My new K 1300s

[Mrmerlin]

I got a nice Magma red 2011 K1300S it had 420 miles on it./
Its the fastest bike i have ever owned and it is the most refined.
I put Schwabenmax 31mm rear shock plates on it so the the bike steers faster than stock its an awesome bike. I also added a side stand foot made out of a hockey puck it works great as the bike would be leaning more without it


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[Rick Lee]

Gorgeous. I test rode this bike's twin brother yesterday. I'm curious as to your height and weight, what's the longest ride you've done on the K13S so far and how comfortable you feel after a while in the saddle.

[DonB]

Sweet bike! What did you ride before it?

[Mrmerlin]

The bike is amazing the seat not so much ,
I did put on a Corbin seat that I am not happy with as its sloped to make me slide into the tank.
I cut out some of the seat material to change the slope and its fair at this point.
The longest ride was 350 miles in a day my butt was a bit sore from the seat but the seat was becoming less of an issue as the miles count up.
I am 5 11 195lb
I still also ride a 2001 R1150 GS with S wheels and Ohlins it has 34Kmiles on it I have owned it from new.
All in all with the 31 MM plates the bike steers very quickly and its not a fight to keep it turning as with the stock plates, in a turn if you let up on the bars the bike would want to stand up now it holds position unless you need more lean a slight bit of pressure and the bike leans over more, also slow speed handling is enhanced,
IE its easier to maneuver around potholes

[DonB]

Mrmerlin,

Hope the seat improves for you.

When I ride a K13S I like everything about it except the feel at turn-in. It felt weird non-linear when initiating like it would change flick rate or something. Did you notice anything like that and did these plates change that feel?

What about overall road feel of the tire. The front suspension didnt give me the warm fuzzys when I was leaned over trying to feel what the contact patch was doing.

Also, at normal highway speeds, what kind of fuel economy do you get?

Rock on!

[throttlemeister]

Don what tires do you have? I found some tires give a real squirmy feeling when new.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

[Mrmerlin]

Here is a ride report after swapping the rear shock plates


Holy slicing in the corners,
The bike is totally transformed.
I went for a blast up the canyon and is was 52 degrees out so with the tires not really warm I didnt want to see how far over I could go plus lots of sand from a snow storm a few days ago on the edges of the roads.

There is no more fighting to push the bars into a turn,
the bike easily goes where you want it to go, gently push the bar and the bike easily moves into a lean, the bike doesnt feel like it wants to stand back up as it did with the stock plates, it is a whole lot more flick able, dodging potholes, lane shifting quick maneuvers.

High speed 80 mph is steady.
Though with crosswinds you can feel them as the bike is now more reactive ,
its not twitchy, the feeling of having to force the bike to turn is gone.

It does not feel like it wants to fall into a turn either , the bike will stay where its set.
small changes result in a line change that happens quickly.

I have to get used to this new handling as it was a job to put the bike where I wanted it to go with the rear end set at stock position.

I like this modification the bike feels like a lightweight sport bike with a long wheelbase.

If your height challenged you will notice the rear being higher,
however slow speed stability seems easier as say like when your slowing to crawl in traffic the bike seems less top heavy , its a lot easier to balance while riding slow,
the steering is lighter , meaning less effort is required to make the bike change direction.

I also noticed a very slight rumble from the drive shaft when starting out as I was paying attention to this fact,
I will stress the very slight part, with the stock plates the takeoff was smooth, maybe others that make this mod will understand .

All in all 2 thumbs up for a rewarding modification.

[Mrmerlin]

Anyone reading this today on I eventually swapped out the 31mm plates for the 25 mm lift plates,
for me this is the best amount of rise for the rear . Im 5 10 , 200 geared up.

The bike it easily placed and will hold its line while leaned over, corner changes are easily made and the bike stays where you put it,
the hi speed straight line stability is also improved as the bike will now track straight even with cross winds. Before it would have a slight weaving while doing 70MPH.
Thats gone now.
The low speed handling, think dodging pot holes is also terrific.

Enjoy your K 1300 S I really liked mine its a whole lot of missile for little cash

[tomvv11]

I see you've shrunk an inch and gained a few pounds in 10 years like the rest of us. Couldn't nature pick just one?
When I hit the lotto I'll get one of these to keep my R1100S company. Way more bike than I need or probably can handle but sure would like to ride one for a bit. Glad you're still enjoying and fiddling with your 13S these years later.

[MT930]

I love this bike. This is my second year with it. Super good value for the level of performance and really a pretty comfortable bike for an old guy 6 foot tall 220. Pretty much left in stock. Anything that I didn’t like initially I ended up getting used to. Way more comfortable than I thought it would be. At 65MPH+ the wind just holds your chest up quite comfortably. I think if you can find a nice one under $10,000 it’s a very good buy.

[njsax]

This is a good touring bike. I bought mine used from a Seller in the Seattle area, and rode it back home to Dallas, Tx in three days. No problems whatsoever.

I've since added a Throttlemeister and a Sargent seat. The next upgrade will be a AF-XiED O2 unit to tune the injectors for peak performance.