K11 Owners Group

[getlunch]

As in, last year on the fourth of November I bought a one-owner 1992 K100RS with only five thousand miles on the odometer. I trust the mileage was accurate based on how clean the bike was, how little wear there was on the underneath side of the belly pan paint and the inside of the fenders. How someone owns a bike like this and only manages to put five grand on it in sixteen years is a mystery I'll never decipher.
Motorcycle was in Chicago, I'm in Seattle, so I figured the best thing to do was fly out and ride it back, even if it was November. The bike needed a new rear tire, basic maintenance, and the sorting out of why it was only firing on three cylinders and I was headed off to Seattle. According to Chicago BMW someone reconnected the fuel pressure regulator incorrectly, causing fuel to be dumped straight into #3, plus a cracked injector had the motor running a little rough even though I couldn't tell since I had no idea of what a properly running one feels like and the three cylinders still had more oomph than any of my previous bikes. If I lived in Chicago, didn't have access to the amazing K11OG fountain of knowledge nor do my own wrench work I would go back there for service.
Between there and here, I had two days stuck in Buffalo, Wyoming due to howling winds blowing six foot tumbleweeds around like the fluff from cottonwood trees in spring time. And in two thousand miles, only an hour and half of rain as I rambled along the Clearwater River on my way into Lewiston, Idaho and on up the hill to Moscow, ID where my sister lives. Lolo Pass was incredible! Even though it had snowed the day before no snow on the roadway, only gumball sized basalt gravel starting at the Idaho state line. The first fifteen miles into Idaho I single tracked it in the foot and a half wide clear swath created by car tires. A new-to-me ride and very rusty riding skills had me slightly puckered for a bit trying to avoid the untenable situation of getting both wheels in the wet gravel, leaned over, going around a curve. One of the highlights of the trip was seeing Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota up close and in person. A must see if one is ever in that part of world, even more so than Mount Rushmore. That and the old electric range someone dumped in the middle of nowhere, on the western side of the Black Hills, a hundred yards out in the field, on state route sixteen, twenty miles away from everything, with the oven door propped open and a sign saying "Free Range", hilarious when standing still and even more so when passed at a comfortable ninety mph.
All in all, it was a great ride and a fantastic way to christen a new motorcycle. The previous owner said he was pleased the bike was being sold to someone who would use it the way it was designed and made to be used.

Amen to that and cheers to this site for all the wisdom that keeps the Flying Bricks on the road.

Rand
_________________
Rand
'92 K100RS

[owrstrich]

welcome getlunch...

we need some photos of that motobrick...

and a photographic and narrative mototouring report of your cross country...

j o
_________________
yeeeeeehaaaaaaa...

[Off the grid]

Holy wall of text.
_________________
Bane of your existence since July 2006
2007 Triumph Tiger ABS. "Sabertooth"
2009 Husqvarna TE610. "The dirty Italian mistress"

[jpberens1994K1100RS]

W E L C O M E !!!
Please do share a pic of your ride!
I'm new this group as of spring of 08!
I bought a 94 K1100RS from a nice man in Blairsville, GA., rode it home to Hales Corners, WI. Home only two days when I'm run down from behind and the bike is totalled. I'm fine, full gear, just roughed up.
I HAD to have another K1100RS.
Found one a bit closer in MN, took a bus ride over to buy & ride that one back, been riding it since, but no big trips yet.
Your adventure sounds even better!!!!
Everyone here lives vicariously to an extend through the travels & trials of one another. Take pictures, I've been lax in this too, but I am going to remedy the situation over the winter with MY Christmas present.
This group is great! There's most nothing they cannot help you with, bike related or not.
_________________
1993 K1100RS that I'd rather be riding FAST!
2014 Moto Guzzi Norge

[owrstrich]

im surprised your attention span lasted long enough to get to the bottom of the wall there o t g...

i know mine didnt...

j o
_________________
yeeeeeehaaaaaaa...

[fnord]

You are a madman for riding through Wyoming in November.

My wife and I moved across the country from CT to OR in September, and hit a blizzard in Nebraska that continued to screw us all the way across Wyoming.

We were trading off driving/sleeping in 4-hour shifts, and at one point I woke up in the back seat to a stopped car (94 Dodge Neon with 1,000 pounds of everything we owned in a Home Depot 4x8 trailer hitched to the back) and my wife getting out of the driver's seat saying, "I can't do it any more."

While we were standing next to the car, it started to slide back down the little hill we were on. I jumped in and got the car stopped, she climbed into the back seat (with one cat, the other cat and 2 ferrets were in the passenger's seat) I got us a little way up the hill, far enough to hit an offramp, and rather than get back on the highway for God knows how long (since exits out there can be wicked far apart) I decided to follow the road into town.

After about 15 minutes of this I decided that this was a really bad idea, since I had no idea where the road actually went. It was getting dark, and cell phones weren't common yet, nevermind GPSes, and we didn't have a good map of the area, so I decided to turn around in a parking lot and head back to the highway.

Except we got stuck in the snow. In the middle of nowhere. With about 2 feet of snow on the ground and more falling. In the dark.

So I started planning out how much gas we had left, and how much it would take to warm the car up again when it got too cold, and how much warmth myself, my wife, 2 cats and 2 ferrets could generate, and whether we could survive the night.

Then out of nowhere 2 guys in a pickup came around a corner. They were basically driving around on a Friday night with a 4x4, a rope, and a case of beer, looking to tow people out. Wyoming entertainment, I guess, but I've never been so happy to see people.

They got us out, and told us that if we continued down the road we had been on for another 10 minutes, there was a town with a Motel 6 (which allows pets).

So, man, I've done some winter riding, but... Wyoming in November is WELL off my list of adventures.

Hats off to you, and welcome to the bike.
_________________
1993 K1100RS
1999 Jeep Wrangler

[Flying Duck]

I did my first Iron Butt ride on Dec. 12, 2003 - from San Diego to Seattle. There was a storm coming in over Oregon which I was trying to beat. I'd bought a K75RT with 170k on the clock because I needed fairing parts ater finding some sand at a stop sign. I was hoping the bike would make it.

CA was great and I made good time. the instant I crossed the Oregon border as darkness fell, it started to RAIN - and I mean RAIN. It was raining so hard the fastest I could go and see what was in front of me was 45-55.

I'd just purchased some new "waterproof" boots from New Enough. They were waterproof alright, once the water got in there it stayed there - and was icy cold.

About half way through Oregon it began to snow - the heavy nasty wet northwest kind of snow. It was so bad I couldn't see through my helmet visor or the windscreen. I was doing about 35-40 - mostly navigating by the glare of oncoming headlights. I was sure I was going to get run over by someone who didn't see me. To say the least, it was a greuling experience. Eventually the snow let up and turned back to rain until almost Portland.

There was break in the rain right before Portland so I pulled into a truck stop to get some soup and a beer. Nobody in the bar could believe any idiot would be out on a motorcycle in those condtions. The gal tending bar was pretty cool and got me about 10 towels form the motel so I could wring out all of my clothes. I was in a booth with dripping wet clothes everywhere. And I still had 180+ miles to go on a cold, dark, rainy night.

After an hour I paid my bill, redonned my still wet layers and saddled up for the remaining 3 hours. Fortunately the rain was on and off in Washington butt DAMN I was cold.

Fortunately the bike had heated grips that still worked. Without those, I doubt I would've made it. Until that day I'd thought heated grips were for wimps. That day changed my mind.

I'd left San Diego at 5:04am and finally made it the 1,231 miles home to Seattle at 1:48am.

But I made it home through the storm and earned my IBA member number.
_________________
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