Author Topic: 1987 K100 cafe or something build  (Read 50459 times)

Offline Revrdmark

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1987 K100 cafe or something build
« Reply #50 on: October 11, 2016, 11:25:57 AM »
Well I relocated the key yesterday. I originally was planning on putting it in the air box but the examples I saw of that project must have been a different model cause when I opened the air box there was way too much stuff in there or not enough room to fit the length of the key switch mechanism. Plus the "hump" that goes over the transmission limits the space. So I went to my old standby: goodwill thrift store $1.99 plastic cutting board! I cut out a piece with a hole, glued in a piece of PVC pipe and painted it and attached it to the top of the ignition coil covers with a little piece of angle iron. I'm not crazy about it and may rethink it at a later time. But it works and will get me down the road. I'll post some pics tonight.

A friend turned me on to the cutting board as build material. It's waterproof can be painted and screwed into and is relatively strong. I've used it as an "electronics board" on previous builds to attach switches etc under the seat.


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  • Spokane WA
  • 87 K100

Offline Revrdmark

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Re: 1987 K100 cafe or something build
« Reply #51 on: October 11, 2016, 08:17:33 PM »
So here are a couple pictures of the parts I've had to manufacture for the build.

New key placement:


Speedometer sensor bracket:



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  • Spokane WA
  • 87 K100

Offline Revrdmark

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Re: 1987 K100 cafe or something build
« Reply #52 on: October 27, 2016, 01:13:11 AM »
So i was  planning the next electrical project: the fuel gauge and sender. I took the sender out of the tank and was  planning on modifying it to work with the Acewell gauge. Upon removing the unit i looked at it and it was looking pretty corroded and brittle. The prospects of taking it apart without  damaging it in a terminal way seemed unlikely. I went on Ebay and  bought a  Kawasaki EX250  sender and float for $15. Its a simple 2 wire sender so just ground one wire and connect other to the blue wire on the gauge.  So i plan on just splicing the in tank fuel pump wires past the sender and making a new plate to bolt onto the bottom of the  tank to hold the new sender. I'll have to take the float and beam off the original and attach it to the new sender, but it seems pretty doable.  I'll try and get it put together this weekend and get some pictures up.
  • Spokane WA
  • 87 K100

Offline Revrdmark

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1987 K100 cafe or something build
« Reply #53 on: October 30, 2016, 11:50:23 PM »
Here are some pictures of the work done on the fuel tank. This is the sender I picked up off eBay that works with my Acewell gauge. I'll need to do some creative bending of the float and arm to make it register correctly, or snip of the old wand and solder or weld it to the new sender.



This is a piece of metal I cut out of a 4x4 post hanger I had in the garage drilled some holes made a new cap out of it.


I had to trim the corners of the sender to make it fit in the screw holes and also used a couple thick rubber fender washers to seal up the hole and the  new plate



I've soldered and sealed some wire extensions on the fuel pump wires. I'll drill a hole in the bottom of the tank and run the wires through it and splice them into the old 4 post plug. I'll either use some steel epoxy fuel tank repair paste or some fuel resistant sealant around the wires to seal the hole. Everything seems to work on a dry run.
  • Spokane WA
  • 87 K100

Offline Revrdmark

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Re: 1987 K100 cafe or something build
« Reply #54 on: November 03, 2016, 01:45:01 AM »
Drilled the hole ran the wires through and hopefully sealed it all up water tight with a good glop of fuel resistant sealant. I still need to bend the float arm. After that hopefully this project is done and can start on the next. Most likely welding and angling up the tail section and installing the fiberglass tail.




