Clutch slip? 1150gs

[colesyboy]

Hello,

I noticed the other day on the A40 out of town that in 4/5/6 if I open the throttle hard then the bike responds as if I have put a bit of pressure of the clutch - ie - power not completely delivered as it normally would.

Been reading the site about similar probs. Before I go off and bawl my eyes out in the corner about my percieved costs of fitting a new clutch, could there be any other explanation....no matter how ludicrous.

Cheers,

Poor person from Ealing

 

[littleredrooster]

Sounds like the clutch is at the end of its life, either through wear or the usual oil-contamination. Strip-down time.

 

[colesyboy]

poo

What do you reckon it might cost to get sorted?

 

[Tarka]

I had that....caused by a defective engine output seal,which contaminated the clutch plate with oil.

Cost me nowt...the bike was under warranty ( used bike under BMW Approved Vehicle Warranty )

I think you`re looking at between £250 and £400 quid.

Might be worth asking Steptoe,the BMW guru.

He`s in London as well.

 

[Steptoe]

Check that the master cylinder isn't full -

As the clutch wears, the hydraulic fluid level rises in the master cylinder, when it's full, this can cause the symptoms of a slipping clutch, as the clutch can't fully engage .

If it is full, take some out, and see if that cures the slipping.

If not, you'll have to put some of that dodgy £40 million into circulation to fix it .

 

[jonnie comet]

Colesyboy.........How many miles on your 1150 ?

...This will no doubt give me something else to worry about..........

 

[colesyboy]

Cheers Neil, will check it out.

The bike just ticked over into 40k miles.

Glad the b*stard thing is doing stuff like this now rather than out in the middle of bleedin nowhere.

 

[colesyboy]

The master cylinder definately isnt full, infact with the bike on centre stand and the handle bars straight (as in you'd be riding straight) there seems to be v little of the stuff in there.....but there definately is some in there. From what I can see its slightly below the circle (I'm guessing the minimum level).

Could this be the cause of the problemo? If it is then I'm a turd.

If true, please say:

"yes, dont worry its the cause of the problem, bleed the whole bleedin system"
"yes you are a turd colesy"

Tremendous.

 

[Tsiklonaut]

Yep, the slip is if it's sensible on faster gears giving lot of throttle.

I know i guy who ride the slipping clutch R1100GS from Nepal to Turkey two up But it was really wore out clutch, not anything else.

But often On 1100 the most common cause is cable freeplay is too small, just needs adjustment on handlebar leveler, but you have hydraulic one on 1150, so check the oil level and if all is OK there. The blown out oil seal can be another reason - have you overoiled (put lot more than allowed 3.7 litres of oil into engine) the engine maybe somehow?
You know how to check the acctual oil level, do you - engine 4-5bars warm, put on sidestand for few minutes so most of oil flows out of cylinders and oil radiator into crankcase, and then on level ground put on centrestand and then check the oil level after half and hour or so to get correct reading, otherwise it shows less then there really are so it's easiliy "overoilable". This excessive overoiling usually blows the seal as i've heard on this forum - the oil pressure get's too high. So check the oil level often, coz some GSes may be oil thirsdy as well, don't let the oil level go below the minimum level as well riding loooooong distances on travelling or you end up with with blocked and dragged written off engine that's even much worse than that blown small engine output shaft seal

If the clutch is worn out U can replace the clutch yourself with Haynes or Clymer manual's help, good way to introduce yourself to GS's bit deeper technical side as well

 

[DrAlf]

Doubt it very much but could be clutch lever just touching the handguard and not allowing the clutch to fully engage. Had it a few times myself. You did say “no matter how ludicrous”

 

[Pukmeister]

When my clutch was slipping, my nearest motorrad dealer quoted £850 to change the clutch on my 1200, apparently there is less labour for the 1150 so figure around £700. If your clutch plates are shagged do it yourself, or give steptoe a call. Lucky for me my reservoir was overfilled, no need to change the clutch plates.

 

[colesyboy]

Cheers all,

Will start saving some of my pennies now, so hopefully can afford to get it sorted....in 2008....sniff.