What mileage for a 1200 clutch ?

[clive916]

Anyone had to have a clutch replaced yet ? I'm wondering what sort of mileage to expect. This is my 1st single,dry plate clutch bike and it's been stinking a bit while riding lately. Admittedly, it was 2 up with a mass of luggage so did have some grief. 17,000 miles on the clock. Under normal riding it's fine.

Cheers,
Clive E

 

[Dave Price]

Anyone had to have a clutch replaced yet ? I'm wondering what sort of mileage to expect. This is my 1st single,dry plate clutch bike and it's been stinking a bit while riding lately. Admittedly, it was 2 up with a mass of luggage so did have some grief. 17,000 miles on the clock. Under normal riding it's fine.

Cheers,
Clive E

They smell regardless, due to the eco friendly friction material and being open to the atmosphere. BMW dry single plate clutches normally wear better than multi plate wet clutches. Should last the life of the bike if you're carefull in normal road use.

 

[Raindancer]

1200 GS Clutch

Anyone had to have a clutch replaced yet ? I'm wondering what sort of mileage to expect. This is my 1st single,dry plate clutch bike and it's been stinking a bit while riding lately. Admittedly, it was 2 up with a mass of luggage so did have some grief. 17,000 miles on the clock. Under normal riding it's fine.

Cheers,
Clive E

Just a thought.......Is it possible your clutch is draggging caused by the clutch lever catching on the inside of the handguard. Checked mine and it was ...........readjusted hand guard by moving it to a free-up position and tightened the handlebar end bolt.

Regards

 

[clive916]

Thanks Dave, that's put my mind at rest and thanks for the tip Raindancer. The lever isn't snagging. It was just the smell when moving off under a massive load, uphill a couple of times that had me concerned, especially as I was in Italy at the time.

All the best,
Clive E.

 

[birdseye]

Anyone had to have a clutch replaced yet ? I'm wondering what sort of mileage to expect. This is my 1st single,dry plate clutch bike and it's been stinking a bit while riding lately. Admittedly, it was 2 up with a mass of luggage so did have some grief. 17,000 miles on the clock. Under normal riding it's fine.

Cheers,
Clive E

How long is a piece of string? Depends entirely on how you use the clutch. I've never yet had to replace one in a car, but the higher first gear in the bike will cause more slip, particularly with a heavy load.

 

[drdata]

How long is a piece of string?.

Twice the distance from the center to either end.

 

[Alex]

On a 1150GS it used to be anything between 70,000kms and 100,000 kms or so my dealer tells me. My 95,000kms bike still has the original clutch in it and doesn't seem ready to give up yet.

 

[IanC]

I was talking to Simon Pavey at the Off-Road Skills Course about this, as I'd not really liked slipping my clutch previously because of the nasty smell - they have you doing it all the time there on their bikes.

They'd not had any problems (then!), nor I think on previous 1150's. I think the difference is that on a dry clutch there's nothing (oil) to contain the stink, as there is in a wet one. Funnily also, the smell seems to diminish with use.

I wouldn't worry about it - although I see Touratech do a ceramic one, but I suspect they're just selling more gear to people who worry too much!

 

[CitiZen]

Well.......

On my bike the clutch has started to slip @ just 6K miles. Lots of town work & daily use, but I'm still suprised.

3 years on a Yamaha Fazer 600 & the clutch was fine when I sold it.

Suprised I was, needless to say 1 warranty claim coming up for BMVV.

I still love the bike though & hopefully the love affair will continue after the clutch is sorted.

I got used to the smell, but the squealy brakes are kinda annoying.

Happy riding.

 

[Mouse]

3 years on a Yamaha Fazer 600 & the clutch was fine when I sold it.

I had a Fazer for 5 years, covered 55,000 miles and it never, ever missed a beat. Luckily nor has my GS so far, but you do realise that the legendary BMW build quality is just that - ie a legend.

 

[Pukmeister]

I got a Thundercat, which was the donor of mechanical bits for the Fazer, and developed from a long line of FZR/YZF models (including race bikes). Never missed a beat in 46,000 miles and still damned quick. Better build quality than my GS except for the plastics. Coming up for seven years old and still looks/handles/stops like new (thanks to TLC and regular spannering).

Those GS dry clutches stink like hell when offroading, but seem to keep working OK despite the smell. Don't worry about it unless they keep slipping when normal riding.

 

[IanC]

CitiZen, are you sure the handguard isn't hitting the lever? I was really p****d off with mine, but fortunately realised the problem before shouting too loudly!

 

[CitiZen]

Shouting too Loud

Fekity feck, I was shutting too loud, flippin clutch lever was rubbing on the handguard.

I am however, still a bit worried about the movement of the biting point on the clutch, which has continued to move in the bad direction.

Bump

Cheers

 

[Mouse]

Shouldn't a hydraulic clutch be self adjusting, as the friction plate wears?

If the biting point is really moving, it makes me suspect something else may be wrong. My bike had to have the clutch master cylinder replaced (under warranty) because a seal had failed - maybe if this has happened in a minor way it would cause the effects you are seeing?

 

[GSmonkey]

17.5k with a lot of london commuting and still handles the traffic light GP well

 

[CitiZen]

Shouldn't a hydraulic clutch be self adjusting, as the friction plate wears?

If the biting point is really moving, it makes me suspect something else may be wrong. My bike had to have the clutch master cylinder replaced (under warranty) because a seal had failed - maybe if this has happened in a minor way it would cause the effects you are seeing?

You'd hope that it was self adjusting!

Not wanting to take apart something I don't implicitly understand, I'll let BMVV have a look.

Safe riding

 

[GSmonkey]

Funnily enough, I checked my clutch lever last night when parking up.....it two was catching on the hand guard, which had rotated downwards. It wasn't depressing the lever much, but there was contact. Its certainly worth checking.

 

[andrewh]

16,000 miles, 10 months. Clutch plate worn down to the rivets.
It was slipping in 6th from about 14,000 miles.
My mileage is almost all commuting into London in heavy traffic, so I guess it gets a lot of use. Still seems like a short life for a clutch though.
This is a non warranty repair btw so will be about £600 apparently.

 

[Mouse]

Non warranty my arse. Unless you are totally ham fisted there's no way a clutch should wear out in that distance. Kick up a bloody big fuss, clearly not fit for purpose etc etc.

 

[andrewh]

Hmm, maybe I have my answer and I am in fact totally ham fisted
They told me in advance it would be only under warranty if it was slipping because of oil leakage so it may be tricky to get any result there. Maybe I should complain to BMW direct.