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BMW K 75









BMW K 75

Tales from the past










BMW K 75


After a few years of experi­encing BM's middleweight twin the time had come for a change Should I go for a R100RS, or a K or throw reason to the wind by plumping for an FJ1200; and to hell with the quality of Germany's finest. After

some soul searching for a few months, I decided on a K 75 - so far I don't regret it one bit.



My first impression was to wonder how something made by BMW could feel so different from the R series. The bike actually feels lighter despite weighing more than the twins, it's easier to pop on and off the stands, which look as if they will actually hold up the bike. The |top-up handle really takes the effort out of lifting it onto the main stand, the only problem comes when trying to use the prop stand whilst seated on the bike — dismounting first was a lot safer than dropping the bike after the side stand shoots back up









The K75 felt right as soon as I mounted it. A nice comfortable seat and natural riding position. The bike fires up straight away with no choke necessary, an even, steady tickover immedi­ately achieved unlike the twins that need 3 miles to stop coughing and spluttering. Virtually no back end lift from the shaft drive on take off, the engine feeling sweet and smooth, thanks to a three cylinder OHC engine with a balance shaft. My first problem was at the first junction. Why did BMW have to radically alter all the switches? Nothing like anything I'd ever ridden before. A first for me was the two indicator switches, one each side and a cancelling button on the right.















Not easy to find, initially. There seems to be about three switches on each side of the bars and I've yet to hit the horn in hurry instead of the lamp flasher; and vice-versa. Next impression was, what good front brakes - one or two fingers will squeal the front end. Too good for the forks, in fact, as they take a dive all the way down onto the stops under the slightest provocation. The rear drum is good, in so much that I didn't want a disc at the back (in my view, never necessary, and they all seem to expire from crud and leaks). It's not as fierce as the one I had on the twin, so it doesn't lock up easily in the wet. The excellent Metzeler tyres suited the bike perfectly and I'm going to stay with 'em.















The bike was four years old when I bought it and had not been cleaned for as many years - it was so bad that the wife advised me not to buy it, but I'd had a pleasant test ride and wasn't to be dissuaded that easily. A little rub with my finger on the alloy revealed that it was as new underneath, and the paint apart from two dents in the tank, also appeared in good trim under the dirt.













The next three weeks were spent stripping the cycle parts down. One packet of brillo pads and two tubes of Solvol, three toothbrushes and four hours hard labour on the alloy wheels had them looking like new. Try that with Jap alloy. Three coats of Scientific Coating's finest had them looking even better and they now seem to throw the dirt off rather than attracting it The bike had a really silly flyscreen, neither practical nor attractive, which directed the wind straight into my face, so I soon pulled that off.











Further work included some BMW knee pads (not cheap at £35 - didn't we used to get these free on old British bikes), a DIY BMW comfort seat, the front forks were stiffened with stronger springs and fork oil was changed to SAE 5, and a set of panniers and top box, again from BMW. Brake dive was a thing of the past, although comfort levels were not impaired. I spent many hours figuring out how to get the panniers on and off the frames. I spent a whole after­noon trying to learn the knack and then they suddenly clicked on but wouldn't come off again. All was revealed when I found the small tab










Back on the road, I was well impressed by the excellent, light, gearbox action; could this really be a BMW? There is little shaft drive reaction in normal riding, and even really pushing the bike held few of the terrors associ­ated with riding BMW boxers. The engine is both smooth and has plenty of torque, allowing the bike to pull from less than 30mph in top gear. A four speed gearbox would've been more than sufficient, it was quite usual to go for many miles without having to think about changing gears, such was the production of torque throughout past the ton on the clock. In fact, it felt slower than my XT350 and ridiculously under­powered for a 600.







Best points were the superb front brake (twin discs) and the headlampi The brakes were the most powerful I've ever tried, including a FJ1200 and R100RT that I subsequently acquired. Similarly, the headlamp is the most powerful I've ever come across.







BMW K 75
I loved the feel of the big single engine and the gorgeous looks of the thing. Getting through traffic was made easy because of the narrowness of the bike.


The biggest failing was its lack of comfort. Basically, the seat lacks sufficient padding and the bars are too low and narrow for me - although in the bike's defence, I am a strange shape, a six footer with short legs and a long back.


Only RT BMWs and large trailsters suit ma Certainly in town the bars were a real pain, as was the slowest practical speed in top gear of 40mph. It averaged only 58mpg regardless of how it was ridden - a function of the strange carbs, balance shafts and fat piston?




BMW K 75
The 608cc capacity put the bike in a very expensive insurance bracket when it was no faster than a good 250! The SRX crippled me on journeys of over 100 miles, so much so that I used my car for longer journeys - the Citroen Visa diesel averaging 49 to 53mpg on cheaper juicel The car had a similar top speed to the bike and weighs five times as much. Something has gone very wrong with the design of modern motorcycle engines.


Handling, thanks to a rigid frame and low mass, was just fine. On short runs through the twisty stuff the bike could be scratched with the best of them, braking left to what would be suicidal moments on fatter bikes.

Noth­ing ever touched down and the bike was only upset when the going got really bumpy when the back end failed to cope. Overall then, I was greatly disappointed by the SRX. The riding position and poor econ­omy ruled it out as a practical hack.


BMW K 75The lack of speed ruled it out as a fast plaything. Only the style of the big single, as a sort of modern version of a Goldie had anything going for it, but then those old Brit bikes never had much of a reputation for practicality. Higher bars, a better seat and some more power might've made it more usable.

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