SugarShed's RetrO-K1200RS
The custom bike scene is full of pretty eye candy, with seats made of wood, clip-ons mounted to the front axle, Gold Wing scramblers, etc.
Here's my attempt at something both appealing and practical. Well, to the degree that taking two years to turn a perfectly functioning sport touring bike into a different perfectly functioning sport touring bike is practical.
" Putting the "K" back in Kwality!"
I already built a very cool but wholly impractical retro-mod streetfighter thing out of an early 4 valve Moto Guzzi Centauro.
See http://hicamguzzicafe.blogspot.com and http://thebikeshed.cc/arnies-guzzi/
That project came off pretty well, but the bike is best suited for going fast to the corner coffee shop. There should be a name for that, coffee racer, café roadster, I dunno.
I spent a few days touring around, and its not that comfortable, even with the adjustable handlebars. Not to mention the 3 gallon tank and 120 mile range. Even had it on the track for two sessions, one in the rain, and its serviceable, but very tail happy, likely due to the rock hard Metzler touring tires.
Anyhooo, I wanted to build another new-on-the-inside, old-on-the-outside bike, better suited for sport touring, cool looking but practical and functional above all. I considered BMW oilheads and K bikes, and finally settled on a post ‘96 (4 valve) K bike.
There are a nation of customized pre-96 K bikes (K1000 and K1100’s), with the tubular frame and sheet metal gas tank. 99.9% of them use the stock tank, even complex builds where they changed out every bit and bolt, altered frame geometry, put the motor in backwards, etc. I can’t figure it, they all look identical; no one wants to touch the gas tank, which is the defining feature of any custom bike.
I've seen only two or three custom K1200 builds, one by Galaxy customs (Google it, there’s a ton of content), which is a giant bobber. I gathered quite a bit of inspiration from Galaxy, hopefully just shy of imitation.
I bought a 2000 K1200RS, with the aluminum frame and full plastic bodywork, including integral outer gas tank cover (with inner plastic asymmetrical fuel tank). I toured for a couple thousand miles on this bike and loved it.
Other than the weight, it was fast and comfortable, and tolerable, if a bit slushy, in the corners, for a 600 pounder. I drove it to and around Montana, which basically has no speed limits, and the bike just devours open road and triple digit cruising.
The telelever front end is nice, an odd feeling at first, mashing the front brake with no diving. This is the only model where BMW used an elegant, tiny, forged wishbone instead of the giant stamped steel monstrosity on the GS and R models, which can double as the A-frame on a deep sea trawler.
So after that summer, I began the tear-down.
Imagine my horror when I saw the electronics, two big black boxes under the fairing with a wiring harness that looked like a transcontinental data cable, junction boxes, relays, and computers. It took a bit of time to work up the courage to start relocating and snipping, after determining which wires and relays made the bike go or stop, and which just made some lights blink. Much of the discarded guts was the ABS system, including a massive 20 pound pump, maze of steel brake tubing, and separate computer. Even sensible BMW duffers on the forums routinely remove these units. Many sensors, relays, and wiring removed.
There were relays and warning lights to warn you that your brake light bulbs are out, and other relays and warning lights to tell you when the warning light bulb is out. Learned about F type / barrel crimp connectors, just like factory wiring; will never go back to flat crimp.
I sold almost all the body plastic, seat, bags, instruments, etc. to my new good friend Eddie, who was so kind as to crash his K1200RS TWICE. He’s OK, but needed a lot of plastic, enough to buy me lots of new pieces parts. All in all I took over 100 pounds of stuff off the bike, which now weighs in at a svelte 470 lbs. dry, without the touring gear (stock is 586 lbs.)..
Electronics before...
Electronics after
Some build details:
All new fuel system, with Walbro pump, pre and post filters, all bolted to the underside of the tank. Learned all about AN fittings.
Modified rear subframe using the stock one, with much metal removed, the stays relocated, and a rounded tailpiece installed.
Zero gravity lithium ion battery mounted under the hinged tank – I love this thing, its pricey, but tiny.
Rear hugger off an Aprilia, mounted on an elongated stud welded to the rear shock bolt. Corbin seat is also off my Aprilia, made removable and lockable, Installed another 12V unswitched power socket / charger port.
