Pulling the gearbox - 1100RT

Ok. Had another go today. First I dismantled the clutch and placed the friction plate over the gbox input shaft, just in case ... Dropped on a treat. Centred the clutch with pushrod and socket. Then tried again after removing the guide studs. Got the splines engaged but the box would not fit fully. About a centimetre short before resistance set in. It occurs that the push rod spring and cap at the other end of the push rod may be providing sufficient resistance? Should I try to draw on the box using the bolts at the dowels? Should the actuating rod , spring, bellows etc be removed before fitting the gear box?

I could of course remove the push rod and try a temp fit without it and see if the box fits. May do that after finishing this cuppa and a few biccies.

Meantime, any thoughts from the oracle?

I'm not the oracle but have you fully backed off the clutch release arm adjuster?

My box fitted back on with the pushrod / release bearing / clutch arm etc in place. It took a bit of rubber mallet persuasion to seat it onto the dowels but this was only a bit of stickiness. I wouldn't try to draw it on using the bolts - a good chance of breaking something if there's something amiss..
 
Are you to the point of dowels beginning to engage or not yet? If they are dowels then couple of bolts on each side and feel should be enough to get it in there. Otherwise something is not right (with a push-rod or throw out bearing since that is the only thing left)
 
Thanks guys. I may be on the home stretch now. The input shaft is now engaged in the friction plate. There is an even gap of around 1cm around the crankcase / gearbox and I have drawn the gearbox forward with the bolts until the dowels are about to engage. I've also taken the front pulley cover off and checked that the crankshaft and flywheel are rotating freely by turning the crank at the pulley. It is. Also put the gearbox in gear and checked that the gearbox output shaft is rotating with the crank. It is.

So now, it should be only a matter of judicious use of the rubber mallet and gearbox bolts.

Sheesh! What a palaver!
 
is the big loop of earth cable under the battery tray catching the wee rubber battery tray mount?

Nope. Used a tyre lever to push it up out of the way. It is very awkwardly placed though. Yet another infuriating BMW design glitch.
 
Nope. Used a tyre lever to push it up out of the way. It is very awkwardly placed though. Yet another infuriating BMW design glitch.

It is not a glitch it is a failsafe to hold the transmission in if all the bolts fall out.:thumb
 
Rubber hammer 1. BMW gearbox 0.

Box now snugly installed and torqued to 22nm (surprisingly low really) as per BMW manual. Cable re-fitted and adjustment carried out as per manual: 12mm of adjuster thread at lever and 7mm of cable showing between hbar lever and stock adjusted via adjuster at the back of the gearbox.
 
Rubber hammer 1. BMW gearbox 0.

Box now snugly installed and torqued to 22nm (surprisingly low really) as per BMW manual. Cable re-fitted and adjustment carried out as per manual: 12mm of adjuster thread at lever and 7mm of cable showing between hbar lever and stock adjusted via adjuster at the back of the gearbox.

Excellent :thumb

I thought the same about the bolt torques - doesn't seem much when it's holding two halves of the bike together :D
 
Rubber hammer 1. BMW gearbox 0.

Box now snugly installed and torqued to 22nm (surprisingly low really) as per BMW manual. Cable re-fitted and adjustment carried out as per manual: 12mm of adjuster thread at lever and 7mm of cable showing between hbar lever and stock adjusted via adjuster at the back of the gearbox.

Rubber hammer .... atts my boy !!
 
That's the swing arm and final drive back on. Phased the shaft by using a long tipp ex line as per Dr Farkoff's suggestion above. However, getting the final drive back on was a PITA. The angle of the shaft lying on the swing arm floor (and me sitting on the lock up floor!) and the final drive input shaft did not help. Finally used a lightly inflated party balloon as a prop for the shaft. A couple more tries and in it went. Feel free to call me a balloon but I reckon it will pop and lie harmlessly on the swing arm floor.

Now available for children's parties and bar Mitzvahs!
 
And the bike is now up and running!

Fitted the tank using two mole wrenches to clamp the fuel pipes shut - just in case. Used the old clamps and no leaks with ignition on.

Foot peg mounts replaced and the first glitches - will need to adjust the gear lever as I replaced the actuating lever at the gearbox at too shallow an angle. On the other side, the rear brake light switch needs replaced correctly. I completely forgot about it! The bike ticks over nicely and the rattle from the gearbox has completely disappeared. Thanks Bob!

Final step tomorrow will be to replace the rear brake caliper and final drive boot with a new zip tie. Why the feck do BMW use a cheapo plastic tie when they used metal clamps on the earlier Ks and Rs???? :rob

After that, nipping and tucking and book an MOT for the end of the week and the job is done.

So, it's the ...

 
pulling the gearbox

Altho' this is a 6-month-old post, perhaps it's worth mentioning a word of advice for those of us with the dad-blasted, gold-durned HYDRAULIC clutch actuation with its paltry 24mm Magura slave cylinder tucked inaccessibly behind the gearbox, a tiny cylinder that so easily dies and splurges DOT4 all over the friction plate .....Another example of Berlin's constant desire to add further unnecessary complications to the operating systems of our Beemers. What the f$ck was wrong with a cable-operated clutch so long as the lever free-play was maintained ? ? ?

So with the hydro-clutch models, the worst thing to do when sweltering in a red-light or turn-across queue..... is to sit there waiting in first gear with the clutch lever pulled in. When doing that, the clutch actuation push-rod that passes through the gearbox is sitting in the end of the tiny bearing at the mouth of the Magura, and spinning it at engine revs speed, gradually heating up the unit and contributing towards its early demise.
ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS knock into NEUTRAL before swiftly clicking into first and roaring away when the opportunity arises. Thus premature wear of the Magura bearing is reduced.
See Chris Harris:-
www.voiceoversbysykes.com/downloads/ChrisHclutchSlaveBearingFailure.mp4

Thanks to celeb0001 for the tip...and for the hint to get rid of the equally gold-durned OEM air-box and go for UNI foam air filters on each throttle body, thus making a nice alternative space for the battery that means next time you need to top it up you don't have to spend an hour tearing off the fuel deposito.

AL in s.e. Spain
 
So with the hydro-clutch models, the worst thing to do when sweltering in a red-light or turn-across queue..... is to sit there waiting in first gear with the clutch lever pulled in. When doing that, the clutch actuation push-rod that passes through the gearbox is sitting in the end of the tiny bearing at the mouth of the Magura, and spinning it at engine revs speed, gradually heating up the unit and contributing towards its early demise.
ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS knock into NEUTRAL before swiftly clicking into first and roaring away when the opportunity arises. Thus premature wear of the Magura bearing is reduced.
See Chris Harris:-
www.voiceoversbysykes.com/downloads/ChrisHclutchSlaveBearingFailure.mp4

This applies to all dry clutch BMW bikes, as i've posted since first being on ukgser back in 2003...., with a cable or hydraulic operated clutch from 1969 to 2012 .
They all have tiny bearings in the clutch thrust pistons (except the airheads from 1981 1984).
 
I must mention that I actually first read about not holding the clutch lever in and about proper shifting of BMW transmissions from one of Steptoe's old posts.
Truth be told.
 
Pulling the Gearbox

Amazed to read in the relevant Haynes manual that they recommend for clutch access that the entire rear frame be removed, not just pivotted and swung up.
Then again my son who's in the trade always says to prospective weekend warriors: "When you have a mechanical problem with your bike that needs attention, just close your Haynes manual, put it back on the shelf - and phone one of us..."
 


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