K1100 engine vibrations

[ppatsmart]

Just bought a 68k 10 yr old K1100RS with the following niggles (or are they just paranoia?)

Engine vibrations become tingly and uncomfortable over 5k rpm although at lower revs its as smooth as the proverbial - is this normal?

Gear box is a bit agricultural, lever travel seems a bit extreme in both directions - same again, is this normal?

Handling is not good, though I believe I can detect looseness in the head bearings (the occasional clunk from the headstock and v minimal play when pushing & pulling the front wheel) - I think I need to go over all the elements affecting handling and give them a good going over to be honest.

fairly frequent clutch judder on pick up, there is still reasonable adjustment in the cable, so any idea what causes this - I only really know wet multiplate clutches so this is novel to me.

All comments welcome, cheers Pat

[Robby]

Well I don't believe any of us have BMWs on here, but a few of the probs are easy enough to diagnose.

Any looseness that you can feel at the front is either knackered head bearings or just a looseness. Tighten it to the correct torque and see.

The clutch judder is most likely oil contamination on the clutch plate. Thats certainly how I'd diagnose that problem in a car, with a similar type of clutch.

The engine vibrations point at some loose bolts. On my VX800 it developed a horrible intrusive vibe at 5000-5500 rpm. It turned out to be the mounting rubbers for the fuel tank shaking loose. Go over every nut and bolt and check they are done up tight.

Depending what you have ridden before, quite a lot of gear lever travel can be expected. Its an old low tech gearbox, and there is a lot more space between the gears than on a japanese bike.

[Kickstart]

Hi

Not owned a BMW, or ridden one. However the agricultural gearbox and the vibration both seem to be regular features in BMW brick road tests.

All the best

Keith
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[mh]

Hi Pat,
I am in a similar situation, just got a 61k 13 year old K1100 for a 25 mile motorway commute. Everything you describe sounds normal, both in terms of any reviews I've come across and in terms of my own bike. (I've not experienced any clutch judder though).
The agricultural gearbox is clunky and full of false neutrals, though it's fine if gearchanges are slow and firm (to be honest, with such massive torque available I just ride off the throttle in top and avoid changing gear!).
The high frequency vibration is also normal (leading to a slight numb feeling in fingers after half an hour or so!), something to do with the odd engine arrangement. Varying the cruising speed might help a little (another 10 mph seemed to help dampen things down a bit, but the vibes were still very much present). You could try renewing the rubber handlebar mounts, or thicker foam on the handlebar grips (or both). Neither does much for feeling particularly connected or involved with the machine, but then the whole K1100 thing is hardly representative of bikes generally - more a question of recalibrating your brain to match the quirks of BMW ownership.
Hope this helps,
Matt