Just bought a '95 K75 with a sidecar for my dog and I and could use some help

I posted this elsewhere but should have done it here I think so I apologize for the duplication.


Hi my name is Paul. I just bought a used '95 K75 with a sidecar for my dog Ranger and I. I own a Harley as well and this is my first BMW and I am psyched to begin riding with my dog! I wanted a separate bike instead of modifying my Harley. I need to do some work to the BMW to make sure everything is in proper working order, lubed and ready to go and I am hoping you all can help me out with this process.

Can anyone fill me in on this bike? It has 59000 miles on it. There are some things wrong and I am hoping they are minor. I paid $2500 for it and figured I would be needing to do some work to get it up to par and reliable.

I just picked it up Sunday and so far my first experience left me with some doubt so I am hoping some of you will ease my mind. I had an hour and a half ride home after I purchased it and after I unloaded it, the battery was dead because I mistakenly left the key in the accessory position and took the key out not yet knowing this could be done so the light being on drained the battery. That was no big deal as I just charged it overnight. When I went to put it back in yesterday I was confused because even with no key in the ignition the starter was set off trying to connect the battery. While Googling the problem I discovered this is a known issue with the relays and there were some that even after spending over a hundred bucks on a new relay they still had issues. BUT, I came across one guy who said to simply tap on the relay which I did and everything was fine. But I am now worried about getting stranded somewhere so I thought I might as well just keep a spare relay with me.

After I got through that issue and the bike was running I now have the temperature light staying on right from start up so I could use some feedback oh how to proceed with that. It's really hard to get a solid answer by Googling because you find worse case scenarios like the engine contact to the frame needs to be cleaned. That doesn't make sense to me because before I bought it, it wasn't on. I did notice 2 hoses hanging on the right side, one clear and the other solid. I called the guy I bought it from and he thought the clear one was from the original battery which I don't understand what that did and I am assuming at this point that the other is overflow for coolant? I don't know, I haven't found anything on it yet and haven't had the time to trace it.

The exclamation point in the triangle light is also on so I need to troubleshoot that as well.

The other issue is that the clutch is slipping. The cable was just recently replaced and the lever down below where the cable attaches is not going down all the way, hitting the pipe. So far from what I have researched I saw there is an easy adjustment underneath and I'm wondering if I will be able to tighten up on that cable, still have the required slack at the lever and still be able to have the clutch lever disengage fully so it no longer slips. I am hoping that is all it is. Am I correct or could this be a worse problem? I obviously do not want to ride it like that.

Any help you guys can give me will be much appreciated. I hope I made a good choice on this bike. I knew I'd need to sink some money and time into it but I'm crossing my fingers it's not much.


Thanks in advance for your help!

Paul

Congrats and welcome to the forum!


The "weld the starter relay" generally happens when you attempt to start the bike with a low battery... I haven't heard of any relays going bad with a healthy battery, but they are small and easy to carry, so you may want to bring one along. With that said, because of the excess wiring with the tub, I'd also install a volt meter, so you can watch the state of the battery (and hopefully those aux. lights can be turned off when not needed).

Electronic gremlins do seem to pop up with an unhealthy/low battery. Make sure that both sides of the ground cable are clean - one side will be at the battery, and the other will be down by your left foot as you sit on the bike (bolted to the transmission).

I'd agree that the clear hose may have been the overflow from the previous battery. You'd probably have a coolant overflow tube, and you may also have a gas tank breather/water drain hose. All of these should be somewhat easy to trace back to their source.

When you first start the bike, the exclamation light will be on until you tap both the front and rear brakes (this is a bulb monitoring unit that checks the switches at the brake levers, and also checks the brake light bulb to make sure it lights up)

The clutch needs to be set at a certain level down near the exhaust. The fact that it's touching the exhaust is not something that I've heard of before... the IBMWR page has a great write up on how to properly adjust your clutch.

Your local BMW club also has some people that can help you locally.

drneo66 said:

Congrats and welcome to the forum!


The "weld the starter relay" generally happens when you attempt to start the bike with a low battery... I haven't heard of any relays going bad with a healthy battery, but they are small and easy to carry, so you may want to bring one along. With that said, because of the excess wiring with the tub, I'd also install a volt meter, so you can watch the state of the battery (and hopefully those aux. lights can be turned off when not needed).

Electronic gremlins do seem to pop up with an unhealthy/low battery. Make sure that both sides of the ground cable are clean - one side will be at the battery, and the other will be down by your left foot as you sit on the bike (bolted to the transmission).

I'd agree that the clear hose may have been the overflow from the previous battery. You'd probably have a coolant overflow tube, and you may also have a gas tank breather/water drain hose. All of these should be somewhat easy to trace back to their source.

When you first start the bike, the exclamation light will be on until you tap both the front and rear brakes (this is a bulb monitoring unit that checks the switches at the brake levers, and also checks the brake light bulb to make sure it lights up)

The clutch needs to be set at a certain level down near the exhaust. The fact that it's touching the exhaust is not something that I've heard of before... the IBMWR page has a great write up on how to properly adjust your clutch.

Your local BMW club also has some people that can help you locally.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply and the tips and the link! I am still reading up on the bike when I can. I will try tapping the brakes and see if the light goes off. Not sure why that temp light went on though.

Walnutz
That's a cool looking bike!
Red is the coolest color.
You dog will love it
Will he stay in if he sees a cat or deer?
Sounds like your willing to work on it a bit, that's good.
My starter relay sometimes sticks on too. Keep the proper Allen wrench handy to quickly disconnect the ground lead where it attaches to the frame.
Then get a screwdriver and a wrench, put the screwdriver up against the relay, tap it and you should be ready to try again, these Bikes don't like to be started with low voltage across the battery.
Can't help you with the temp light coming on, someone here will thou.
There's another website called MOTOBRICKS.COM that full of active members for advice.
Get it dialed in and you will love it!
Low maintenance, fun to ride.
I've got Avon Roadrider tires on mine and those work good.