K1300S Suspension Riser Plates

[ZATO]

At the last Non-Invitational, Jargon got me interested in the riser plate upgrade for quicker steering. The Mighty K does steer awfully slow, so why not, anything to help a geezer can’t hurt. Ordered from Beech and received quality machined plates at very fair price. Both plates premarked for installation with simple instructions included. Kneedragger gave some good info about the needle bearing lubrication and how to prevent dropping the rollers all over the floor. All in, it was under 2 hours to do the upgrade. Glad I installed the centerstand, this allowed adjustment for aligning the plate holes quick and easy.

Results... a totally different ride! Before, the corner entry was on line, but was hard to get the much needed lean angle to hit the apex just right for the exit line-up. Instead of wearing combat boots, he feels light, agile and responsive to input changes while in the corner, could not do that before.

The Mighty K1300S has great power and throttle response. The brakes are awesome. I have always felt safe on the streets, but it was like wrestling a gorilla when cornering. Now the machine is a totally new ride.

The side stand is shorter, no big deal. The rear end height change puts my head leaning down a bit more... I'll take it.

I had the bike completely tore down over the Winter for a ten year maintenance look. Replaced no parts, greased and wrapped tape here and there until the plates were the last thing on the list, won't say I was without doubts. Updated, the performance has been flawless. No complaints here! Thank you Jargon, Beech and Kneedragger for the all help and info. All it took was a little time and motivation to get it done.

[RS530]

Can you please explain the the secret of the needle bearing lubrication? Although I do not have the risers I would like to grease the bearings, also did you have to support the rear of the bike at all or did the center stand do the trick for the whole removal and reinstall? Again I don't have the improved risers just want to remove so I can grease the bearing for maintenance, I have never removed these before and don't really know what’s involved. How was your bearings after 10 years did they need fresh grease? My bike only being 3 1/2 years old maybe mine are fine. Thank you.

[jargon]

FWIW, when my risers were installed, the bike was about 4 yrs old and the bearings were dry, but undamaged.

[ZATO]

Glad to help.

The center stand does a great job raising the rear end to a height which gives you plenty of room to raise or lower the tire to align the bolt holes. I use a scientifically engineered 2x4 to drive under the tire. Just tap on either end and it positions the rear suspension at the desired height for hole alignment, if necessary. Have used this piece of wood on many rear end jobs over the years.

Step 1: IMPORTANT... Mark each plate on the "outside" surface for reinstallation.

Step 2: Drive the block far enough to support the tire. Remove the bolts. There is a spacer that supports the bolt within the needle bearing. As Kneedragger recommended, slide the spacer only halfway out. This prevents the needle bearings from falling out. Lube as necessary then slide the spacer and lube the other side. My bearings were caked with dry grease. Used a toothbrush, alcohol and air to clean them up, repositioning the spacer as necessary to clean and lube the bearings. Q Tips worked good for lube application and over packing is no problem as the spacer shoves the extra grease out.

Found the bearings to be in fair shape as they all rolled smoothly with fresh grease, yours should be fine. My 2009 has 19,000 miles and has never been lubed. Greasing every two years is recommended.

Step 3: Reinstall is simple. If you find holes not lining up, just raise or lower the tire until the bolt holes align. The torque is 28 lb/ft. I always backup with loctite. The BMW Maintenance Disc references the torque in metric numbers which equate to 28 lb/ft. Torquing can be accomplished without removal of any exhaust components.

Both Beech and Kneedragger are very familiar on this subject and can help if necessary.

I never knew about the need for lubrication in this area... glad I got the plate upgrade.

BMW wants you to buy new hardware. My Covid 19 mask must have fogged up my glasses and I reused the original nuts and bolts. I'm sure I may have broken some law in the process, don't tell anyone.

Take care RS530!

[RS530]

Thank you, sounds simple enough, definitely a service I need to get done, although my bike is not as old is yours, mine is pushing 30,000 miles.

[Kneedragger]

I kept the riser plates from my '09 when I sold it, and installed them on the '15 I bought. Mine are the 31mm risers from Schwabenmax, which improve steering remarkably, but with a couple of issues. When on the center stand, the rear tire touches the ground... not enough to cause instability but there is enough friction that I can't turn the rear tire... on the plus side, it's really easy to get the bike on and off the center stand. I use a piece of 1x6 under the center stand when I want to clean or remove the rear tire. The other issue is that the bike leans over quite far when on the side stand. To compensate for this, I bought a used side stand off of Ebay and had a local metal shop extend it 1". It's much better now, but with the 31mm plates I actually could have increased the length by 1.5".

