K11 Owners Group

[marklawes]

I have not ridden for over 30 years apart from a brief play on my brothers CBR1000 about 15 years ago. Last bike I owned myself was a Velocette Venom 500 single but when I bought a car couldn't afford to keep both (sad because the Velocette would be worth a mint now). Decided that if I was going to ride a bike again it needed to be before I got too old and for the first time I had a few pounds I could spare. From there the step to buying a K1100RS was a short one. I am now the proud (and slightly overawed) owner of a maroon 93 K1100RS with 40K on the clock. Big fellas aren't they?

Once I got over the initial shock/excitement of 100HP to hand and brakes that work I noticed that the engine sounded a bit rough at some rev ranges when on a neutral throttle and it is hard to open the throttle gently when moving slowly in traffic (tends to go from too much throttle to nothing and jerks between the two - or that is what feels like). I guess some of this is my lack of practice but I noticed someone else asking if this was normal (in these pages) and being told that the beast was silky smooth so I guess the roughness at some rev ranges means I need to do some remedial work.

It occurred to me that there could be excess backlash in the drive train. I read in these pages that a couple of inches of rotational backlash was about normal. Dropped it into gear and the back wheel will move a couple of inches from picking up the transmission from forwards to reverse. Does this sound OK?

I have a list of items to work through re the engine roughness from reading these pages. Some I can do free but will need to do some saving for some of the items.

So far have swapped the fuel filter and plan to swap the air filter next as I have no idea when this was last done.

I plan to check the TPS is set up correctly at some stage. Is this basically just a potentiometer? If so can the tracks be cleaned?

Thanks in advance for any input
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K1100RS 1993

[Tim (Midland Section)]

TPS is indeed a potentiometer. Set up instructions in the stickies.
Done 60 K miles on total 3 K1100LTSE's never had to set TPS or had a fault with same.
Changed plugs??
I would check for smoothness of throttle cable and the throttle knob (aluminium thing on top of RHS switchgear) if fitted.
One doesn't need practice to ride a K11 they are normally a docile beast until hitting 5K revs when "hooligan" mode kicks in.
Welcome fellow Nottinghamian. I am in NG12 3** should you wish to compare things.
_________________
Regards Tim,

Grey haired riders don't get that way by pure luck
1996 Guzzi Cali3 LAPD
1972 750 Commando
G6HRN
#485

[marklawes]

The plugs are fairly new BRISK plugs fitted by the PO. I took them out for a look and to reseat the plug leads and they looked OK. A tad sooty but I hadn't had the engine up to full temperature so was probably intentionally running a bit rich. I guess a choked air filter would cause excess richness too so I will change that out at the weekend and see how it goes.

Any thoughts on the rotational play at the rear wheel being a couple of inches at the rim. Is that about normal? I gather that K1100's are not so prone to spline issues in the drive train because of the addition of the paralever but have no idea if a spline lube was ever done. I am hoping that is all OK as I get the idea that the cost to rectify spline issues is a bit on the deathly side.

Might be nice to meet up at some point and compare notes?
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K1100RS 1993

[Tim (Midland Section)]

Sorry, forgot to mention the lash in the rear wheel. Normal.
When you come to "borrow" my tube of spline lube paste, you can wobble my rim fnaaah, fnaaah.
Spline lube best done at 20K intervals or in any case if you're in there for summat else, like when I did the clutch.
They always run rich at start up, no choke, all done by ECU. mine ends up "choked up" if I start it, stop it, then restart before up to temperature.
Roughness, check engine mounts for tightness, exhaust pipes for security, cracks & silencer doughnut. Had a right old buzz through the footrests, coz that had gone soft.
Have you given it a good blast, not a good idea on the A614 or A6097 ?
Especially needed if it's been stood a while. Will be about this weekend if you can get your pass stamped.
timATnottnocDOTorgDOTuk
_________________
Regards Tim,

Grey haired riders don't get that way by pure luck
1996 Guzzi Cali3 LAPD
1972 750 Commando
G6HRN
#485

[marklawes]

I swapped the air filter at the weekend. I took the tank off before I realised that I didn't have to lift the top of the airbox the full height of the filter. the old filter may have been 40K old but it seemed in good shape and no obvious difference on a brief test ride.

Oh well at least its done now. Took the opportunity while the tank was off the clean up the electrical ground under there. That too looked Ok but what the hay.

I have a set of plugs from the previous owner so may just swap those in and see if it runs ay smoother. Its not horrible but much smoother at 4K revs than 2500 to 3500.

The previous owner told me that he ran it on Super so I may treat it to a tankful and see if that makes any difference.

I will have a better look at the exhaust manifold and pipes this weekend but the manifold seemed solid when I looked after I got it and heard that there was a tendency for the pipes to come loose.

Think I will perhaps see if I can check for any vacuum leaks around the inlet pipes too.

Then I need to save up for a throttle body sync and a spline lube too ideally.

I did check the throttle cable and there is a tiny bit of free play before it starts to open the throttle valves.
_________________
K1100RS 1993

[Tim (Midland Section)]

Speak to Jim, comes highly recommended by local BMW owners, if you intend to extract your wallet?
http://www.ifixyourbike.com/

As for inlet leaks, with it running spray easy start around the joints. If they leak the revs will change.
_________________
Regards Tim,

Grey haired riders don't get that way by pure luck
1996 Guzzi Cali3 LAPD
1972 750 Commando
G6HRN
#485