K11 Owners Group

dave n · Last edited by dave n on Thu Jun 04, 2015 11:20 pm; edited 1 time in total

For a 1993 K1100LT - this is the piece that bolts to the forward frame w/4 small bolts.

Most likely will be found bent or cracked/broken.

Mine has 3 of the 4 corners broken.

One on E-Bay now that is obviously bent - hopefully some one here can do better.

bmwk100ezs@gmail.com
_________________
Dave Norris KOG 248
1999 Cagiva Gran Canyon
1993 K1100LT w/Hannigan sidecar
2008 Suzuki DR650

Scott_Anderson · Posted: Sun May 24, 2015 9:35 pm Post subject:

Have you checked with any of the breakers?

BeemerBoneyard
Josh Buck @ Parts Haus

These are just a couple that I have dealt with in the past.

Not too many "cafe" converters are stripping LT's
_________________
Ride safe.

1995 K1100LT 0302044
2017 FLHTK Ultra Limited
Garmin StreetPilot 2820
Garmin Zumo 550
Garmin Zumo XT
"One who does not ask questions is ashamed to learn" Danish proverb
1997 K1100LT 0302488(R.I.P.)
1997 R1100RT ZC62149(sold)

nickw · Posted: Thu May 28, 2015 9:33 pm Post subject: Lt fairing bracket repair

I experienced this issue on my '93 LT 3 years ago. At the time I was under the gun to get it fixed and did not have the luxury of waiting to find another unbroken unit(unlikely given the age and the design)

I have access to aerospace qualified welders in my community and some experience in weldment design, so I came up with a fix which has lasted me well for the past three years.

I have it in a Word file with pictures. I have asttempted to include it here. it may help if you have a good (TIG)welder available.

Nick W

K-Bike Fairing repair scheme

June 5, 2012
I had to remove my fairing to install a new LED light kit in the instrument pod on my 1993 K1100LT.
Being a regular K11OG reader, I had read many posts about fairings and mounti9ng issues and had experienced what seemed to be excessive fairing shake recently when hitting rough sections in the Northern VT roads. Having repaired my fairings broken mount on the left upper side two years ago while fixing radiator and fuel tank problems, I was fairly sure I had another broken fairing mount to contend with.
The words on the LED light kit installation instructions were so true; “once you see what is involved, you will understand why you never want to do this again” (I may be paraphrasing a bit)

Imagine my surprise when I found the main bracket bolted to the steering head broken in two places. I beadblasted the bracket for crack inspection and found several:

The black Sharpie marks show where the cracks exist, all very fine fatique cracks from flexing
I needed a locator device (jig) to place the broken bits in the correct location, so I measured the steering head, finding it to be exactly 2.375” in diameter (2-3/8”). A quick perusal of the local Lowes produced a 2-foot piece of PVC pipe which had exactly the right diameter. Drilling and tapping for locator screws in ¼” produced this device:

Yes, I know plastic pipe won’t take the heat, but it is all that is readily available, and I’m under the gun here, rain predicted for four days and then relatives visiting for a wedding. If I don’t fix it now, I won’t get to it again until after the wedding! My plan is to have my welder tack-weld the parts in place, remove the jig and finish welding.

A quick review of the duty required of this bracket reveals the shortcomings of the original design. The upper attachments are in tension and bending while the lower attachment points are in compression and bending for most of the fairing brackets duties, gravity and wind pressure both being down forces as bragged upon by the BMW flacks when speaking of the “wind tunnel designed fairing”. So, instead of just re-welding the cracked parts and going on again for another 50 or 60K before breaking again, I yielded to my impulse to improve the design just enough to alter the natural frequency and improve the tension/bending capability of the upper mount portion(s)
100% penetration weld repairs call for proper weld beveling and crack stop drilling is a primary repair. Next you will see the cracks stop drilled and the cracks beveled to more than 50% of the material thickness.

After weld prep is completed the “design fix” is created: At the top of the bracket the bracing is open and flexes quite a bit causing a crack on either side of the central tube. This piece of 5/32” welding rod will serve as a filler to close this area in and stiffen it somewhat without adding undue weight.

This will do the trick sufficiently to make the upper box end closed and stiffer. The final fix is to add 5/32” wire to the outside of the attachment flange on both sides as shown below:
This piece and its opposite side piece will meet at the midpoint of the box section and allow welding to attach them to the side supports and to the central tube, closing the box section at this end. The other end of the wire (under my fingers) will extend down the bracket to the bottom attachment point where it will be in compression and bending

After welding, the bracket now looks like this:

And this:

After cleaning and painting the finished repair looks like this:

RE-installation proved how close the bracket comes to other parts, the top (now reinforced) edges of the bracket interfered with the bottom of the ignition switch, preventing the steering from turning to full lock either direction.
The interference was minimal, requiring removal of about 1/16”of material at the very top of each bracket ear before all would clear properly. I have no picture of that repair as it was done in the heat of re-assembly with no camera at hand.
Subsequent road testing showed greatly reduced vibration in the fairing at all engine speeds.
The LED kit installation was easy by comparison!

