rockster clutch bleeding

fizzer

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hi folks i could do with a bit of advice please
last few days been servicing the rockster and also done the fluid change in front and rear brakes.
i was also going to do the clutch fluid ,but looking at the back of the gearbox at the clutch slave cylinder i cant find a bleed nipple,any advice on how to replace and bleed the fluid
many thanks
 
There will be two lines going to the slave cylinder. One of them is the bleed line. On the gs1150 it can be traced to the right hand side of the frame. The end of the line is usually inside a little foam cover strapped to the frame.
 
yes mate i followed the pipe and found that behind the rhs rear footpeg,so am i right in thinking there is a bleed nipple inside that foam tube
cheers ian
 
Yes, well sort of. Slide the foam cover out the way and your faced with a black cylinder with a grub screw in one end. Remove the grub screw and you will see a shiney ball bearing in the cylinder. Use a M10 X 1mm bled nipple and screw it in to depress the bearing (its spring loaded). You will find that you have to fully screw it in, then back it out half a turn or so to let the fluid out.
Fill the master cylinder and just pump the fluid through.
If the grub screw is seized, you can remove the whole cylinde assembly and replace it with just a bleed nipple in the end of the bleed tube.
 
Dip the bleed unit in a cup of boiling water before you attempt to remove the grub screw.
 
Once again when checking the hydraulically-operated dry clutch on these bikes, always bear in mind the wisdom of ditching that pesky factory-use-only bleed nipple hidden under the helmet lock where the end of the clutch fluid bleed hose is zip-tied to the frame.
That black-painted bleed nipple was only for use by the factory mechanic when he pressure speed-filled his assembled bikes with clutch fluid, backwards from the end of the bleed hose up to the master cylinder mounted on the left-hand bar.

After that single operation in Berlin, that black nipple is entirely redundant. The bleed hose should be detached from the slave cylinder - ACHTUNG ! Fluid Spill !

And the nipple, called by Berlin a "Werkstück" or 'factory chunk', should be carefully unscrewed in a bench vice with the aid of gentle heat - it's Lock-Tite'ed - and the nipple thrown away, to be replaced by a Speed Bleed fitment at around £20. Thus any future fluid maintenance is made so much simpler. Just like when you maintain your brake fluid.

See Chris Harris, famous BMW bike wrencher :-

http://youtu.be/IrKr1IiOLvk

and to throw light on the delights of your tiny clutch slave cylinder, bought-in by BMW from a pushbike accessories manufacturer called Magura :-

http://youtu.be/xXyx4Dwx7Mw

Now of course all 2015 R-series BMW bikes have a Japanese or Chinese out-sourced WET CLUTCH. Yes, you'll find news of the change mentioned obscurely in the new-design publicity bumf for the bikes if you study it very carefully. Whilst our dear lady Frau Quandt and her cohorts have never, ever acknowledged or remedied the many potentially serious and damaging shortcomings of the original dry clutch design.

Don't you just LOVE the esteemed BMW ??
 
yes all done a very simple task ,i bought the correct nipple from coopers bmw ,it was six quid ,all the way in the half a turn out and thats the impoirtant bit ,the bleed it with new fluid ,easy done, i will keep the nipple should i ever do another
cheers guys :thumb2
 


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