and was riding a bit harder, the handling seems nice and tight, I'm thinking the front end needs a bit of stiffening now. I'm going to replace the stock fork oil with 10wt and see if that helps. (before new springs)

Getting there.....but still a bit of tweaking needed.

On the spring color, once the Ohlins wasn't going to work, I gave up on the yellow spring and decided the red looked better, as for gold, I'd love to get the rims and final drive painted aluminum like the newer K's and lose the gold all together.

Is it my imagination, or do there seem to be a lot of '93's going on here right now? Maybe a best year K11? Razz

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

SugarHillCTD · Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2009 9:27 pm Post subject:

My RAM shock arrived today. Very Happy

Had some time to read the instructions, get the spring on and preload it. Then go down to the garage and install it on the newly, non-leaking brick.

Ride report/product evaluation

This afternoon we gave it the ultimate "break-in" test- 2-up on our REALLY CRAPPY, frost heaved, throw you out of the seat whoop-de-do roads for a couple of hours.

Cathy (I love her dearly) is not the most sensitive test person. When I ask her questions about how her car is running, her usual answer is "I don't know- it just goes".

Well- she immediately noticed the difference with the RAM shock- and that was on my best guess at setting it up. We talked over the intercom about what she was feeling and her first comment was that it took the sharp "edge" off bumps. We had started with the recommended 4 clicks on the damping adjuster and about 25mm preload. I noticed some under-damping so we stopped twice on the ride and Cathy hopped off to increase the damping by 2 clicks each time- very easy to do.

We stopped at a great restaurant for dinner then went out for the trip home. I increased spring preload 1 full turn and backed off damping 1 click (now 7 clockwise clicks total). This feels GOOD for 2-up. Cushions the hard jolts without a mush feeling and each "click" of the damping knob truly makes a noticeable difference.

But....nutz.... now the forks feel like the weak link.

The RAM shock is a really nice piece of equipment and in short order I should know what to do for 1-up, 2-up and 2-up loaded.

This was definitely worth it, several times over.

More posts as I learn how to tune it better.
_________________
John & Cathy

'92 K100RS4V Pearl White SOLD
'04 K1200GT
IBA Several-SS1k, BBG, 50CC NYC to S.F.

Stoked Steve · Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2009 9:36 pm Post subject:

owrstrich · Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2009 12:17 am Post subject:

when i put the works shock on the bug it felt wonderful compared to the worn out stock shock...

i tried it on soft... medium... hard... all felt better...

but it wasnt until i set the sag did i realize the full potential of the shock...

if you folks have not set the sag... i would do so straight away... then fuss with the other stuff...

j o
_________________
yeeeeeehaaaaaaa...

Beachcomber · Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2009 6:17 am Post subject:

Sounds like your RAM riding experiences are mirroring my own! Cool

I've got over 10K miles on mine now, and I find I'm going much, much faster through familiar bends with complete confidence.

As stated, I always ride solo [ 245lbs ] no luggage. I'm 2-3 clicks from the left stop for "normal" riding and it goes up to 4-5 when I'm out with "the boyz". Twisted Evil

Don't forget that with a new shock - it will "bed in" after 100-200 miles and may need to change the settings - but how easy is that to do!!!!! Laughing

Re: the yellow spring / Ohlins - red does seem to be the customer favourite now, although I'd like to see the Yellow against a Blue bike.

BTW - in the early days of development and after a "design conference" with AC in the pub, we came up with "Ohlouts" Embarassed

- obviously soon discarded in favour of RAM!

Re: front springs - yes I have the same problem now. The rear end is sorted as far as I'm concerned, but that just shows up the shortcomings of the front end! Rolling Eyes

However, that is probably down to the fact that we can now make the rear end work harder? Wink

Heavier grade oil does help, but I feel it's just masking the problem. My "stock" springs are only 20K miles old, so I have to think they are still in good shape.

Soooooo - that looks like I need to look at "reasonably priced front springs" at some stage!!!

Whatever - ride safe guys and enjoy the weekend

TJ
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Beachcomber '93 K1100RS / '93 K1100LT and several K100's

SugarHillCTD · Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2009 6:26 am Post subject:

j o,

Setting sag was part of Realm's initial instructions. That and damper knob settings are what I want to establish for those three riding situations; 1-up, 2-up and 2-up loaded (side cases full and large bag on rear rack).