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  • Spokane WA
  • 87 K100

Offline duckytran

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Re: 1987 K100 cafe or something build
« Reply #55 on: November 03, 2016, 08:48:43 AM »
I'd like to know how accurate the fuel level reading will be. Mine isn't accurate with the Acewell, so I'll need to dig into it when time permits. Looking forward to seeing your tail section come together.
  • Austin, Texas
  • 1993 K75, 1981 R65

Offline Revrdmark

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Re: 1987 K100 cafe or something build
« Reply #56 on: November 03, 2016, 10:19:04 AM »
I've only moved the arm back and forth manually but the gauge worked as it should on the "dash". I will need to make sure I get the float arm bent correctly around all that rigging inside the tank.


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  • Spokane WA
  • 87 K100

Offline Revrdmark

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1987 K100 cafe or something build
« Reply #57 on: December 03, 2016, 11:01:51 PM »
So I finally got a little work done on the bike this week. I welded the original loop back on the shortened frame and cut out about a 30 degree "V" out of the tube to bend the tail up at a good angle to make the Ducati tail piece look right ( in my opinion). I welded the seam closed so it welded strong at a tilted up angle. I cut out a piece of the thrift store plastic cutting board and screwed it on with a couple pipe clamps as a surface to mount the ECU too



I thought I'd share some of the trial and error process as well. The last two posts were about putting a new fuel level sender in the tank since the one I had was in pretty poor shape and I was planing on selling the other tank from my parts bike if I could put a new sender in the original tank cheaply. So I did all that work of fitting the Kawasaki mechanism into the opening, drilling a hole for and soldering up the fuel pump wires and sealing it and installing it. I could never get the float arm bent in such a way to get the float to the bottom of the tank or the top  so it either read 3/4 full or 1/4 full never F or E. I was messing around with the original float and reading the threads about taking the  sender apart and turning the wire windings around so it read opposite to work for an Acewell  gauge. It dawned on me "why not just cut the wires at the plug, reverse them  and solder them back together rather than damage the sender by taking it apart?" I said a prayer took the sender out of my parts bike, snipped the wires, reversed them, connected them to my Acewell gauge and  moved the arm up and down. Eureka! It works perfectly.

So I have a fully functional fuel gauge, a neutral light, oil light, and speedo and tach. So far so good.  Next  project is fabricating a bracket for the tail section to mount to securely.


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  • Spokane WA
  • 87 K100

Offline Revrdmark

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Re: 1987 K100 cafe or something build
« Reply #58 on: December 13, 2016, 12:40:53 AM »
Worked some more on the  brick today. I fabricated a  brace to mount the seat pan to out of square tubing. My welding skills with my little arch welder are lacking especially with the different thicknesses of metal, so no nasty comments about my booger welds!! The brace isn't structural mostly just a  platform to  bolt the seat to. it will look a little better with a  bit of grinding primer and black paint



so starting to see the light at the end of the mechanical and fabricating  part of the build. I'm trying to decide what i will do for the tail/brake light. I like the look of the LED strips but i  think i might go with a simple  round flush mount tail light and  mount  some  flush mount turn indicators.
  • Spokane WA
  • 87 K100

Offline duckytran

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Re: 1987 K100 cafe or something build
« Reply #59 on: December 13, 2016, 09:36:48 AM »
So I finally got a little work done on the bike this week. I welded the original loop back on the shortened frame and cut out about a 30 degree "V" out of the tube to bend the tail up at a good angle to make the Ducati tail piece look right ( in my opinion). I welded the seam closed so it welded strong at a tilted up angle. I cut out a piece of the thrift store plastic cutting board and screwed it on with a couple pipe clamps as a surface to mount the ECU too



I thought I'd share some of the trial and error process as well. The last two posts were about putting a new fuel level sender in the tank since the one I had was in pretty poor shape and I was planing on selling the other tank from my parts bike if I could put a new sender in the original tank cheaply. So I did all that work of fitting the Kawasaki mechanism into the opening, drilling a hole for and soldering up the fuel pump wires and sealing it and installing it. I could never get the float arm bent in such a way to get the float to the bottom of the tank or the top  so it either read 3/4 full or 1/4 full never F or E. I was messing around with the original float and reading the threads about taking the  sender apart and turning the wire windings around so it read opposite to work for an Acewell  gauge. It dawned on me "why not just cut the wires at the plug, reverse them  and solder them back together rather than damage the sender by taking it apart?" I said a prayer took the sender out of my parts bike, snipped the wires, reversed them, connected them to my Acewell gauge and  moved the arm up and down. Eureka! It works perfectly.

