B-King mods and long term maintenance

[KawiGuy]

I might pickup a B King but for commuting purposes I need to remove the stock exhaust to make room for brackets and other rack accessories to put a rear top case and maybe side cases. The problem with the B King is that for the US market, compatible parts are virtually nonexistent.

I want to replace the stock exhaust with a traditional high mount exhaust from the Hayabusa but not sure if it’s doable or if I have to get generic clamps to hold it against the passenger foot pegs.

Other than that I don’t know what else I’ll do to it maybe a crash cage to mount auxiliary lights for visibility in traffic. Adding fancy stuff like making it act like a turn signal or hazard flashers would be cool.

Yamaha has their FJR I don’t know what’s stopping them from making an MT13 and Kawasaki has their ZX14 I don’t know why they wont make a Z14, probably dont want to take away sales of their Z H2.

Given how rare the B King is, I would jump on this opportunity to have it and make it a long term bike. I have thought of a ZX12R and a Blackbird as well but not sure.

 

[Hayabusa Wannabe]

Welcome @KawiGuy.

 

[Bumblebee]

Welcome,

There are a few BKing riders on this forum...

I definitely wouldn't put stock gen 2 cans under the seat of a BKIng as they are crazy heavy....

The BKing can do what you are asking but you nailed it by saying it is a niche platform only offered in North America for one year so getting specific parts and aftermarket parts will be a challenge....

None of the Suzuki GSX lines suit you?

 

[KawiGuy]

Welcome,

There are a few BKing riders on this forum...

I definitely wouldn't put stock gen 2 cans under the seat of a BKIng as they are crazy heavy....
k
The BKing can do what you are asking but you nailed it by saying it is a niche platform only offered in North America for one year so getting specific parts and aftermarket parts will be a challenge....

None of the Suzuki GSX lines suit you?

I am aiming to get rid of the undertail exhaust and go for the traditional sportbike look

here’s one with a Yoshimura R55 exhaust

 

[GMbusa]

That last pic looks awesome

 

[sixpack577]

Make sure to do a ram-air mod and have the ecu flashed as an unrestricted Busa bin file.
That and the exhaust make a night and day difference in performance.
A -1 front sprocket really wakes it up too.

 

[Bumblebee]

If I would have found a BKing before I found the Bumblebee, I would have had one instead...

They are pretty rare and hard to find around here.

 

[RacingJake]

Found this, might be worth looking into ?

Luggage for Suzuki B-King | Accessories International

Here's mine and I've never seen another one on the road since they came out in 2008.

 

[hayabuser]

I definitely wouldn't put stock gen 2 cans under the seat of a BKIng as they are crazy heavy....

The stock exhaust box that lives under the tail of the B-King is massively heavy too... I was shocked when I first lifted one.

 

[RacingJake]

The stock exhaust box that lives under the tail of the B-King is massively heavy too... I was shocked when I first lifted one.

View attachment 1666976

I think I dropped over 20 pounds with my Brock's exhaust.

 

[GMbusa]

I wouldn't mind a B king

 

[Cantab]

Found this, might be worth looking into ?

Luggage for Suzuki B-King | Accessories International

I would think the HB racks rely on the stock exhaust being there to help everything bolt up..

The Ventura kit does, i had one of these when i had Yoshi's on my BK but needed (i think) minor small plates under the tail as the Ventura kit relied on a particular mounting point on the original stock box.

 

[Tony Nitrous]

Yamaha has their FJR I don’t know what’s stopping them from making an MT13 and Kawasaki has their ZX14 I don’t know why they wont make a Z14, probably dont want to take away sales of their Z H2.

Big bore nakeds is a odd class that isn’t what it was.

The days of the retro brutes, CB13, XJR, ZRX and the GSX14 has gone, modern big bore bikes are harder to get through emissions, the ZX14 has already been dropped from sale in several countries with no sign of it being brought up to spec. Many B-Kings sat around in showrooms and eventually got discounted.

Retro bikes seem to be more about style and design now, where as the Supernakeds are dominated by the Euro bikes and not a class the Japanese seriously attack. BMW, Aprillia, KTM, Ducati etc aren’t seriously threatened by the MT10 and Z-H2.

Im a huge fan of big bore nakeds, I have a B-King, GSX1400, naked Busa and have had a lot of others but it’s a bit of an odd market.

The B-King is a fun toy but could have been so much better from the factory.

 

[Bumblebee]

Big bore nakeds is a odd class that isn’t what it was.

The days of the retro brutes, CB13, XJR, ZRX and the GSX14 has gone, modern big bore bikes are harder to get through emissions, the ZX14 has already been dropped from sale in several countries with no sign of it being brought up to spec. Many B-Kings sat around in showrooms and eventually got discounted.

Retro bikes seem to be more about style and design now, where as the Supernakeds are dominated by the Euro bikes and not a class the Japanese seriously attack. BMW, Aprillia, KTM, Ducati etc aren’t seriously threatened by the MT10 and Z-H2.

Im a huge fan of big bore nakeds, I have a B-King, GSX1400, naked Busa and have had a lot of others but it’s a bit of an odd market.

The B-King is a fun toy but could have been so much better from the factory.

I watched a bike show today and they did a test on the Yamaha MT-09 SP....it looked decent and had electrically adjustable Ohlins

My buddy's M1000R is a real head turner....it looks sexy just sitting there.

 

[Tony Nitrous]

I watched a bike show today and they did a test on the Yamaha MT-09 SP....it looked decent and had electrically adjustable Ohlins

My buddy's M1000R is a real head turner....it looks sexy just sitting there.

Yeah, some great naked bikes about but not so much in the big bore sizes with decent running gear. The Japanese really only seem interested in higher tech 1000’s as their big nakeds.

I know to an MT-10 with a proper tuned R1 motor in it that’s absolutely wild, and I love stuff like the new Ducati V4 (not so much the Z-H2) but still there’s a huge gap in the market where the big bore brutes used to be. Lots of great bikes to pick from but not if you want something big like the previous thug bikes.

I‘d happily buy a modern replacement for my GSX1400, B-King etc but there just isn’t one. If you don’t like 1000’s, cruisers or Euro bikes then you’re out of look. A few years back I’d have had a choice of several.

 

[Bumblebee]

Yeah, some great naked bikes about but not so much in the big bore sizes with decent running gear. The Japanese really only seem interested in higher tech 1000’s as their big nakeds.

I know to an MT-10 with a proper tuned R1 motor in it that’s absolutely wild, and I love stuff like the new Ducati V4 (not so much the Z-H2) but still there’s a huge gap in the market where the big bore brutes used to be. Lots of great bikes to pick from but not if you want something big like the previous thug bikes.

I‘d happily buy a modern replacement for my GSX1400, B-King etc but there just isn’t one. If you don’t like 1000’s, cruisers or Euro bikes then you’re out of look. A few years back I’d have had a choice of several.

True, the big bore bikes are disappearing fast....

I liked my old 1200 Bandit, it was a beast in it's own right...

 

[Tony Nitrous]

True, the big bore bikes are disappearing fast....

I liked my old 1200 Bandit, it was a beast in it's own right...

 

[Bumblebee]

View attachment 1667181

Mine wasn't on the gas but I had a full Ti exhaust, stage 3 jet kit, GSXR cams, Progressive suspension front and back, all of which really woke it up and made it pretty fun...

It was a cheaply made bike though