Author Topic: K75 Zombie Resto Hell  (Read 7090 times)

Offline Motorhobo

  • +20 years of K75
  • ^ Quintessential Motobricker
  • Posts: 1512
K75 Zombie Resto Hell
« on: October 22, 2013, 10:33:17 AM »
I bought my 1995 K75 low seat w/ Parabellum Scout fairing in 2000 with 6k miles on it in Seattle. It was a sweet looking unit and got dealer service at RideWest BMW until 2005 when a little T-boner crunched up the fairing, damaged the front end, dented the tank and broke off the stops on the triple tree that prevent the handlebars from turning all the way into the tank. Everyone recommended that I total the bike out and take the insurance money to buy a new one but I couldn't let it go and had it fixed. That year, I also left Seattle in a big toy hauler to return to family roots in the Northeast. I put a sidecar on the bike for my dog and ran it 40k miles, during which time I ran low on money and decided to stop getting gouged by BMW dealers, so the service got neglected. If something broke I relied on my buddy Mike, a retired old-school BMW mechanic, to step me through fixing it. Other mishaps included a Pignose amp falling of the toy hauler's storage rack and wedging itself between the rack and the tank, rubbing for 1000 miles and scraping all the paint off the tank in a couple of places all the way down to the bare metal, and a rear ended caused by some dumbass teenager on a cell phone which would have killed me and trashed the bike had I not had the sidecar attached. When the dog died, I left the bike under the hangover of the fifth wheel for 2.5 years until I recovered from the loss of my best bud and riding companion. In February, I drove with a trailer to Atlanta to retrieve the bike, which by then had deteriorated visually pretty much to zombie condition. It ran OK but was in dire need of lots of TLC and maintenance. In July I bought another K75 as a daily ride and set about restoring my original K75 to its original beauty. No surprise that this has turned into an odyssey of bizarreness during which pretty much has gone askew at most every turn, which is exacerbated by the fact that I'm not a mechanic but rather just a guy with a garage, some tools, and undying persistence. Here's the bike as I took it off the trailer in February:



Here's what I did to prepare:
Built a platform to strap down the bike for stability, got an ATV jack at Harbor Freight to jack it up. Made a support block based on Chris Harris' spec (see his YouTube video "K75 Service Block") and built a little trolley using the casters from a cheap HF movers dolly and a cheap trolley jack to pull off the transmission. Screwed the tranny into a small piece  of ¾ plywood using the center stand bolts for stability.


Built a paint booth using the garage door rails, some vertical 2X4s at the corners and some 4X4s on the floor.


Here’s what I did to the bike:
* Removed valve and crankcase cover and repaired road rash using two part epoxy and sanding. Painted those and the footpeg plates and  painted using Rustoleum Black Satin, then polished the bare-aluminum BMW lettering and bars using emery cloth and Flitz’s metal polish.
* Removed mirrors and repaired stripped threads using HF tap and die set, and painted using Rustoleum 2x plastic primer and Rustoleum black satin spray.
* Removed final drive, swingarm and transmission and lubed all splines using Guard Dog moly paste from Beemer Boneyard, then painted using Rustoleum black satin spray.
* Removed clutch pack (except flywheel) and inspected. Cleaned out any gear oil in the bell housing that resulted from improper installation of clutch pushrod seal (that is a whole topic for another day).
* Removed exhaust and stripped the bronze yellowing using red scotchbrite and Flitz metal polish, then buffed out any microscratches on the visible areas.
* Removed, sanded, and painted the exhaust trim plate using Rustoleum flat black high-heat spray paint.
* Removed the plastic air intake pipe that leads to the airbox and painted using Rustoleum 2X primer and Rustoleum black satin spray.
* Disassembled all the footpegs and pedals and painted anything that could be painted and degritted and polished anything that was bare metal (i.e. brake pedals and footpegs) using emery cloth and Flitz.
* Replaced two of the rubber boots on the footpegs and the one on the shift footpedal, which were pretty much gone.
* Replaced all the exhaust valve shims and one of the intake shims to get within tolerance. Replaced all the valve and crankcase cover grommets and seals.
* Pulled the rear fender and mudguard and treated with Mother’s Back to Black.
* Cleaned and polished 20 years worth of grime off the rear wheel using scotchbrite and Flitz.
* Removed every single bolt and screw on the bike and removed 20 years of crud and rust using a fine wire wheel on a bench grinder.
* Replaced brake lines with Spieglers.
* Rebuilt front caliper and disassembled and inspected the rear one.
* Pulled alternator to inspect monkey nutz and drive fins.
* Got the matching paint based on the paint scheme under the seat and had it aerosolized by a Glasurit dealer in New Jersey. Sanded and filled the damaged fairing and tank for two days using Bondo, two-part epoxy where applicable and two days of elbow grease. Painted the tank using the aerosolized Glasurit and the aerosol clear recommended by the Glasurit dealer.

