K1100LT Scrambler Build

[stevenhannan]

Hi there everyone,

New member and poster here so go easy...

A couple of mates and I randomly lashed out and bought sight unseen a K1100LT "cafe racer" the other day for a laugh and not much cash.

I'm going to be doing a fair bit of the build work, and one of the other 3 is an outstanding spray painter.

Ideally given its already been hacked at we want to really tidy it up into a scrambler build.

None of us have built a bike before, but plenty of cars in our past. What could possibly go wrong?

I'm in Australia and will need to get the main mods certified by an engineer, so I'm keen to get it right first time

The key questions for you good souls on this here forum that we'd love your guidance on are the following key bits.

if there's a already couple of iconic threads on these topics you could point our way to that would be awesome.

Front end - We got an R1 front end in the deal and have been told we just need a different bearing set from alls balls to swap them over. Is this indeed correct? my car experience says stuff like this is never this simple.... I've got a part number and all but it seems too easy. I also saw something on cognito moto that has a stem included? don't mind either, but if I can do it for $50 vs $200 then awesome.

Rear end - I've been eyeing off the retrorides rear suspension and subframe, is there a detailed thread on this anywhere. I bought the e-book, but its not massively detailed for what I'm used to and its based on the K100 not the K1100LT.
Also  I can't get it made anywhere as cheaply as I can already buy it - has anyone used the cafe4racer parts? They seem cheap compared to the local offerings here in Oz.

thanks again in advance to anyone who can help.

[stevenhannan]

Hi A quick addendum to this given I've now read all the rules...

the third way of searching turned up a post about the R1 front on a K100 not a K1100.

all of my searches to date say that the front bearings are all the same across the K series bikes.

the additional post notes the bearings are Standard headset bearings (upper/lower) are 28 I.D. X 52 O.D. X 16 thick

the all balls site has them as 30 x 52 x 16

I know I'm a car guy and a bit thick, so am I missing something here in terms of what I need to do to add one to the other.

[Laitch]

Welcome.

Despite what some eBay sellers might assert, the Retrorides rear suspension was designed for a monolever suspension but your K1100 has a paralever suspension that handles forces differently. You'll be among individuals breaking new ground.

The drawback with some fork choices is that the assembly can contact the tank in tight steering, so that situation might be taken into consideration.

All this could be challenging but is not an insurmountable task for a mechanically-inclined car guy. There might be others who have taken that path and will chime in here. 

Good luck with your customization.