Anyone have a clutch arm break

[wellsy]

Am I lucky or unlucky to have this happen

it happened at the end of my road and I was able to free wheel all the way to my drive, it could have happened a couple of hundred mile ago in the Picos

Has anyone seen it before and any ideas how easy it it to replace , I've not had a look yet.

Its an 1100

 

[mike wright]

Easy to replace ...not had it happen but seen it before. Try motobins

 

[Steptoe]

Easy to replace ...

I take it you've never had to replace one.

It happens enough that if i were taking an 1100 abroad i'd take a spare with me.

 

[shready]

It happens enough that if i were taking an 1100 abroad i'd take a spare with me.

He was more worried about his final drive bearing going to worry about that

 

[Vern]

I've broken two,and they are absolute TWATS to replace.I know you can do it with the swing arm in place,but I've never managed to do it.

And yes,I carry a spare one all the time,at over £110 a throw it's an expensive piece of luggage to cart around.

Last one I bought was from BVM and they have only ever sold two,both to me unfortunatley

 

[Gecko]

Errr yup..... fun fixing isn't it

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=108417&highlight=actuator

 

[Gecko]

Easy to replace ...not had it happen but seen it before. Try motobins

Yes, easy to replace - just phone motobins and they'll send you one. Fitting it however is another story

 

[mike wright]

Not so easy after all then.

 

[D6]

pm ugg think he has one, if e dnt reply,(diky computor) pm me an ill ask im,

 

[MattW]

Errr yup..... fun fixing isn't it

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=108417&highlight=actuator

Cool - I was going to ask what the technique was (the workshop manual just says take the swingarm off). Removing the swingarm holds no fear for me (done that more than enough over the last couple of months ) but not a job I'd fancy by the roadside. I'm going to keep my eyes open for a second hand spare actuator arm to keep handy - my '94's clutch arm is about as old as they get

 

[wellsy]

Excellent , thanks for the advise.
Although I didn't expect it to be that expensive.

I'm just glad I didn't know they failed before we went away.

 

[davegs]

Clutch arm

They seize up thats why they go, real long job replacing it though and you can't get to it properly to lube it either.

 

[MattW]

Guess I should have lubed mine when I had the swingarm off last month then

 

[wellsy]

Not sure if it is a lube thing or just a fracture as its cast.

Oddbins didn't have one, opps Motobins, and they don't do new ones.
So I got one fromm Motorworks £23 plus etc with 6 month guarantee.

 

[shready]

Not sure if it is a lube thing or just a fracture as its cast.

Oddbins didn't have one, opps Motobins, and they don't do new ones.
So I got one fromm Motorworks £23 plus etc with 6 month guarantee.

Nice one Rich, can we see before and after pics of your knuckles please?

You in the Passat today?

 

[Vern]

They don't sieze up at all,they just break,all on their own.The bearings on mine were both perfect,in fact,the first one came with the bearing fitted,and the second one didn't,so I just used it again.I've still got mine some where,because I'm going to make a stainless one for myself one day.

 

[Hagg]

Hi, just had mine replaced by local bike mechanic and I didn't believe they cost over £100 for the arm but I do now! In all it cost me over £250 to repair it. And i had to wait 4 hrs by the roadside for recovery to arrive, then it took nearly 3 weeks to get fixed! Don't know why BMW can't make them so they don't snap so easy!

 

[MattW]

Hi, just had mine replaced by local bike mechanic and I didn't believe they cost over £100 for the arm but I do now! In all it cost me over £250 to repair it. And i had to wait 4 hrs by the roadside for recovery to arrive, then it took nearly 3 weeks to get fixed! Don't know why BMW can't make them so they don't snap so easy!

As others have said, looks like they fail because they're a casting - seems to be a weak point where the adjuster bolt goes through the casting. Forged or fabricated (from stainless 'eh Vern? - put me down for one if you ever go into production ) would be much stronger but more expensive (bean counters designing bikes - nothing new there).

£100 - £150 labour is probably fair if the mechanic did it by removing the swingarm (which is the correct method 'by the book') - there's probably 3 hours labour in it, especially if it's the first time the swingarm / paralever bearings have been separated - (you spend quite a while sitting there with a heat gun softening loctite and then cleaning the bleedin' stuff off pivot pinions).

 

[davegs]

Clutch arms

They don't sieze up at all,they just break,all on their own.The bearings on mine were both perfect,in fact,the first one came with the bearing fitted,and the second one didn't,so I just used it again.I've still got mine some where,because I'm going to make a stainless one for myself one day.

Brians certainly seized up kept pulling the nipples from new clutch cables, we
had to strip the back end to replace and found the arm / pivot seized almost solid. Very long job for such a simple thing so if you've got the back off lube the pivot while your at it. I can't see any reason for it to break in normal use
unless extra load put on it I.E seizure, the same thing happend to my K 1100 but did not break.
Dave gs.

 

[wellsy]

Well Motorworks as usual did an immediate despatch and I received it on Thursday.

Here is the new arm , and old arm. It wasn't seized and moved freely so must have been a stress fracture in the casting. My bike, I'm starting to think had a dodgy batch of alloy as the rear luggage rack has also cracked!

In all it took me about an hour but I have to say it was the most difficult job I have ever done. And I'm way past level 2 on my meccano set.

I removed the rear shock to get some access and could have done with a small boy. My small daughter wouldn't get her hands dirty.
Its a very fiddly job, it could take 2 seconds to get the bolt back in or 2+ hours, I didn't think at one point it was going to be possible.

But it was

Tools used:
14mm, 15mm spanners for shock, 13mm spanner for arm bolt, 13mm long socket to readjust the clutch.
Mechanical Knouce:
1
Fiddlyness:
10