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Motorcycle  Tech

How I Switched From K75 "S" bars to "C" bars
As always, this is my experience and yours may differ.
Please use common sense and if you feel this is beyond your capabilities please bring it to a shop.

Preparation

Total time: 3 hours

Parts Needed:

K75 "C" bars (of course!), a bunch of 6" zip ties, red BMW#10 Lube, New Foam Grips (get the kind with the "lube 'n glue packet inside), a thick towel & Blue Loctite. (this piece does NOT deal with heated grips!) Optional: "S" Crash Pad Mounting Strips.  Note that I later bought the European K100 Standard Heated Grip Kit (insist your dealer look, it is there :) It came in a big box with the a new (and a little wider?) "C" bar, grips and all wiring, switches, etc, and even bar-end weights. Think the K75 is smooth? Try it with bar-end weights :)

Things You May Need, But I Didn't:

New "C" Clutch Cable, Speedo connection, Choke Cable, Brake Fluid Line, switch wiring & New "C" Crash Pad (the "S" one nestles in nicely and will fit well with a little extension to the mounting bolts.)

Tools Needed:

Standard BMW "K" Tool Kit
Nippers or scissors (for cutting zip ties)
Knife (for cutting off old grips)
(I used the scissors & short blade on my Swiss Army Knife)
Simple Green & Abrasive Pad (for cleaning off left side bar end)

The Procedure

Prepare The Bike

Put the bike up on the center stand with plenty of room on each side of the bike.

Make sure the cover to your brake fluid reservoir is nice and tight.

Cover the gas tank and sides of the bike with a thick towel.

Prepare to Remove the Bar:

Crash Pad Removal:
Remove the rear cable cover (2 hex bolts) Remove the 2 bolts holding the crash pad and move out of the way.

Disconnect the clutch cable:
Make sure not to drop or lose the tiny pivot drum.
NOTE: I found the easy way was to pull in the clutch, then get a friend to hold the clutch arm (down at the transmission) while I slowly let it out. Then simply remove the cable from the clutch arm first, then from the handgrip assembly. After reading this, Dave Brick suggested using a screwdriver to hold the clutch arm.

Disconnect the choke cable:
First pop off the plastic cover, then remove the w-i-d-e slotted screw. Making sure not to lose the funky washer. The simply remove the cable end from the slotted housing.

Remove both side switch plates:
Remove the tiny phillips head screws at the bottom of the switch assembly. Move them out of the way (I just let them hang.)

Cut off the clutch-side grip:
Thoroughly scrub the bar to get all of the dried grip glue off (this makes it MUCH easier to remove and replace the grip assembly!)

NOTE: Ken Kochanski (kkochans@ix.netcom.com) found that removing the zip-ties that hold the wiring & cables to the fore-frame at this point makes more sense then waiting to see if it is neccessary while positioning the new bars. Judging by the cost of zip-ties, I must agree. So,

Remove Wiring Zip Ties:
Carefully reposition the gas tank by pulling it up off of the mounts and back an inch or two so that you have access to the wiring zip-tied to the front of the frame. After making careful note of the location of the wiring and cables, *carefully* snip the zip-ties.

Remove the "S" Bar:

Remove the 4 hex bolts and mounts that hold the bars to the bike.

Remove the hex bolts on the bottom of the grip assemblies that hold the grip assemblies tight to the bars.

Carefully move the bar to the right and slide off the clutch grip assembly. If you did not clean well enough this could get tough.
Let the clutch grip assembly hang.

Move the bar back to the left and while holding the brake reservoir upright slide the speedo grip assembly off of the old "S" bars.

Install the "C" Bar:

Immediately slide the speedo grip assembly onto the new "C" bars and center the bars on the bike.

If yours is like mine, you will need to barely loosen the bolts holding the brake hose to the steering stem and to the speedo grip assemble to re-align the hose or the bar will not fit. If you loosen this bolt too much you will have to bleed the brakes (which might not be a bad idea...when was the last time you did this?)
If you want you can drain the brake fluid and replace the Brake hose, you will then need to bleed the front brakes (and why not the rear while you're at it?)

Center the bars on the steering cradle, replace the mounts and replace the 4 hex bolts.
Do not tighten too much at this time, only enough to hold the bar in place while you hop on the bike and get it to a comfortable elevation.

Once you've got the bar where you want it, carefully center the bars and tighten those 4 bolts down! I used a little blue loctite just to make sure.

Replace the Bar Components:

Slide the clutch grip assembly onto the bars and position both assemblies on the bars so that when the clutch and brake handles are fully pulled in the ends just meet the end of the bars. (Other may differ on this placement but examination of several new K bikes at Bob's convinced me this was proper.)

Again sit on the bike and fiddle with the elevation of the brake and clutch handles until they feel right, then replace and tighten the tension bolts.

Replace the clutch and choke cables.

Re-lube the clutch assembly with #10 grease (can't hurt).

Reposition Wiring:

If you haven't already, carefully reposition the gas tank by pulling it back so that you have access to the wiring zip-tied to the front of the frame.

After making careful note of the location of the wiring and cables, *carefully* snip the zip ties holding the wires together and to the frame. Temporarily replace the switches and reposition the location of the wiring in order to get enough slack where the switch assemblies are not pulling on wiring throughout the entire arc of the Bar movement.

Replace the switch assemblies and re-check that there is slack in the wiring  and cables throughout the entire arc of the handlebar movement.

Finish The Job:

Re-ziptie the cable connections and replace the gas tank.

Replace the cable-cover and then the crashpad. If you are using the original K75S crashpad without extensions, do NOT tighten the 2 bolts all the way, just enough so that it is snug.

Make sure everything is tight and works correctly BEFORE going out for a ride, then congratulate yourself because you are done.


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