Clutch slipping?

[stu1969]

08 model. I'm on a trip and I'm having some bother. In 5 and sixth gear there is almost no pick up. The engine revs but speed dose not increased accordingly. Acceleration it 1, 2 and 3rd seems ok (for now). I'm setting off again now for another leg to my destination so I'll update shortly.

Oh, I've put 98 petrol in instead of usual 95.

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[G5RJO]

Fuel is a red herring here; it may give a touch more power but not enough to impact on the clutch.

I'd make sure of two things....

Is the clutch fluid reservoir full to the top? It fills as the clutch wears and as I understand it, if it's over full, it will not engage the clutch fully, and it'll slip...

OR, is the clutch lever catching on the hand guard?

See how you go with that first....

Roger.

 

[IrishGaucho]

OR, is the clutch lever catching on the hand guard?
Roger.

Be careful with this, sounds silly and surely I won't happen to you but it seems to be a pretty common problem

Hopefully it's not the clutch going out as it's quite a big job to do on the hexheads where you literally have to split the bike in half.

 

[stu1969]

Fluid fine. Lever not catching

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[er-minio]

I'm following the thread as my '07 adv recently developed the same problem.

 

[JerseyNeil]

It could also be the symptoms of the main drive shaft seal leaking which leaks onto the clutch and causes the clutch to slip. Have a good look at the lower rear of your engine (above where the exhaust curves into 1). if there is any oil seeping out of the joint then that is likely to be the issue. Also a bike in half job.

 

[Pukmeister]

Had this with my 2008 GSA.

Long story short: fitted a new clutch, still did it, expensive at £400+ for parts.

Replaced the clutch fluid with fresh mineral oil, problem sorted.

Mine only slipped in 5th/6th when giving it the beans, now no slipping at all.

 

[IrishGaucho]

What's the milage on the bike bud? Then tend to last a fair bit of usage to be fair but if you are at the 50/60k range that might give you some clues too...

 

[er-minio]

Mine only slipped in 5th/6th when giving it the beans, now no slipping at all.

Mine started there, but now in the city I can make it slip in 4th (low revs, etc).
Weirdly, I was in Spain this easter with zero problems at all.

My bike is at 51k miles, but the clutch was already replace at around 25k miles due to other damage the bike suffered at the time.
I used it a lot in London, but I cannot understand how I could have "finished" a clutch in so little time/distance.

My other boxers I went over 60k miles with original clutches.

 

[stu1969]

It could also be the symptoms of the main drive shaft seal leaking which leaks onto the clutch and causes the clutch to slip. Have a good look at the lower rear of your engine (above where the exhaust curves into 1). if there is any oil seeping out of the joint then that is likely to be the issue. Also a bike in half job.

Thanks

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[stu1969]

45k on the bike had a clutch around 30k or so.
I ride very enthusiastically but even so it's ridiculous if it is the clutch.

Ah, nothing I can do. Waiting to hear what way I'm going to be repatriated

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[stu1969]

Could be worse I could be in the middle of nowhere, as it is I'm in a McDonalds warm and dry

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[ferguscawley]

Time to split the bike I reckon

 

[Pukmeister]

As Steptoe has said here in the past, dont ride the clutch too much the trick is to get it engaged asap. Some GS clutches can be wrecked in relatively few miles, especially if abused (not saying thats you btw).

For some reason it seems 2008 GSA's are somehow more prone to slipping clutches (based on forum anecdotal tales), I never found out why.

I did my clutch at about 10k, it was a bit glazed but friction surface hardly worn, Now on 50k and still good. (I also burnished the dry input shaft splines with a little Moly60 paste which may have helped.)

Based on my own hindsight, I would only split the bike as a last resort. Its cheap enough at about a tenner to buy some mineral hydraulic fluid like LHM, Vitamol V10 or Magura Royal Blood and flush/replace the clutch fluid first and see what happens.

 

[er-minio]

For some reason it seems 2008 GSA's are somehow more prone to slipping clutches (based on forum anecdotal tales), I never found out why.

I think, in some cases, it could be due to the gears. First, second.

In city use, compared to my other boxers (R1150R, R1100S, HP2S) the first gear on the GSA is very short, of course. I am very ashamed of fucking up a clutch this quickly , so I was trying to understand what I did wrong. I observed that I tend to start (green lights) and put the bike almost immediately in second gear... only for the bloody minicab in front of me not accelerating beyond 5mph... so I either engage the clutch again in first gear or tend to drag it in second gear. Multiply this for hundreds of times a day (I've used the bike a lot in London traffic)...

I never had the same issue with my previous bikes (not mentioning the HP2S as within its first 2 gears it can do everything the GSA can do with six) as they have longer gearing. So with those one I would have probably, at low speeds, ridden a bit more in first gear and without playing with the clutch.

Hope OP gets home ok!

 

[Pukmeister]

Never thought of that, FWIW I have the enduro gearbox with lower ratios. Thing is I've done 35+ K since solving it without a repeat issue, gearbox hasn't changed.

 

[er-minio]

Yeah, makes sense.
I forgot to add: that is what I observed on myself. I worded my post poorly. I don't blame the gearbox, but my use of the clutch in traffic compared to how I rode other boxers with slightly longer gears.
The fault is obviously mine, not the bike's.

 

[stu1969]

Me and my bike have been reunited. Day off tomorrow so a good clean and a poke round in the morning. My money is on the drive shaft bearing. I'm grateful for the good advice.

PS What's it likely to cost for a new clutch (not by BMW), ball park? Thanks

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[younger06]

A grand.

Sent from a U11

 

[Pukmeister]

What's it likely to cost for a new clutch (not by BMW), ball park?

When I replaced mine myself, the full clutch kit alone was about £430 from BMW.

They have a monopoly as nobody else makes/sells clutches directly for the hexheads.