[jargon]

Hey Charlie, what was your odometer reading on the ‘09 when you sold it?
And your ‘15 when you bought?

[Kneedragger]

John, I sold the '09 at 72K miles, bought the '15 with 29K...

[beech]

Yes, BMW now wants these bearings lubed every two years. Not on public maintenance lists. When the K13 came out after a while there were incidents of the dog bone shape link bar breaking. Turned out that these bearings were seizing up. Charlie, do you have a longer than stock rear shock? Just wondering why your rear wheel hits the ground on the center stand. Great description on how to clean those little buggers.

[Kneedragger]

Beech, I did have the suspension completely rebuilt before I took delivery of the 2015 bike. I didn't take any before/after measurements but the new springs are significantly stronger so I'm sure they affect sag. However, I had the same situation with my '09 with the stock, Non-ESA shocks and 31mm suspension riser plates prior to having the shocks rebuilt... maybe it's something to do with tire choices, as I know different brands with the same callout size often vary in actual size.

[R111S]

I whole heartedly endorse the K1200/1300 Riser Plates! I had a Retired Machinist Friend of mine (Dale Kuykendahl) make me some from 6.35 mm thick T6 Aluminum plate. Mine raises the Rear Ride height (as measured at the Bag mount Post) 10mm. No problems with the Centerstand nor Sidestand being too short. I have 2 pair left if anyone is interested.

[beech]

T6 is a heat treatment, the plates would be 6061 aluminum unless you are referring to 7075 alloy. 6061 is not as strong as 7075 T6 but far more common. Many aftermarket companies have these now.

[Mattias_R]

I did this 2 years ago, boght from e german company via ebay, cheap as dirt, plates made from stainless and lasercut. Raised 25mm, made the bike feel as nimble as my old f800st on the corners. Installed the low seat to maintain stock ride height. also installed a sidestand enlarger to counter the added lean angle onthe sidestand. When on track i also use the ESA 2 up setting, further raising the rear by 20mm, makes it behave like a little 600cc sportbike. =)

For greasing the bearings, remove the dogbone and put it on the bench, remove the sleeve and then take out the rollers, clean everything, put a slob of grease inside the cup in the dogbone and just put the rollers back one by one, insert the greased sleeve and fit the dogbone back on the bike. This ensures that you get all the crud out of the bearing before re-greasing it. I installed new seals as well.
The seal should be 17x24x3 millimeters but i used 17x24x4 millimeters and they work just fine, there is a bit of extra width on the dogbone to allow for this.

Need 4 seals total. I used shell gadus s3 v 220 c2 for the bearings as it will withstand water, heat and salt very very well, so if anything gets past the seals it will not reach the bearings anyway.

[beech]

I have four sets of 31mm lift plates left. Seriously doubt if I'll make more sales have died. My stupid wilber shock rebuild last time lifted my bike about 25 mm in the back. Pissed me off. Way different from the original height when I installed them new. Could not get any satisfaction from the vendor/rebuild shop. I guess I need to gain 75 lbs. .

[armstrongracer]

Hi, I'm jumping on an old thread here. Fitted a set of 28mm rider plates to a K13 Motorsport a while back. Combined with helibars and PR5's its a completely different animal. Can throw the thing around (almost) like a sportsbike. When I fitted plates I left bellypan off because I had a full Akro system going on. Put bellypan back on last weekend and its touching the tyre unloaded on side stand, with me on sitting it barely clears the tyre. Not a safe condition as it will hit rebounding from big bumps. My bellypan is a full one without the centre stand cut outs. Is this normal that I have to cut the pan back with risers fitted?

[beech]

Interesting question. I have never noticed that problem. If you do have to trim it, I suspect it will be not much. Do you have the stock 190/55 tire on it?

[armstrongracer]

Yup, I've a 55 tyre on. Had a look around the internet and on a stock bike the lip of the bellypan is very close so I suspect its Dremel time.

[armstrongracer]

Also following up on the bearing discussion. I rebuilt & greased mine at same time as its due anyway at 18k miles. Some observations:

BMW are not exactly over-generous with the amount of grease they put in from standard.
Seals are quite good, I ride mine most days to work in all weathers and it rains a lot in Ireland, no signs of water getting past.
Pin at dogbone on mine (2015 model) is DLC coated (looks like black chrome), the other two are normal chromed steel. If I was replacing pins in the future I would use 3xDLC coated ones. Its a superior finish.