R1150GS Clutch change guide?

DrAlf

DrAlf

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Helping a mate to change the clutch on his 1150GS – ABS this weekend. Had a search here and a hunt on Google but can’t find any guides. I have the BMW manual but a real world guide would be better.
Anyone got a link to one?

Thanks:)
 
Keep the silencer and Y piece/cat together and pull them off the down pipes.

Keep the gearbox and final drive all in one piece. Remove all the bits around it, lift up the rear subframe and pull the gearbox/final drive back and out as one unit.

No need to undo any of the rear brake lines. Just hang them out of the way.

With two of you it'll be easy to slide the gearbox final drive back in place standing one each side. If i can do it by myself then you'll have no problem.
Have the clutch pushrod in place in the diaphram spring and slide the gearbox onto it, have the gearbox in gear and a couple of the rear wheel bolts in place, turn the wheel nuts to help engage the gearbox input splines into the clutch.

I find strapping the battery carrier up a bit helps the gearbox slide back and the earth lead loops easier over the two battery tray studs on top of the gearbox.

Fit all the parts back in place. Remembering to thread the gear indicator plug and lead back through the rear subframe before you lower it and bolt it back in place.
 
Don't forget to remove the ABS sensor cos no matter how hard you heave to disconnect the transmission from the engine it keeps springing back.And the wire is very thin and is difficult to repair (I could not do it, but that does not say much) . And if it has clips holding the air filter cover in place make sure they are both in the 'up' position as after you have put the frame back in place you cannot retrieve them to the 'up' position again. DAMHIK. Over 60 make sure you have very tight knickers on cos balls will be shooting from the your sack, its HEAVY.
 
Excellent – thanks chaps:thumb Done this once before but that was a long time ago. I’m sure it will be an interesting experience:)
 
Hi Steptoe,
Just joined this forum after ebaying in a nice-condition 2004 Rockster - what a lovely bike, with only 33K miles on the clock after 3 owners in 10 years.
For some time now I've been really 'into' Chris Harris's You Tube maintenance videos, since his K75 tutorials were so helpful when I owned a couple of "The Whistlers" in recent years.
I read with interest your job-list for getting at the clutch on the 6-speed bikes, and as he says, the friction plate spline-hub and input-shaft partial engagement issue which Berlin refuses to acknowledge as a serious design-flaw clearly reduces the service life of so many of the tranmissions of these oilhead machines.
Esmir on the ADVRider forum, after supplying 30 sets of his innovative Spacer Kits earlier this year, which relocate the friction plate fully onto the input shaft splines, now insists that he won't be sourcing any more of them. Which is a real shame.

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=964425&page=11

As he suggested, I removed the starter on my Rockster and poked at the revealed clutch pack to find noticeable flop of the friction plate on the splines, with the lever zip-tied to the handlebar. So I need to do something, because as Chris Harris at AffordableBeemerServices says, never 'slip' a dry clutch, 'cos doing so rapidly sees it off, and someone of the earlier owners of my bike clearly didn't know how to use a dry clutch by simply banging it in and out and never slipping it, like you would with a wet-clutch bike.
Have you found any other solution to the premature spline-wear problem ?
Regards, ALAN in s.e, Spain
 
The workshop manual mentions guides to help line up the box. I made a pair out of long bolts (only threaded on the ends) I simply cut the heads of and filed the stump round. The use of these reduces the risk of damaging things-including yourself, trying to get the box in.


John
 
sykospain said:
Hi Steptoe,
Just joined this forum after ebaying in a nice-condition 2004 Rockster - what a lovely bike, with only 33K miles on the clock after 3 owners in 10 years.
For some time now I've been really 'into' Chris Harris's You Tube maintenance videos, since his K75 tutorials were so helpful when I owned a couple of "The Whistlers" in recent years.
I read with interest your job-list for getting at the clutch on the 6-speed bikes, and as he says, the friction plate spline-hub and input-shaft partial engagement issue which Berlin refuses to acknowledge as a serious design-flaw clearly reduces the service life of so many of the tranmissions of these oilhead machines.
Esmir on the ADVRider forum, after supplying 30 sets of his innovative Spacer Kits earlier this year, which relocate the friction plate fully onto the input shaft splines, now insists that he won't be sourcing any more of them. Which is a real shame.

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=964425&page=11

As he suggested, I removed the starter on my Rockster and poked at the revealed clutch pack to find noticeable flop of the friction plate on the splines, with the lever zip-tied to the handlebar. So I need to do something, because as Chris Harris at AffordableBeemerServices says, never 'slip' a dry clutch, 'cos doing so rapidly sees it off, and someone of the earlier owners of my bike clearly didn't know how to use a dry clutch by simply banging it in and out and never slipping it, like you would with a wet-clutch bike.
Have you found any other solution to the premature spline-wear problem ?
Regards, ALAN in s.e, Spain
Click to expand...

Most clutches don't wear out by the owner slipping the clutch, they either get oil contaminated, or have a spline failure, without those two issues the life of the clutch is as good as most cars, banging the clutch in and out won't do the splines any favour, I reckon it's a hardening issue or rather an inconsistent case hardening issue, that's maybe per batch of shafts hardened or within the batch, and whereas more engagement will spread the load over a larger area, making it less likely to strip, as would increasing the size of shaft and spline by BMW in the first place would do, if they were hard enough then they would strip the clutch plate splines without damage to the input shaft, that's just my thoughts mind!
 
I guess you've worked it out but when we say lift the subframe up - we mean keep the lower front frame bolt through and swivel the whole lot forward around it. I secure the back (that is now up in the air) to the bars with a bunge. It will look a bit like it's been raped when the box is off but it will all be fine.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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