So I have a fully functional fuel gauge, a neutral light, oil light, and speedo and tach. So far so good.  Next  project is fabricating a bracket for the tail section to mount to securely.


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This is great Mark. I also need to do the same wire reverse scheme since my Acewell fuel gauge never read accurately either.
Thanks.
  • Austin, Texas
  • 1993 K75, 1981 R65

Offline MaraudeRS

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Re: 1987 K100 cafe or something build
« Reply #60 on: December 13, 2016, 08:44:49 PM »
Cool


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  • Monterey, CA
  • 1992 K100RS

Offline Revrdmark

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Re: 1987 K100 cafe or something build
« Reply #61 on: March 25, 2017, 11:15:12 PM »
So the snow is finally melted and the temperatures are above 40 degrees so i started  some projects. I started stripping the paint off the fuel tank. OMG  what a  pain! So as best i can see, the tank has been painted no less than 4 times! There are four layers of paint to try and get off this  tank. I have used Citi-orange stripper on paint projects in the past with a lot of success, but with this much paint on the  tank it is taking forever. I have basically stripped the tank three times to get the layers off and am just now getting to  bare metal.

Here is  one layer of  paint and clear coat  bubbling up  with citrus stripper:





 I bought a little 2.5 Inch flush mount tail/brake light and will be mounting it in the tail section. I cut the hole for the rubber grommet that the light fits into. I'll wait to actually put the rubber in till after the  paint is done so that i don't have to  try and pry it out to get it painted.





 More pictures as i get back into the swing of things!
  • Spokane WA
  • 87 K100

Offline Revrdmark

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Re: 1987 K100 cafe or something build
« Reply #62 on: March 27, 2017, 05:04:34 PM »
Since I don't have any trunk or storage area on the bike anymore I was thinking of making two little "saddle bags" that would fit in the triangle where the old side covers used to be. And I hit a milestone today! All the wiring is finished (I'm sure I jinxed it now) but got head light, tail/brake light, turn signals, neutral, oil light, ignition and kill button, and instrument cluster all wired and functioning!!! So I'm to the point of working on paint plans and prep and then reassembly and hopefully... test ride in the next few weeks when weather permits! Wish me luck!


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  • Spokane WA
  • 87 K100

Offline Revrdmark

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Re: 1987 K100 cafe or something build
« Reply #63 on: March 27, 2017, 05:30:20 PM »
greetings...

john ralston is in your home town... he is one of the best holster makers on earth...

i betts he would be tickled to stitch up a set of triangle tragkorbs for you...

http://www.5shotleather.com

j o
Thanks! I'll look him up always happy to support local craftsman!!


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  • Spokane WA
  • 87 K100

Offline Revrdmark

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Re: 1987 K100 cafe or something build
« Reply #64 on: April 03, 2017, 12:24:35 AM »
So I wired up turn signals and put the super trapp exhaust on ( just finger tight) and all the parts I have all over my garage and look there's a motorcycle in there!



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  • Spokane WA
  • 87 K100

Offline duckytran

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Re: 1987 K100 cafe or something build
« Reply #65 on: April 03, 2017, 09:22:45 AM »
Looking good Mark! I see you have the tank prepped for paint. Looking forward to seeing the color scheme on it.
  • Austin, Texas
  • 1993 K75, 1981 R65

Offline Revrdmark

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Re: 1987 K100 cafe or something build
« Reply #66 on: April 03, 2017, 06:26:03 PM »
Looking forward to seeing the color scheme on it.