Learned about welding stainless with backpurge. Made a simple T fitting and valve coming out of the low pressure side of the argon regulator, and now I can direct purge gas wherever needed. Makes nice clean welds.
Heavily modified gas tank from a late 80’s Suzuki GS850, with knee cutouts, stretched 5 inches, with 5 gallon capacity. Installed a fuel sender which feeds a KOSO computer. More practice making ugly thin tig welds which get covered over with Bondo.
Oil cooler relocate – moved it to the right side under the oil sight glass, parallel to the bike instead of perpendicular; not ideal in terms of air flow, but couldn’t figure out where else to put it. Learned about making factory style crimped (Oetiker) tubing connectors.
Idle dashpot and servo replaced with a manual one, made from the front derailleur of a bicycle. Intake is some small K&Ns on short neoprene stacks
The KOSO instrument is nice, with excellent customer service as they replaced a defective unit under warranty. The KOSO mounts in a 5” CEV headlight bucket, along with a power tap. Turn signals from Motogadget – these are tiny yet super bright and visible. Headlight is a Daymaker knockoff
Exhaust – cut up the stock one-piece exhaust system to salvage the stainless headers. Inside the giant stock muffler I found a convoluted mass of twisted pipes, catalytic converter and muffler; it was like intestines in there. My main design criterion for exhaust is that you should be able to roll a golf ball clear through it. Got parts for a header collector from Cone Engineering http://www.coneeng.com/ who I can’t say enough nice things about. Their website and customer service is awesome; good design info and they won’t even sell you a part without talking you through your design to make sure you get it right. Welded up the bits into a nice 4:2:1 collector going to 2” straight through, perforated core, titanium shell stainless muffler by Danmoto. 20 pounds lighter than stock. The sound is very nice and mellow, opens up to a healthy roar when it breaks, and just a thin trickle of blood from the ears at FWOT.
Handlebars are Convertibar mounts on the stock fork tops, with some L shaped bars sawed out of a pair of ape hangers. I never thought I would buy a pair of ape hangers. They came in a plain brown wrapper but you could still tell what they were by the shape, I’m hoping no one saw.
Kept the heated grips, kept the fugly stock controls, with integrated brake and clutch reservoirs that can’t be opened without spilling unless the bike is cocked at an impossible angle. Some day I’ll put on nice handsets, but for now don’t have the energy to rewire for standard turn signal switches (both on left). BMW has left on the left bar, right and cancel on the right bar. Seems to make intuitive sense, and only BMW can smugly defy the convention of every other bike on the planet.
Ape hangers!
Mirrors so you can actually see behind you, not your armpit; and not have to crane your head around to find a bar end mirror.
Installed a Dynojet Power Commander, which helped throttle response and peak power, as the stock K1200’s are heavily leaned out. Tuning by Nels at 2 Wheel Dyno Works, a great guy and a great shop. 116 HP at the rear wheel (so around 140 at crank?) and 80 ft/lbs torque (90 at crank?) on a nice broad flat curve, with 60 ft/lbs on tap at 3k, so power everywhere, thanks to the long stroke/oversquare engine. Compared to the twins I’m used to, it still feels like a 4 banger, with most of the go-juice after 5000 rpm, but very satisfying dropping the right wrist at any RPM.
Removable touring bits,
to turn it from a café racer to a bagger tourer:
Reproduction vintage Buco Twinmaster hard bags
Removable and height adjustable Memphis Shades Slim windshield
Under-seat toolbox made from a 50 caliber ammo box.
Other miscellany:
Radiator puke can
Luggage rack
Paint and bodywork (on the tank) by Charlie Moore of Tanks Only in Seattle, a hard guy to find, but well worth it. Hand pin-striping by Dave Austin of Snohomish, WA, a real artist and a swell guy.
So there you have it, a flying brick in a tux; a custom build you can look at, and then actually ride, tour, even track, with safety and comfort amenities.
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Removable hard and soft bags
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Removable windshield
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Switched power tap in headlight bucket
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Unswitched power tap / charger port near seat
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Lockable seat, helmet lock
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Tool box under lockable seat
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Center and side stands
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Very bright Bikemaster LED rear light with flasher
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Super bright Motogadget Blaze Pin turn signals
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LED headlight
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Stebel air horn - 140 dB!
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Heated grips
My attempt at light painting
