'Dry clutch' burnt our?

batman1

batman1

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A mate of mine has got his 1250 GS-TE in at the dealer with problems selecting neutral etc?

Dealers say the clutch was dry, (should be oil lubed wet) and it has overheated which has caused the plates to buckle.

The bike is a late 2018 model with 7,5k on the clock.

Anyone else had anything similar?

One owner bike, dealer serviced from new, and the mothership will not cover the repair under BMW warranty, they say it's customer neglect!

Very experienced rider, been riding forever?

Your thoughts/comments?
 
Strange, must have been seriously abused as it’s a wet clutch design and mileage low - if it was low on oil then the rest of the engine must have been low too - something not right with this story I suspect.
 
How does a wet clutch go dry without all the oil warnings ( they could have course been ignored) or the engine siezing

If it has been dealer serviced then there should have been enough oil put in at service and every 6K miles isnt a long way to go before new oil etc

These bikes dont use oil like the old Hex heads do they ?

I would be wanting to speak with the UK branch of the mothership if it were me
 
Not fully topped up at the preceding service prehaps?

oil pump failure / failing although i guess the clutch is meant to be sitting in load of oil

Wheelie merchant showing off to the boys ??
 
The clutch doesn’t sit in a bath of oil, it’s mostly fed via oil ways in the pushrod etc and scavenged back. If you strip off the front cover there is almost zero residual oil there. So either the oil ways were blocked or the oil so low that there wasn’t enough pressure, ( find that unlikely ) or the mechanic is mistaking the lack of residual oil as the clutch running dry.

Not got the dreaded aftermarket lever/pushrod issue has he ?
 
I suspect Santa 2512 is close to the mark, think the oil was low but no warning lights etc showing, the bike is not ridden hard.
 
For no oil to reach the clutch he must have been close to engine failure low. Can’t imagine there wouldn’t be warning signs either mechanically noise wise or pressure warnings at idle etc.

It’s gonna hurt either way as I bet he is looking at £1200 ish if they replace the whole pack + labour.
 
Perhaps he tried to get up the hill outside my house. We have a couple of cars a month parked outside the house where their clutches have got so hot they slip badly and the SMOKE!!! I can smell when it's happened.
 
Cant understand this. Bike fully serviced, so oil changed at the regular intervals, and as has been said, These bikes dont use oil ? Where has it gone ?
 
hairysteve said:
Out of curiosity which dealer has he taken bike to....
Click to expand...

Steve, I’ll have to ask him if he’s happy for me to put this into print, but I’ve a strong feeling that you’ll know the dealer. Incidentally the dealer is on his side and is pushing for this job to be covered under warranty. He’s a very good customer who changes his bikes quite regularly.
I’ll keep you posted on the outcome as it all seems a bit odd to me?
 
Onahi said:
Cant understand this. Bike fully serviced, so oil changed at the regular intervals, and as has been said, These bikes dont use oil ? Where has it gone ?
Click to expand...

My thoughts too, BMW UK (not the actual dealer) are saying that its abuse, I ride with this guy and in no way is he abusive to his bikes.
 
Id like to know, what actual abuse could you could do, to be able to get rid of the oil ?
 
batman1 said:
Steve, I’ll have to ask him if he’s happy for me to put this into print, but I’ve a strong feeling that you’ll know the dealer. Incidentally the dealer is on his side and is pushing for this job to be covered under warranty. He’s a very good customer who changes his bikes quite regularly.
I’ll keep you posted on the outcome as it all seems a bit odd to me?
Click to expand...

If it's the dealer I think it is, I can't imagine their tech making a mistake re oil level..
 
Me neither, an excellent technician who also services my bikes.
 
KTM's LC8 engine has a jet smaller than a carb jet that feeds oil to the clutch, if this jet is not serviced/cleaned regularly same result in similar mileage. Don't know if this engine has a similar setup.
 
Tigger390 said:
KTM's LC8 engine has a jet smaller than a carb jet that feeds oil to the clutch, if this jet is not serviced/cleaned regularly same result in similar mileage. Don't know if this engine has a similar setup.
Click to expand...

It’s not quite the same as the brass jets Ktm/Aprilia etc use which are very small (0.60mm in Aprilia).

Depending on the year of GS the pushrod at the clutch end has between 1 and 3 slots cut into it which oil flows along to the centre of the clutch pack. Centrifugal force then flings the oil outwards through the pack. Would need a big piece of debris to block it.

IMG_0002.JPG
 
I assume the 1250 has basically the same wet clutch pack arrangement as the 1200, there is a known issue with clutches misbehaving, there is a post on here entitled clucking futch about what mine did.
Dealer after pulling full clutch and drive line assembly concluded with bmw that it was due to a prolonged autobahn run in warm weather causing a lack of lubrication reaching the clutch release and it therefore overheating and playing up.
On mine oil level was just below the maximum mark, bike had been recently serviced , bike was running at about 87 degrees engine temp and outside temp was 24 degrees. So hardly unusual or extreme conditions and usage.
Think it is more likely there is an issue albeit rare with some bikes as others on here have had odd clutch behaviour on low mileage wc models
 
Clutch update!

The new clutch has now been fitted and the symptoms still exist, difficulty getting into neutral from 1st or from 2nd, and also some judder.

The good news is....BMW have now absolved my mate from guilt and are no longer calling it rider abuse and they will repair the bike (when they find the cause) under warranty.

So it’s looking better and my mate is much happier, it will be interesting to find out what is the cause, I’ll keep y’all posted.
 
Guys, Bike is now all fixed, owner is very pleased, BMW UK mothership withdrew the original suggestion of rider abuse and accepted full responsibility for the repair which consisted of a new gearbox and clutch.

Bike owner had nothing but high praise for the service staff at Marshall Grimsby who negotiated robustly with BMW HQ on his behalf.

Alls well that ends well!:thumb2
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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