Bmw K1...

[RedRocket]

Originally Posted by bmwloco

Gosh, I must be stupid. To my eyes the K 1 was a styling exercise that failed. If you are 6'5" fine. I would take a K1100 over a K1 any day. Better ergonomics for my 5'10" frame. Perfect for my R100RS too.

I don't think anyone paid retail for a K1. About 20 other more desirable and collectible bikes come to mind.

Whatever blows up your skirt.... Hell, some folks collect Vegas.

You just don't get it.
This bike was styled with a rider on it. It does look pretty homely by itself, but when you see it with a rider on it, it works.

[wiz.au]

Bought mine in 1994 (1990 model), and now have 110,000kms on it. I find it very reliable. One burnt valve which was caused by racing it then doing @240kph for 2 hours out the back of SA on the way home. Everything else has been crash damage, as I've layed it down once, and put it into a "road closed" street sign at night.

Mentioning "racing", I don't understand you guys that say it's slow? 0-100 in 4.7sec, top speed I've actually DONE 245kph. I get around Phillip Island on it fast enough for me, and round up a few Duc916's while I'm at it. (Ok, they are weekend riders who trailer their bikes and can't ride). The K1200RS came out with THE SAME specifications! It's no GSXR750/1100, and certainly not as fast in a straight line as my GPz750Turbo, but what do you want/expect from a BMW "tourer"?

I also don't understand you guys that say you need to be tall to fit a K1? I bought mine specifically because the K100RS I was riding didn't fit me properly. I'm a short arsed 5'8" with really short legs, and the K1 fits me "perfectly". Every tall person that has tried mine has hated it. (Maybe everyone except me hates it?)

The prices here in Oz are creeping up. I paid $14k for mine, it dropped to $6k-$7k about 9 years ago, now it's back to around $9k-$10k from what I see. But mines no showroom pony. It's got chips, marks, gets left outside for years on end, sometimes it gets a cover. I bought it to ride. I also like "collecting" rare-ish BMW bikes, hence the 2004 Dakar as well.

I had mine completely repainted after the last get-off, and if anyone with the blue/yellow wants a cheap paint you can't pick the difference, try Hyundai Napoli Blue, paint code EA. Well, maybe you could pick the difference if you had two side by side. It probably wouldn't work for a touch-up paint, but maybe it might? It's bloody close and 1/4 the price of the BMW paint, and VERY easy to match and touch up later.

I have gaiters on mine, as you can see (pretty blue ones!). Those forks are not good, so if you have a K1, cover them if you ride it. In the 15 years I've owned it, the last set of fork seals I put in it, was when I put the gaiters on.

Replacing the BMW rear shock with the Fox Twin Clicker got me about 2 seconds at Phillip Island. It really makes a difference setting the rear up on these.

I've just signed up for the BMW TS Safari, so I'll be doing some long days on it again. It's been about 7 years since I did any long distance riding on it, so I hope it still "fits"! Better get some miles on it and me over the next month or so to make sure, or I'll have to take the Dakar!

[McJamie]

One of my local salvage yards has one of these rotting in a corner. A blue one, if I remember. It would be an interesting project. But there's a limit to what sort of orphans even I can drag home, and I think that one's past it.