K3's

[flymo]

I race my K3 and I've never experienced any major problems with the engine at all (touch wood). It was at 26,000 miles or something before I got my hands on it so not bad really.

doh....just read your post Dave. I'll get my coat.

[Dave20046]

hehe no worries, I was surprised I remembered correctly.
Yours having lasted 26k+ then being tracked is somesort of piece of mind. Racing/regularly tracking bikes takes the most toll on engines I'd imagine as you get barely any time to warm up the engine properly before hammering it (well on the first go atleast anyway). Not warming up the engine properly is supposed to be the number 1 cause of engine failure. The more people that no that the better (as I can only afford to buy second hand!)

[flymo]

Originally Posted by Dave20046

hehe no worries, I was surprised I remembered correctly.
Yours having lasted 26k+ then being tracked is somesort of piece of mind. Racing/regularly tracking bikes takes the most toll on engines I'd imagine as you get barely any time to warm up the engine properly before hammering it (well on the first go atleast anyway). Not warming up the engine properly is supposed to be the number 1 cause of engine failure. The more people that no that the better (as I can only afford to buy second hand!)

Actually its more likely that a race engine gets warmed properly. I tend to start her up 5 mins or so before heading to the holding area. After a sighting lap its probably up there at 80 degrees or so before getting a hammering. Good decent quality oil and relatively low miles also helps.

[Dave20046]

Originally Posted by flymo

Actually its more likely that a race engine gets warmed properly. I tend to start her up 5 mins or so before heading to the holding area. After a sighting lap its probably up there at 80 degrees or so before getting a hammering. Good decent quality oil and relatively low miles also helps.

ahh touché, when I'd been on the track I did the same and tried to warm it up properly while waiting holding it on a couple of thousand revs and stuff but guessed people that did it regularly wouldn't bother.

My K3 has just turned 40 (thousand miles old ) and the engine has been bulletproof so far. I also find the seat height fine but I am a rather majestic 6 foot tall

[Luckypants]

Originally Posted by Pukey

Can this be rectified by dropping the forks through the yolks to maintain the seat height and steepen the rake of the forks?

If your bike already has longer dogbones fitted to lower the rear, then the yokes may have already been dropped down the forks by the previous owner. Before doing anything to the forks, measure how much fork is showing through the top yoke, if there is anything to measure the yokes have already been dropped down the forks.

Thanks for the response. I appreciate it!

It will always get warmed up reasonablyy gently by me and it had only done 1577 miles when i got it 3 months ago.

The fork tops are level with the top face of the top yoke, so maybe in the future I'll seek your advice on how much to adjust them.

Am I to assume that the faliure of these motors isn't always specific ie, snapping the end of the crank?

Does anybody know what engine numbers seem to be the weakest?

To be honest it will probably be a while tilll it gets thrashed as its my first big bike!

Cheers Luke

I ride a k3 and did 9k on it in my first year of riding...(just finished now) No issues to speak of really.... i like the extra height being 6'4" but went for the gel seat being 18st.

Dave