This is where I am now – finished with the overhaul of the back end of the bike and it looks great:



But I'm stopping now because of little issues (major understatement)…

1)   The &#%^% thing doesn’t run. Smarter or more experienced people than I would probably not have left the valve and crankcase covers off while doing all this to prevent corrosion from building inside the engine, in particular on the sprag clutch mechanism, but I did and now the starter won’t engage and bump starting fails. Plus, I’m not getting any spark, so I can’t bump start.
2)   Despite being the correct paint code, the aerosol Glasurit is not a match for the factory paint. It’s not ugly, but it’s not even close.

So – that’s where I am and will stay until I get the bike running. Once it runs, hopefully the sprag clutch issues can be addressed by detergent and oil changes. In the meantime I have a clean, restored bike that won’t turn over and won’t jump start….and the odyssey continues. I’ll continue posting in the coming weeks about what I’ve learned, the dumbass mistakes I’ve made and the status of my suffering over the next few weeks and would appreciate any pointers, tips or general moral support you  all can give. And thanks for all the time and energy you’ve put into making this forum the indespensible resource it is for people like me who love their bricks but can’t afford the ridiculous cost of dealer service and wouldn’t trust it even if they could afford it. Riders of older Ks are on our own here, dealer service just can’t be trusted as anybody who subscribes to Chris Harris’ YouTube channel knows.

To be continued…

Van Albert
1994/1995 K75 ABS Frankenbike: original engine 136k miles, frame from Gary Weaver (RIP), 173k miles -- Current Odometer: 193k miles
1994 K75 since 2013, 76,000 mi (11k mine) w/California Sidecar Friendship II Sidecar & Black Lab 'Miss B'

Past: 1974 Honda 550/4 (first bike), 1994 K75 (sold), 1995 K75 ABS (parts bike), Sidecar Dog & Best Bud 'Bo' - RIP

Offline Motorhobo

  • +20 years of K75
  • ^ Quintessential Motobricker
  • Posts: 1512
Re: K75 Zombie Resto Hell
« Reply #1 on: October 22, 2013, 10:56:19 AM »
Oh yeah -- I also pulled the injectors to clean around them and replaced the lower set of o-rings. I didn't replace the upper ones because they were replaced less than 10,000 mi ago.

Van
1994/1995 K75 ABS Frankenbike: original engine 136k miles, frame from Gary Weaver (RIP), 173k miles -- Current Odometer: 193k miles
1994 K75 since 2013, 76,000 mi (11k mine) w/California Sidecar Friendship II Sidecar & Black Lab 'Miss B'

Past: 1974 Honda 550/4 (first bike), 1994 K75 (sold), 1995 K75 ABS (parts bike), Sidecar Dog & Best Bud 'Bo' - RIP

Offline Motorhobo

  • +20 years of K75
  • ^ Quintessential Motobricker
  • Posts: 1512
Re: K75 Zombie Resto Hell
« Reply #2 on: October 26, 2013, 09:34:47 AM »
Turns out what I thought was a starter clutch issue was actually reversed polarity on the starter causing it to run backwards in reverse.

http://www.motobrick.com/index.php?topic=5169.0

The ignition issue was actually a bad connection on the fuel pump that came loose when I was cleaning out the tank, which I figured out as soon as I got the starter back in turning in the right direction.

Now the bike runs great except for a disturbing clacking noise that seems to be coming from the alternator, which ran fine before I started the restoration. I did pull the alternator to check the monkey nutz and drive fins so it's possible I didn't get it in right. I pulled it again last night and reinstalled but still have the clacking at low RPMs -- I'm hoping it's because the monkey nutz shifted again during the install. If it ain't that -- you'll hear about it on the Wrenching forum.

Van
1994/1995 K75 ABS Frankenbike: original engine 136k miles, frame from Gary Weaver (RIP), 173k miles -- Current Odometer: 193k miles
1994 K75 since 2013, 76,000 mi (11k mine) w/California Sidecar Friendship II Sidecar & Black Lab 'Miss B'

Past: 1974 Honda 550/4 (first bike), 1994 K75 (sold), 1995 K75 ABS (parts bike), Sidecar Dog & Best Bud 'Bo' - RIP

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