Nick w
_________________
"It's not what people know, it's that they know so much that just ain't so!" (Apologies to Will Rogers)
93 K1100LT
(2) 79 Suzuki GS850's (In limbo)
65 Triumph TR6S/C ( sold)
2009 Suzuki SV650
2009 Suzuki DL650

nickw · Posted: Thu May 28, 2015 9:36 pm Post subject: fairing bracket repair.

Obviously the pictures did not ride along with t he text in ciut and paste mode.

If anyone can tell me how to post the file with pix, I'll try again.

Nick W
_________________
"It's not what people know, it's that they know so much that just ain't so!" (Apologies to Will Rogers)
93 K1100LT
(2) 79 Suzuki GS850's (In limbo)
65 Triumph TR6S/C ( sold)
2009 Suzuki SV650
2009 Suzuki DL650

Scott_Anderson · Posted: Thu May 28, 2015 9:51 pm Post subject:

The only way you can add the pictures would be to put them on a photo sharing site like photobucket or similar, then edit your post to insert the links.
_________________
Ride safe.

1995 K1100LT 0302044
2017 FLHTK Ultra Limited
Garmin StreetPilot 2820
Garmin Zumo 550
Garmin Zumo XT
"One who does not ask questions is ashamed to learn" Danish proverb
1997 K1100LT 0302488(R.I.P.)
1997 R1100RT ZC62149(sold)

Jim · Posted: Thu May 28, 2015 10:48 pm Post subject: Re: fairing bracket repair.

Nick - thanks for a great write up. Hope you can find the time to work the pix in.

If you are able to do that, the pix will only stay with the post as long as you leave them wherever they are hosted.

nickw · Posted: Fri May 29, 2015 9:52 pm Post subject: 3rd try

I went back to my fan stories and figured out how I did them and ended up posting the link at the end of that thread.

I try again here:
https://www.mediafire.com/?f1dkdfzbegyzzdf

As i said before; I am a better mechanical geek than a computer geek.

Nickw
_________________
"It's not what people know, it's that they know so much that just ain't so!" (Apologies to Will Rogers)
93 K1100LT
(2) 79 Suzuki GS850's (In limbo)
65 Triumph TR6S/C ( sold)
2009 Suzuki SV650
2009 Suzuki DL650

nickw · Posted: Sat May 30, 2015 7:35 pm Post subject: An idiot here.

After all of that, I was in my bike shed this PM and guess what's hanging from the rafters?

A fairing support bracket from an '85 K100.

If you think it might be an alternative, I'll post a pic.
_________________
"It's not what people know, it's that they know so much that just ain't so!" (Apologies to Will Rogers)
93 K1100LT
(2) 79 Suzuki GS850's (In limbo)
65 Triumph TR6S/C ( sold)
2009 Suzuki SV650
2009 Suzuki DL650

Scott_Anderson · Posted: Sat May 30, 2015 9:43 pm Post subject: Re: An idiot here.

dave n · Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2015 11:16 pm Post subject:

Thanks guys for all the input - I had mine weld repaired - sure wish I had seen this repair first.
I also added another bolt in between the two original bolts.
Also thinking of adding a type of heavy duty band clamp/radiator hose clamp around the fairing bracket and frame tube.

Hope it lasts another 20 years.
_________________
Dave Norris KOG 248
1999 Cagiva Gran Canyon
1993 K1100LT w/Hannigan sidecar
2008 Suzuki DR650

cafedeush · Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2015 12:00 am Post subject:

I've just recently finished this -

http://i1040.photobucket.com/albums/b408/Kent_Bibby/10931022_10155510751255321_6832468058921820155_n_zpsuhmf1woc.jpg

I have a garage full of crap to get rid of, some I will sell but some I am happy if you just pay postage. I'm certain I have that bracket and its a 94/95 LT. The only prob is I'm in Sydney so postage may cost a bit depending on where you are. Let me know if you're interested in anything and I'll look for it and get some pics....there is a slim chance it got thrown out but I'm hoping not.

thanks
Kent
_________________
'95 K1100LT
'83 R65

cafedeush · Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2015 12:01 am Post subject:

hmm like the way I started with certainty and ended in doubt...I'll go look for it now Smile

_________________
'95 K1100LT
'83 R65