1991 BMW K-Series

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THE SHORT STORY If you search "sold listings" for "K100 cafe" you will see a few similar bikes sold within the last few months. In building this bike I took more or less the same approach as those, i.e., like those bikes I left the drive train 100% stock and focused on trimming the fat and improving the handling. Unlike those bikes, I opted not to use cheap Chinese aftermarket parts. This bike starts cold with no choke and no smoke, shifts perfectly, goes scary fast and stops on a dime. Turn key and turn heads. Less is more. MODIFICATIONS Before I got my hands on it, this bike was a well-kept stock K100RS (see "before" pic). This past Winter, while I was building my last cafe (a retro R100; see sold listings), I was keeping my eyes peeled for a well-preserved, garage-kept K100; there are many tired warhorses out there, so I'm glad I waited until this one turned up. Previous owner had recently replaced the Bridgestone Battlax tires, EBC brake pads, OEM rotors, and Bikemaster Platinum II AGM battery. With a cafe project like this my philosophy is basically to build a bike that looks like it could have been designed this way to begin with; I use BMW parts wherever possible, and high-quality aftermaket parts where necessary. Headlight (bucket, reflector, lens) is OEM Bosch/BMW, from an R-bike, so the 8" unit actually looks proportionate to the forks (nothing looks stupider on a BMW than undersized headlights). I cut down the stalk on the top triple-clamp and re-mounted the ignition with longer bolts. Ignition, seat, and fuel tank are keyed alike. Clip-on handlebars are genuine Woodcraft, the mounts of which match the BMW triple-clamps perfectly. I fabricated the headlight brackets to match. Bar-end weights are a must on K-bikes; these ones are Throttlemeister, so the right-hand is also a cruise-control throttle lock. I replaced the hulking design abomination that was the stock instrument cluster with a compact Trail Tech speedo and two LEDs for the crucial idiot lights: low fuel (red) and oil pressure (yellow). I mounted the speed sensor on the left fork leg where the ABS sensor would have been -- but this is NOT an ABS bike, thankfully, so you will have no faults to worry about! (I had another K back in 2001, and I was NOT a fan of the glitchy ABS.) I will include the fuel gauge itself, (unmounted), but I find that the reserve light is all that's really needed. Just for good measure, I removed the hinged flap under the cap, so you can also eyeball fuel level at a glance. I re-mounted the coolant temp gauge up top, because, this being Florida, I like to keep half an eye on it. The aux fan kicks on at the appropriate time, so no worries there -- it's just that having owned half a dozen BMW cars, I'm paranoid about overheating. The Trail Tech unit has provisions for both water temp (via thermistor bolt, included but not installed) and case temp (via spark-plug mount, not included), so you can change the configuration easily if you like. I'll also include two more matching LEDs (green and blue) in case you want to wire them up to whatever. I left all the wiring at full length, simply shrink-tubed, zip-tied, and tucked in neatly under the tank. I know when my high-beam is on, and it finds neutral with no trouble, so I didn't feel the need for more lights. MAINTENANCE When I changed the fluids (as every new owner should), everything came out looking very clean indeed, with no metals on the magnetic drain plugs or other red flags. The front brakes were pretty grubby, so I flushed the fluid, cleaned and lubed the calipers, bled the M/C and lines. This thing stops like a BMW with dual 4-piston Brembos, because that's what it is. I pulled the rear wheel, final drive, and swingarm in order to lube the splines on both sides of both driveshafts (Guard Dog 525). The gearbox is shifting flawlessly both up and down in every gear with no misses or false neutrals, so I saw no need to pull it. Unlike R-bikes old and new, the gearbox input (clutch output) spline lube on the K-bikes has a 60K service interval. People love to fight about what to lube them with (if anything), so if you feel the irresistible (if needless) urge to pull the gearbox, you can put whatever you like in there. The seat is a re-covered Corbin Gunfighter, an excellent solo seat which has a something of a passenger provision. I removed the rear pegs, but I will include them should you wish to subject your significant other to gale-force winds. I will also include a set of four compact 12V turn signal indicators; should you wish (or are required by law) to install them (or whichever LED frippery you may prefer), all the wiring is in place. I use hand signals, which is more than most people around here, who drive like belligerent halfwits. Good brakes are a must! I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but if you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask. In-person inspections are welcome and encouraged. I might even allow a test ride, so long as you have a valid MC endorsement, cash collateral, and a trustworthy face. I will be uploading better pics and demo videos shortly -- likely on Tuesday, as it will have stopped raining by then. To the buyer of this bike (only), I will make available a set of keyed-alike BMW hard cases (black, 3rd-generation), with mounting brackets, for an additional $350. No other extras or alternate-universe deals are available or desired. No trades, no cash offers, no weaseling. THE FINE PRINT While I have tried to describe this bike accurately and thoroughly to the best of my abilities, understand that you are buying a used motor vehicle, as-is, where-is, with no warrantees expressed or implied. Ask questions sooner than later. You will find me to be friendly and accommodating. Crossing your fingers will not magically obviate the need for future maintenance. Read, research, ruminate. The internet is full of info on BMW bikes, and in my experience no bike will serve you better, particularly in terms of reliability over tens of thousands of miles. Papers-wise, what you will get from me is (A) a clean Florida title, signed open by the previous owner, (B) my current Vermont registration certificate, which has blanks on the reverse side for transfer of ownership, and (C) a Vermont bill of sale, signed by me. I imagine this will be sufficient to register the bike in any state, but due diligence is the sole responsibility of the buyer. I expect a $500 non-refundable deposit within 24 hours of auction close, via PayPal only. (What "non-refundable" means is that if, two days after you pay the deposit, your spouse has a fit because you didn't get their permission, or you figure out that you didn't budget for shipping, or the dog ate your paycheck, you just lost $500.) I expect the balance to be paid within 72 hours of auction close, via cashiers check or money order only. I will not accept PayPal for the balance unless you want to tack on an additional 4% to cover the fees. If you bank with a major national bank (B of A, Chase, Wells Fargo) and you are willing to pay all fees on both ends (on my end, Bank of America charges $25 for incoming wires), we can do a wire transfer if you prefer. Pickup and/or shipping is the sole responsibility of the buyer. The bike must be picked up within two (2) weeks of listing's end. Please do look into shipping options before you bid. Shipping a bike costs money! How much? Don't ask me, ask U-Ship. The eBay site will tell you all about it. Happy bidding!