If your LC clutch feels grabby and unpredictable, try this.

[Nick V]

On and off since I bought it, I thought that the clutch on my 2013 R1200GS LC must have been roasted by a wheelie merchant. The clutch action and engagement point were never predictable, and the clutch would sometimes 'grab' when pulling away from junctions, leaving me stalled.

Two days ago, I noticed by chance that when I operated the clutch lever, the GRP portion that actuates the lever pushrod was moving independently of the aluminium lever. I pulled the lever off the bike, and found what you see in the attachments.
Basically, the GRP pushrod actuator has split in two. When the lever was operated, a certain amount of rotational movement was being 'taken up' by whatever free space there was for the actuator to move within. That meant there was far too much free play before the clutch master cylinder piston was being actuated. That translated into the clutch disengaging only when the lever was hard up against the handgrip.

1x good second-hand lever later, and the clutch feels smooth and utterly predictable. I'm a happy man.

But once again, it raises questions about BMW's current quality standards.

 

[duckspeed]

To my mind bits of plastic have no place in a clutch actuation system

 

[dogmaboy]

Thankyou

Nick v once again you have given us some great information,keep it up,always loot forward to your notes,cheers dogma boy

 

[Nick V]

To my mind bits of plastic have no place in a clutch actuation system

It's not so much the plastic, as the way it was used.
It looks like the pushrod actuator split along a weak point that found its way into the design, but shouldn't have.
What we're looking at here is polyacetate reinforced with fibreglass. It's very strong if it's in big chunks, and gram-for-gram, it's probably cheaper than aluminium. But it doesn't tolerate bending loads very well if it's moulded in thin sections.

 

[Nick V]

The saga continues...

My LC has been off the road for quite a bit, as the clutch feel started deteriorating again.
I'm beginning to think (but am trying not to) that the combination of high mileage (over 80 000 Km now) and the slipper mechanism are finally bringing the clutch plates to the end of their usable life.

I want to pull out and inspect the clutch pack this weekend, and see what's what. Luckily, unlike the oil-cooled bikes, I don't have to split the bike in half for that.
...No, wait... that's what I had to do to get to the alternator.
*Groan*

The bad news, my contact tells me, is that a new set of genuine plates (the 'Lamellar package', as it's called by BMW) is around R6 000.

The good news is that I never take news like that lying down.
I know that wet clutches are used in all sorts of industrial applications, and that re-lining services do exist.
I rang two such firms today, asking them if it would be possible to re-line the BMW clutch plates. "No worries", says they. "All we need to quote you are the outside and inside diameters of the friction facings, and the original thickness of the friction material."
"A ballpark figure?" asks I. "Roughly R50 per plate", says they.

Watch this space...

 

[Neil W]

Exactly Ford tried it years ago in the self adjusting cable mechanism of diesel Fiestas, after a few miles you would pull up and dip the clutch, instead of disengaging the pedal would make a banging noise and go straight to the floor and the car would continue to drive

To my mind bits of plastic have no place in a clutch actuation system

 

[Nick V]

Info needed - positive Karma guaranteed.

Does anyone know what the specified wear limit is for the LC clutch drive plates and driven plates?

 

[MrMcNamara]

The saga continues...

My LC has been off the road for quite a bit, as the clutch feel started deteriorating again.
I'm beginning to think (but am trying not to) that the combination of high mileage (over 80 000 Km now) and the slipper mechanism are finally bringing the clutch plates to the end of their usable life.

I want to pull out and inspect the clutch pack this weekend, and see what's what. Luckily, unlike the oil-cooled bikes, I don't have to split the bike in half for that.
...No, wait... that's what I had to do to get to the alternator.
*Groan*

The bad news, my contact tells me, is that a new set of genuine plates (the 'Lamellar package', as it's called by BMW) is around R6 000.

The good news is that I never take news like that lying down.
I know that wet clutches are used in all sorts of industrial applications, and that re-lining services do exist.
I rang two such firms today, asking them if it would be possible to re-line the BMW clutch plates. "No worries", says they. "All we need to quote you are the outside and inside diameters of the friction facings, and the original thickness of the friction material."
"A ballpark figure?" asks I. "Roughly R50 per plate", says they.

Watch this space...

I have a new spare set of plates if you want them for a reasonable cost? just mail me direct if you do?

 

[Nick V]

Hi Mr Mac!

I had a close look at the clutch pack last night. Confusingly, all the driven and drive plates look to be in very good order, with minimal wear.
There's one more thing I want to try before I start looking at sourcing new plates. Can I ask you a favour? Would you mind stacking that spare set of driven and drive plates in the order in which they'd normally go into the clutch, and measuring the collective thickness of the whole clutch pack for me?

 

[Stevie4scoops]

I had clutch issues with my GSLC which was replaced under guarantee. Cotswold told me that a modified oil feed pipe had also been fitted and it's now much better. The problem I had was that it became almost impossible to change gear smoothly and most times I changed gear, I felt a horrible shock through the gear change. I will check my clutch leaver because mine often feels as if it's lost some pressure between pulling the leaver in and letting it out.

 

[Nick V]

The problem I had was that it became almost impossible to change gear smoothly and most times I changed gear, I felt a horrible shock through the gear change.

I had a chat with my BMW Motorrad contact last night.
He tells me that some of the pre-2014 bikes had a known issue with unpredictable clutch feel, 'grabby'-feeling clutches, pulsations coming through the clutch lever under throttle reversals, clacking, crunching and other such nasties.

He says the problem was finally pinned down to excessive end-float on the gearbox input shaft (on which the clutch basket is mounted).
If this is so, what's happening is that torque reversals (such as shifts from forward drive to engine braking) cause the input shaft to move back and forth. But because the shaft (and therefore the whole clutch assembly) is moving longitudinally in relation to the clutch pushrod and clutch release cylinder, the clutch engagement point is going to change every time the shaft moves.

If this is actually the root cause of it, it means three things:
1. That there's nothing that can be done without removing the gearbox and limiting the shaft's end float with some kind of thrust washer.
2. It would also mean that my whole theory about the clutch slipper mechanism being the culprit was a wild goose chase.
3. Practically, there's nothing that can be done. The bike is way past the end of it's warranty period and its mileage is quite high. So I guess I'd just have to live with it.

I will check my clutch leaver because mine often feels as if it's lost some pressure between pulling the leaver in and letting it out.

If the clutch lever is okay, try bleeding the clutch.
It IS possible to get to the release cylinder bleed nipple without removing the starter motor (I was able to get a spanner between the swingarm pivot and the frame), but it's a much bigger PITA than on the '04 to '12 bikes.

 

[Tommy H]

Nick V, I was searching online regarding the clutch problem I’m having and this is only place I found that describes my problem (pulsations coming through the clutch lever under throttle reversals).
Also, during throttle reversals, clutch lever pulls all the way in before it releases the clutch.
Did you ever get this problem resolved? What was the solution?
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Nick V]

Did you ever get this problem resolved? What was the solution?

Hi Tommy,

To answer your questions in order:
- Nope.
- As I said in my previous post, fixing this problem would need disassembly of the gearbox and installation of a thrust washer.

At the moment, I'm not riding my LC. I've reverted to a 2010 R1200GS Adventure.