K1600GTLE arm rest modification

I want to share a post I read on another forum and I sure hope the owner of this information won't mind me simply copying from his original post and pasting here:

I like the armrest but hated that I was unable to remove them when my wife wasn't riding. Even when you remove the top case, who wants to ride around looking awkward ( bat-wing ). I ended up going to a local machine shop and had them cut and modified with a slotted male and female coupling that is held together with one bolt. Its easy to remove and looks good. Check out the pictures. BMW should have made them this way in the first place. For the $750. price tag and then $200. for the modification all to make the wife happy.

Good point.....But, I've found some good uses for them......

FrankFlorio said:

I want to share a post I read on another forum and I sure hope the owner of this information won't mind me simply copying from his original post and pasting here:

I like the armrest but hated that I was unable to remove them when my wife wasn't riding. Even when you remove the top case, who wants to ride around looking awkward ( bat-wing ). I ended up going to a local machine shop and had them cut and modified with a slotted male and female coupling that is held together with one bolt. Its easy to remove and looks good. Check out the pictures. BMW should have made them this way in the first place. For the $750. price tag and then $200. for the modification all to make the wife happy.

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While getting ready for a 15k mile+ trip, I found that more space was needed for misc items. The Arm bars worked perfect to protect and secure a large pack. Not having the Arm bars I would have relied on a much less secure(I mean without a lock) method. Your point is valid and a great idea when riding without pillion. I'm sure it looks better without them, but if you're thinking of a long solo ride give thought to their benefits. Having Fishing rod and Vest with $$ worth of goods locked into those Arm bars allows a bit more relaxation when parking the bike in a new town. Just my two cents.....

K1600 GTL Armrest install and modification

Thanks for sharing this post. It gave me the inspiration I needed. I purchased the armrests on EBay and they came without any instructions as stated in the listing. Installation was no trouble but it does require carving on 2 plastic trim pieces. Without any template it was a little nerve racking but I used a dremel tool and took it slow. As for the modification to make them removable, I did not want the expense of a machine shop, so used 1” x 3.75” x 1/4” bar stock with pins on either side of a 5/16-18 bolt. I made a Wooden fixture to hold everything in alignment when I cut the original tubing to make way for the removable brackets. Then I held the brackets in place and welded them to the tubing. A little paint and I installed the armrests to the bike and put everything back together. The pictures should fill in the gaps in my explanation.





Now I have a comfortable two-up touring machine when my wife is with and can still be cool when riding solo. At least the bike can look cool. I am passed the cool stage myself.

question about the modification

Terrific ideas. I would like a little more detail on the plates you made. I think I see the pin. Did you weld the pin in place? did you only use one pin? Maybe an additional plate on the side would help? The trimming of the plastic was around the gold piece covering the tubing outside the seat?

Thanks,
J

Armrest mod

johnholmes said:

Terrific ideas. I would like a little more detail on the plates you made. I think I see the pin. Did you weld the pin in place? did you only use one pin? Maybe an additional plate on the side would help? The trimming of the plastic was around the gold piece covering the tubing outside the seat?

Thanks,
J

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I used 2 steel dowel pins but you can use bolts or rod if you like. I press fit them into the plate that gets welded on the armrest. I drilled clearance holes on the plate that stays on the bike. You could also just use 2 bolts to mount them and skip the pins all together. Here is a better picture.


I am so glad I took the time to do this because the bike look so much better without the bags and armrests.

Armrest mod

johnholmes said:

Terrific ideas. I would like a little more detail on the plates you made. I think I see the pin. Did you weld the pin in place? did you only use one pin? Maybe an additional plate on the side would help? The trimming of the plastic was around the gold piece covering the tubing outside the seat?

Thanks,
J

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Sorry I forgot to answer your question on the trimming of the plastic. You only need to trim 2 black plastic pieces. These are located just below the seat on either side of the bike. I found these pictures on the internet and they show it best.


Your work is covered by the seat so it does not need to be perfect.

Good luck.