Well after some needling by Andy750 I decided to get off my duff and start putting the K1 back together this past weekend! It wasn't so much laziness as two other bikes that intervened. My 1988 K100RS SE ABS bike and my 1969 R60/2.
Oh well the K100 is now my ultra reliable daily runner and the /2 is making me crazy because of the mess the PO made with the tank, but I digress...
I actually got the tapered roller bearings installed today along with the entire front end! It's nice to have a little color back on the bike and I am sure that it will help speed up the reconstruction process! Note this is not a restoration, as I really only took it apart to clean and replace anything worn. All of the bodywork and frame is still the original paint as are most of the parts! Really looking forward to riding this!
Interesting side note is that I put the front axle in the wheel and attempted to tighten it down to the specified torque (~ 40 Ft/lbs) it seemed like the entire bearing assembly was locking up. So I was wondering if I actually needed new wheel bearings. So as I was sitting and looking at this problem, I noticed that the spacer on the nut side of the axle, had some wear marks on it, like it was turned around!
I removed the wheel and pulled the axle and pulled out the spacer. It looked the same on either end, but I turned it around an voila! No more funny wear marks showing. Then I torqued the assembly and VOILA AGAIN, the wheel spun easily! So I guess that silly spacer does only go in one way! Maybe the next time I have it out I will take a real close look at it and take some measurements with my dial calipers.
Now to really get cracking on putting it back together! I WAS planning on bringing it to Larz on the 17th of this month, but I am not going to worry about that. Instead I will take my 1976 CB550F and take my time putting the K1 back together!
Cheers, Phil