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LA SoCal Mechanic Mentor Sought 93 K75S

TechPoet

New member
Noble Brothers and Sisters,

I am hoping to take this new (to me) '93 K75S on a cross-country road trip this summer. I am looking for someone around L.A. to mentor me on the more advanced maintenance stuff. I live in Highland Park (between Pasadena and downtown L.A.).

I did a coolant change myself yesterday and will do a fuel filter and oil change when my parts get here. I could probably use guidance on clutch, brakes, forks, trans, drive, splines, electrical, etc.. I don't expect something for nothing - and may not need all that much time - but don't have the budget to take it to a shop, nor would I learn anything. But my goals are setting the maintenance baseline, knowing what I lack in the toolkit, and ability to troubleshoot if brokedown on a backroad.

Thanks in advance and may all ride well!
 
I'd hardly call myself any kind of mechanical mentor, but I live in Santa Clarita and am happy to share anything I can.

You're a brave soul, setting out on a cross-country trip on a new-to-you 110k machine. I'd go over that thing with a fine-toothed comb, as I note from other threads you've been doing.

One piece of advice I haven't seen: If I were to acquire another one of these bikes, which is not out of the question, I'd set aside a few hundred $$ right along with the purchase price to buy a new one of each and every rubber part on it, and then systematically replace all of them over the first few months of ownership.

I've had a few failures related to old rubber parts no longer performing their intended function, and it's become apparent there's an underlying engineering assumption at work: The rubber bits on these bikes don't just get mashed between parts that are bolted tightly together against them, like your rubber faucet washers and such. Rather, the parts bolt together at a carefully specified distance, and the rubber is assumed to be sufficiently robust to seal the space between. When it loses its elasticity, stuff starts dribbling out. "Stuff," like gasoline, brake fluid, oil.... So, if doing it again, I'd short-circuit all those failures and just replace all that up front.

Also: check the clutch cable attachment to the handlebar clutch lever. It'll work just fine until that last strand snaps, and then it won't work at all. I was lucky that it happened about two blocks from home, in second gear, so turning around and parking was no problem. Another mile and I'd have been going 70 in traffic on the interstate. This is another item I'd just replace immediately if the existing one weren't obviously new. (The throttle cable connection doesn't appear to be subject to the same kind of stress.)
 
Hi TechPoet..

I'm going to move this over to the west coast regional forum, leaving a redirect here. Hopefully some westies will spot it and can help you out..

Hang on.. please keep keyboards and mices inside the thread until the thread comes to a complete stop, for your safety and protection.. :wave
 
I can't recommend a specific person, but try meeting the folks at the new shop in your area - http://www.ncbmwmotorcycles.com/
Paid mechanics and salespeople won't be interested in mentoring, but they have a high-enough volume of customers that chatting around should fix you up. They have rides and on-site events too.

Also, the Internet BMW Riders has a K section that will be quite useful: http://www.ibmwr.org/ktech.shtml
 
Good deal! A friend whom I used to work with bought his K16 up there a few months ago - he really loves the place. I've only been there once, when they had an Open House with food :eat , and it was a good time.
 
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