We were close on sag last night.

TODAY- FAN SWITCH!!
_________________
John & Cathy

'92 K100RS4V Pearl White SOLD
'04 K1200GT
IBA Several-SS1k, BBG, 50CC NYC to S.F.

Beachcomber · Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2009 6:37 am Post subject:

Hi guys / jo,

Don't forget the Realm instructions are only a base setting. You would be amazed at some folks who just take a shock out of the box and fit and ride without ANY settings!

ALL RAM shox spend time on the workshop shock dyno machine before being despatched. They are tested up and down the dampening range and checked over for any problems. Theoretically the damper setting will be half way, but we don't depend on that. The REASON the spring is not prefitted is so that folks HAVE to set the preload [sag ].

BTW - do you like the C Spanner with the oil level marked on? That was thanx to Jim B of this parish.

When you're all a bit more familiar with the beast, I'll tell you about the "plus or minus 5% " setting, where the complete range can be upgraded or downgraded! Realistically only for people named Rossi or Spies.

TJ
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Beachcomber '93 K1100RS / '93 K1100LT and several K100's

Off the grid · Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2009 10:53 am Post subject:

Stoked Steve · Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2009 4:07 pm Post subject:

Speaking of the spanner oil mark, that's for the transmission (gearbox) right? You just stick it unitl it stops and the oil should be near the line on the spanner? I'm not getting anything on the spanner at all. Shocked

But the spanner only goes in about an inch then hits something. I stuck a long screwdriver down there and pulled it back up and the oil level was about 4" below the top of the filler hole. Is the spanner supposed to fit further down?

Last time I changed the fluid, a few months ago, I thought I put in the specified amount, but had no way to check it later.

Help appreciated.
_________________
Steve
Virginia Beach, VA
93 K1100RS Mystic Red SOLD
12 Suzuki DL650A VStrom

Stoked Steve · Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2009 8:18 pm Post subject:

New, better photos of the new RAM. Yea, my bike is a photo whore, but I guess that's better than a "shop whore". I also discovered today that I didn't set near enough pre-load, I didn't have a metric ruler, so I printed one from the WWW and realized it need a good bit more cranking to reach the 20-30 mm mark. I can't wait to try it out. (again)

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

Beachcomber · Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 6:00 am Post subject:

Hi Steve,

yea I'm still working in good old inches and pints, and lbs! But then I've got an abbacus too! [ kidding]. Cool

I'll get AC to put all measurements in Imperial and Metric on the instruction sheet - resolved. Wink

re: the spanner, strange one - I was given the measurement details from several sources, and I even have an original K100 spanner with the level marked on [ exactly the same ].

I was also told that the trannies [ K100 / 1100 ] were the same and only the Paralever housing was different.

I'm not in the workshop until Tuesday, I'll try the oil dipstick in my K11 and see what happens. There SHOULD be a dipstick in the tool kit? There wasn't one in my kit, which is why we thought it would be a good idea to incorporate it on the spanner. Either way, yes the spanner should go in until it rests on the flat shoulder.

No foul, if it doesn't work - there's still the official dipstick!

Re: sag / pre-load - it IS a matter of trial for your situation as it depends on so many variables, not least the amount of weight on the bike - the 25mm - 30mm is only a starting point.

However all that said - once the pre-load is set you need to get away with as little dampening as possible. Put simply - the spring is doing the work here, the dampening merely controlling it.

Once set to your liking, you WILL notice a vast difference - and YES that Red spring does look the biz - maybe it should be Ohlins Yellow and RAM red! Laughing

Ride safe

TJ
_________________
Beachcomber '93 K1100RS / '93 K1100LT and several K100's

Stoked Steve · Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 9:04 am Post subject:

TJ, I'm sure you have the spanner set up correctly, I just can't seem to get it down into the gearbox all the way like it should, maybe a gear is in the way? I'll fiddle with it more, I think I have plenty of oil in there, maybe even too much. I read on other posting either 115mm or 135 mm from the top of the hole. Which is about 3 1/2" or so.
_________________
Steve
Virginia Beach, VA
93 K1100RS Mystic Red SOLD
12 Suzuki DL650A VStrom