Clacks , Crunches, or cant get Neutral

Clutch Fluid

Hi;

My problem has been of diffciulty in getting the bike in neutral (from 1st gear).

After reading one of these posts in GSOPT I got curious and went to check the level fluid on my LC. Having seen the pictures posted I first place a rag to catch any spilled fluid. I am glad I did as as soon as staretd to loosen up the screws, fluid started leaking. If you plan to do this on your bike, make sure you place a rag under the reservoir !

After removing some fluid, I left it at mid reservoir level, I closed it and cleaned it throughly using some alcohol. Keep in mind that brake fluid, which is about the same used in the clutch (hidraulic fluid) is highly corrosive and if left on painted surfaces it will remove the paint !

I went for a ride and must say I am IMPRESSED ate the improovement. After a while I started to count how many times I put the bike from 1st into neutral at stoplights. On about 60 counts, it went smooooooothly 52 times, of the other 8, 5 times the lever was a bit harder but went into neutral. The remaining 3 it went staright into second gear. Overall I would say it was a 20 to 30% improovement. I also found out that on the occasions when the lever becomes hard to pull up, a gas blip ( up to some 3K rpm ) makes it go smoothly into neutral.

Overall I find these statistics quite similar from what I recall my 3 previous GSs were.

To say I am really happy with these results is the understatement of the year !

Thanks for really GREAT tip !!!

Andre
 
Andre, fortunately, the fluid used in the GS-W clutch master cylinder is not like brake fluid. Instead it is a mineral oil. It is not supposed to eat paint and finishes like brake fluid does, so as long as you've wiped it clean, you should be ok.
 
Emoto said:
Andre, fortunately, the fluid used in the GS-W clutch master cylinder is not like brake fluid. Instead it is a mineral oil. It is not supposed to eat paint and finishes like brake fluid does, so as long as you've wiped it clean, you should be ok.
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Emoto;

Thanks for the info. I didn't know that. Any way I feel safer protecting the painted surfaces from it; overzealous ? perhaps, but its so easy to protect it with a rag that I rather not risk it.

Andre
 
ATG said:
Emoto;

Thanks for the info. I didn't know that. Any way I feel safer protecting the painted surfaces from it; overzealous ? perhaps, but its so easy to protect it with a rag that I rather not risk it.

Andre
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Me too. No reason to take chances. :thumb
 
Seems to be that you lot have sorted the problem, but how the hell do they get so much oil in the reservoir ?

Maybe its backed filled some how from a bleed point ?

Might buy one now, where did i put my piggy bank :D
 
DING-DONG said:
And we have a breed of no it all fooking igiots that don't even own a wc they should do one back to the pensioners section.
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That's it? That's the best response you've got? Pathetic!
You'd better stay way from the 1100/1150 section!
 
Oilhead Russ said:
Check your Front brake master cylinder too. my clutch master cylinder was the same as yours, so I decided to check the front brake master cylinder & found it to be the same.



Just a thought...I wonder is this why the rear pads are wearing out quickly as the fluid warms & expands the pressure cant go anywhere & pushes the brake pistons out slightly?
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Is anyone having problems getting there master cylinder reservoir lid from weeping fluid slightly after you have removed the cap & lowered the level.
 
red1 said:
That's it? That's the best response you've got? Pathetic!
You'd better stay way from the 1100/1150 section!
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No mate, we'll welcome him with open arms :green gri

Time to blank the toilet section from view me thinks:rolleyes:
 
Would be interesting to see how this "fix" progresses, especially if in a few weeks time the clutch starts to play up again, which would then suggest "airlock" therefore the system has an air leak which is inducing overfill syndrome :nenau
 
gear changes

Hi ,did mine two weeks ago but made no difference still terrible gear changes . same though was full to brim ,must be filled via the bleed nipple on slave cylinder ,
 
Not sure if this helps but... I've just checked my clutch flluid level, undid the four screws and got oil weeping out. Lifted the cover and found oil in what should be the dry side of the diaphragm. Again not much.

I've wicked some oil out, cleaned and replaced the diaphragm and cover.

I'm wondering why there is no sight glass as per the brake master cylinder and I also note there is a vent on the inner facing face of the cover so if the reservoir were over filled it should vent there.

I also went through the same process as per the initial video in the thread and I'm not getting any where near the same level of clunks.

