K11 Owners Group

[John H.]

New Ohlin shock and custom work on forks by On Road Off Road shop in Austin (oror.com). Quote: "Fork Service - specify spring rate and length for modifications. Refill and replace forks. Test damping. Finish assembly. Test compression. Spring rate approx 0.80kg/mm to 0.95kg/mm. Use 10w fork oil to control rebound and compression..." He modified the fork springs.

Needless to say the bike rides great.



With that completed I decided to investigate the stress cracks appearing on the fairing adjacent to one of the four main mounting points of the main bracket. I thought one of the four bosses on the inside of the fairing might be fractured. I removed the radio, fairing pockets, and the speaker assembly so I could make a good inspection. I found no cracks on the bosses that take the four bolts of the brackets. So, I don't know the source of my stress cracks, a source that I can remedy, that is. Thinking it might be helpful if my fairing pockets were sturdy I determined to try and beef them up. Obviously the vaunted BMW engineering leaves just a bit to be desired on these components. But, hey, nothing lasts forever. This bike has 140K miles on it.

The right fairing pocket


The one that holds the radio is not this bad


This is the one that holds the radio. I have laid one layer of fiberglass on after roughing up the surface with coarse sand paper. I'll do another layer and then two on the inside also and see what happens. The epoxy doesn't give as good of adhesion on the plastic as I'd like but we'll see. I might use some rivets to further strengthen the bond of the two materials. I couldn't see any reason to replace the pockets because the new ones would be weak too. Obviously, I have serious vibration problems which I blame on my mile long gravel driveway, and on the roads I have traveled. The Alkan highway can be pretty rough, for instance. I also considered that the worn out shock/improperly functioning forks might be contributing to the breakdown of the plastic in these areas. (The baby powder is to help get the surgeons gloves on.)

[Scott_Anderson]

It will be interesting to see how the glass matting works for you.
My guess would be that the cracking partially caused by some over zealous tightening of the screws, and some body flexing of the fairing in general.

Do you use the hard side bags?
Have you had a problem getting the right side one on with that Ohlins adjuster mounted there?
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Ride safe.



1995 K1100LT 0302044
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
1997 K1100LT 0302488(R.I.P.)
1997 R1100RT ZC62149(sold)

[Flying Duck]

I have my Ohlins adjuster similarly mounted on my RS. It works fine there.

It's fairly common for the buckets to crack there.
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93 LT (x2)
94 RS
86-97 K75F(K75/100/1100 Frankenbrick)
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91 & 92 K75Ss
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[John H.]

Scott, Duly noted regarding the screws. The fairing flexes a great deal on rough surfaces, more on the left. I hope having a stiff box in there will inhibit this. Yes, I use the original hard bags and the Ohlins adjuster clears by over an inch.

Not surprising its common. I guess most folks just replace them.