I think I'm going to go with a white/ cream color and do a "M Stripe"  with silver white and black stripes rather than red purple blue. I think I'll do the seat in dark tan or brown and still think I'll do saddle bags where side covers were in the same color


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  • Spokane WA
  • 87 K100

Offline Revrdmark

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Re: 1987 K100 cafe or something build
« Reply #67 on: April 04, 2017, 05:15:47 PM »
So  next problem to solve:  I have had the bike up on the center stand all winter during the process of the build. I  finally  took it down to roll it  to another spot in the garage and the  4 into 1  piece and the exhaust are  right where the foot of the center stand goes when it is in the up position. Have any of you had a similar clearance issue? Not sure if shortening the  pipes would give me the clearance or  if  extending them would help???  I'd love to see any solutions you all have done to solve any similar problems.

  • Spokane WA
  • 87 K100

Offline duckytran

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Re: 1987 K100 cafe or something build
« Reply #68 on: April 04, 2017, 05:24:06 PM »
I've removed my center stand  :bmwsmile . Makes the bike lighter too!
  • Austin, Texas
  • 1993 K75, 1981 R65

Offline Laitch

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Re: 1987 K100 cafe or something build
« Reply #69 on: April 04, 2017, 05:25:57 PM »
I'd love to see any solutions you all have done to solve any similar problems.
I think a few photos of the challenge would help stimulate thinking—not that there are any flaws in your description.
  • Along the Ridley in Vermont.
  • 1995 K75 89,000 miles
I wept because I had no radials until I met a man who had no splines.
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Offline Revrdmark

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Re: 1987 K100 cafe or something build
« Reply #70 on: April 04, 2017, 05:26:36 PM »
I might end up removing it too. And what is with the crazy angle of the kick stand! ?  That thing is so far over when it's on the stand!


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  • Spokane WA
  • 87 K100

Offline duckytran

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Re: 1987 K100 cafe or something build
« Reply #71 on: April 04, 2017, 05:29:26 PM »
I might end up removing it too. And what is with the crazy angle of the kick stand! ?  That thing is so far over when it's on the stand!


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I've added a 1/2 heel to my stick stand so the bike doesn't lean over as extreme.



I've added a 1/2 heel to my stick stand so the bike doesn't lean over as extreme.
  • Austin, Texas
  • 1993 K75, 1981 R65

Offline Laitch

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Re: 1987 K100 cafe or something build
« Reply #72 on: April 04, 2017, 05:46:37 PM »
And what is with the crazy angle of the kick stand! ?  That thing is so far over when it's on the stand!
Have you ever tried to tip it over at that angle? That won't be happening easily and consequently it isn't easy to tip it in the opposite direction either. It's an exciting-looking angle though.
  • Along the Ridley in Vermont.
  • 1995 K75 89,000 miles
I wept because I had no radials until I met a man who had no splines.
https://tinyurl.com/RillRider

Offline Revrdmark

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1987 K100 cafe or something build
« Reply #73 on: April 06, 2017, 01:45:08 PM »
So I'm hopefully going to start some paint in the next week or so. I am fairly solid on the black/grey/white "M stripe" on the fuel tank. I went down to a local vinyl wrap place and they sold me scrap vinyl in three colors for $10.  So looking for opinions ( of which I will most likely ignore ... ha!) on what pattern looks best. I'm thinking a dark grey/silver color with either the strip going totally across the side of the tank like this:



OR... a smaller stripe coming out of the BMW logo like this:

Any thoughts?


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  • Spokane WA
  • 87 K100

Offline duckytran

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Re: 1987 K100 cafe or something build
« Reply #74 on: April 06, 2017, 01:58:18 PM »
I like the first one. Makes more of a statement! You have a big tail piece. Perhaps incorporate the smaller stripes there.
  • Austin, Texas
  • 1993 K75, 1981 R65

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