I picked my bike up on the 2nd march so it's an early one and I think like a couple of others (engineer being one) the clutch and gearbox is no problem.
 
Decreased the clutch fluid as described. Very, very slight improvement, if any.
Downside is now down shifting tend to be clunky which wasn't an issue before

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
 
Well, at least it's an evidence that the level of break fluid has somehow influence on shifting. Right now I am not daring to decrease the fluid on my machine but something pushes me towards my garage to test it :-)
Actually I think that can't be the solution as BMW would have fitted a control glass in the reservoir if there could be an upper or lower level. It can just be sort of an compromise.
But I am curious how this "solution" proceeds.
 
is it possible the oil is at the right level, but overflows when the reservoir is opened because it is being pressured by the diaphragm?

seem odd that BMW would get it wrong on every bike :eek
 
Engineer said:
Not true! - the vast majority of complaints have come from the newbies who have limited experience of bikes in general.
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My bike is one of the two that had the revised push rod. The fix was no magic bullet.
I know that the above comment referred to "the vast majority are newbies"
Well I don't know if I am a newbie, I have been riding for nearly 50yrs, and have had 4GSs; so I don't think that comment holds water and it certainly does not help this discussion.
 
Checked my reservoir today and it wasn't filled to the brim. So my crunches/drag isn't related to overfilling the reservoir. Bit of a disappointment really, I want it fixed.
Still, like I said before BMW at Garmisch said that they are waiting for new parts to be delivered to BMW that will solve the problem which is due to too much oil on the clutch plates. So anyone who posts that there isn't a problem had better tell BMW they are wasting their time. As if BMW would spend a fortune trying to solve an imaginary problem......
I just hope it's not the dreaded modified clutch push rod which has failed to fix it.
I'm still convinced the clutch slave cylinder needs to be replaced by one with a slightly smaller bore to separate the clutch plates more for a given lever movement. We shall see.
I thought about bleeding any air out of the system via the bleed nipple down at the slave cylinder but hell, you can just about see it let alone get at it. I think they start with the nipple and build the bike around it. This is my second pet theory that if there's air in the system lever movement won't move the slave cylinder as far and if the bleed nipple is difficult to get at then maybe bleeding the system is not done as well as for example on my Ducati which is staring at me on the side of the engine, which by the way has a perfect clutch action, dry though. I may talk to my dealer to ask them to bleed the system since I can't get at it.
 
Well, as a inexperienced newbie to bm's of 34 years riding covering singles, parallel twins, 2 stroke V4s, inline 4s and V twins all I can say is that the gearbox is for whatever reason is crap.

The way mine bangs and crunches into the first 3 gears is frankly embarrassing. I've reduced the level in the master cylinder and this has improved it a little going up the box but coming down seems a little worse, so it seems it's not a universal fix. Last week changing from 2nd to 1st at a roundabout it went into neutral and wouldn't come out, I had to paddle it to the side of the road and stamp on it till it went into 1st so I could get going again, oh how I laughed.

Perhaps if bmw took the engine of the bench during their much lauded 1 million ks of testing and rode the thing farther than around the block or to and from the schnell imbus they would have discovered this as well.

I dont give a stuff if this is a new model, the plain and simple fact is that it should not have been launched with this problem, this is 2013 not the 80's.
Could you imagine Clarkson on a rant if this was a new 3 series.

I thought that this was going to be a keeper but the way things are going if bmw don't come up with a solution, I can see another V twin coming and its going to be painted orange.
Frustrated? you bet.
 
SMB said:
My bike is one of the two that had the revised push rod. The fix was no magic bullet.
I know that the above comment referred to "the vast majority are newbies"
Well I don't know if I am a newbie, I have been riding for nearly 50yrs, and have had 4GSs; so I don't think that comment holds water and it certainly does not help this discussion.
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My bike is getting the pushrod bm confirmed they are working on the part following feedback and the new pushrod is not listed yet, so if my dealer ordered the existing part no I'd get the same rod that my bike has i asked if all the bikes being built now are getting this mod and they confirmed the modified rod will go into the 2014 builds as standard, so i feel they'll be a few more cases of the above yet, I'm now happy to wait for the bike to be fixed as they have provided me with an identical bike only issue is i have a bit of OCD and don't want my bike marked in any way from them pulling it to bits, but than again my dealer knows ill moan like fook if it is.
 
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