Clutch repair
15/01/12 14:20 Filed in: Motorcycle
Well, BMW NL is friendly enough to determine there is nothing wrong with the clutch on my K1200S without even removing the clutch cover or any other sensible diagnostics. Needless to say I am rather annoyed (understatement) and unimpressed with the way BMW handles this.
For those not knowing: a normal K12/K13 clutch engages in the last quarter of lever travel from full out. As annoying as it is, it is the normal designed behavior of this clutch.
My clutch on the other hand requires the clutch lever to be adjusted outward to the maximum distance from the bars (fortunately I have big hands), and then the clutch will engage within 1cm from the bar. This also means with the lever adjusted to a normal distance from the bars, it will not disengage completely. This is obviously not normal.
This is the same identical behavior which happened exactly 1 year ago, when BMW replaced the clutch for a hefty €1200 because 4 years and 54,000km was too old and too much mileage for a warranty claim. They were happy to diagnose the clutch as faulty and charge me for it, but now that it would come out of their pocket it is all of a sudden diagnosed as functioning within normal parameters.
Anyway.
For this reason, we decided if BMW wasn’t going to stand behind its product, we would ourselves delve into the inner workings of the clutch and see if we can find what is wrong with it.
After removing the clutch cover, it is time to see if we can get the clutch off. This is w bit of a tough job, since it is torqued down with 200Nm. Fortunately, in our workshop we have a pneumatic socket wrench that is able to do the job.
(Un)fortunately, depending on your view, we could not find anything visibly wrong with any of the clutch parts. The basket is undamaged, the laminar package has the same width as specified by BMW and no abnormal wear and tear on the bushes, washers and bearings.
Since the bush and spacer washer behind the clutch basket have received different part number as part of a modification, we will replace those anyway since we don’t know what the modifications are.
Other than that, we are pretty much at a loss. The only suspect left is the slave cylinder. If that is faulty or cannot generate enough pressure anymore for whatever reason, the clutch will not disengage. If that is not it either, and clutch behavior is not back to normal, I guess we will have to assume that whatever made the clutch change to what it is now, is just there and not likely to progress further. If it does, there will be damage which will reveal what is the problem.
For those not knowing: a normal K12/K13 clutch engages in the last quarter of lever travel from full out. As annoying as it is, it is the normal designed behavior of this clutch.
My clutch on the other hand requires the clutch lever to be adjusted outward to the maximum distance from the bars (fortunately I have big hands), and then the clutch will engage within 1cm from the bar. This also means with the lever adjusted to a normal distance from the bars, it will not disengage completely. This is obviously not normal.
This is the same identical behavior which happened exactly 1 year ago, when BMW replaced the clutch for a hefty €1200 because 4 years and 54,000km was too old and too much mileage for a warranty claim. They were happy to diagnose the clutch as faulty and charge me for it, but now that it would come out of their pocket it is all of a sudden diagnosed as functioning within normal parameters.
Anyway.
For this reason, we decided if BMW wasn’t going to stand behind its product, we would ourselves delve into the inner workings of the clutch and see if we can find what is wrong with it.
Clutch cover removed
After removing the clutch cover, it is time to see if we can get the clutch off. This is w bit of a tough job, since it is torqued down with 200Nm. Fortunately, in our workshop we have a pneumatic socket wrench that is able to do the job.
Clutch removed
Clutch basket, bush, washers and clutch laminar package
(Un)fortunately, depending on your view, we could not find anything visibly wrong with any of the clutch parts. The basket is undamaged, the laminar package has the same width as specified by BMW and no abnormal wear and tear on the bushes, washers and bearings.
Since the bush and spacer washer behind the clutch basket have received different part number as part of a modification, we will replace those anyway since we don’t know what the modifications are.
Other than that, we are pretty much at a loss. The only suspect left is the slave cylinder. If that is faulty or cannot generate enough pressure anymore for whatever reason, the clutch will not disengage. If that is not it either, and clutch behavior is not back to normal, I guess we will have to assume that whatever made the clutch change to what it is now, is just there and not likely to progress further. If it does, there will be damage which will reveal what is the problem.
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Oh yeah! Finally done!
03/10/11 22:20 Filed in: Motorcycle
More crap from BMW
29/04/11 23:49 Filed in: Motorcycle
I have to say, I really like this BMW K1200S because when it works well, it is simply mind blowing. However, after the clutch, and the fueling I am getting really tired of seeing this thing in bits in the shop. Now it doesn’t want to stay cool, it is over heating. Turns out, the thermostat is broken into 3 pieces and partially blocking the radiator. Not the best situation to keep the bike cool. Also, it is giving some intermittent headaches with the idle running. Sometimes it is running high (1500-1700rpm) and taking several seconds to drop back to 1100rpm. This makes it completely undriveable at low rpm. Other times, it just stalls. This is 99% sure caused by the airbox and idle control valve. There is a modification for that, but since my bike is out of warranty and I don’t want to shell out $600 for a new airbox, I am hoping cleaning and polishing the ICV will do the trick. At least temporarely. If it works, I don’t mind doing it at every service.
After this, it better be right because I am getting fed with this crap. If not, I am buying a Honda again.
After this, it better be right because I am getting fed with this crap. If not, I am buying a Honda again.