Clutch Glitch

[teufelz99]

Ok, so we had a nice day today and I decided to go for a ride. Pulled bike out of the garage and started it up. No problems so far. Put up the stand, and engaged first gear. The damn thing lurched forward and stalled. (No, I am not an idiot, the clutch was completely in). Tried it again, same result. So, I shut the engine off, put down the stand and pondered for a second. I squeezed the clutch and it felt a bit light, as if there was little resistance. I kept squeezing it and all of a sudden, there was the resistance again. I started the engine, pulled in the lever and engaged first gear.... no problems this time.... it ran fine for about 50 miles and went back to the garage. Any idea what happened the first couple times? Clutch Fluid level is fine.

Bike is a 2004 R1100S

--Robert

[bill pierce]

Bleed clutch, and new fluid should fix it.

[teufelz99]

Is this something I can do myself? I am pretty mechanical... but have always just paid someone to deal with my K1200 (too much faring). If so, where do I read about how to go about doing it? Thanks.

[timbox2]

Is this something I can do myself? I am pretty mechanical... but have always just paid someone to deal with my K1200 (too much faring). If so, where do I read about how to go about doing it? Thanks.

Yep, just done it on mine, but I did have to get hold of a Brembo bleed nipple first. From the factory the bleed port from the slave cylinder has a strange fitment which is designed for BMW dealers power bleeder.




The part which no 1 is pointing to above comes apart and you can then fit a 10mm Brembo bleed nipple. Part No 3 is a special BMW bleed fitting which pushes down on a ball bearing which is inside the bit you chuck away.
PS; From memory think its a 12 and 13 spanner and its very tight(BMW threadlock)
You never know, someone before you may have already done this if youre lucky.

By the way, all of this stuff is zipped tied to the frame in the vicinity of the rear shock.

Hope this helps

For safety( Nasty brake fluid) I removed the screen and swiveled the Clutch Master on the bars to upright

One other thing, I did mine using a mityvac, you could do it the old fashioned way, but think you would have to have someone else helping

[Cobbster]

Bleeding the clutch fluid was the easiest part of my recent 12K service.

As suggested, remove the BMW bleeding contraption from the end of the hydraulic line located on the l/h/s of the bike. Replace with a 10mm bleed nipple which I bought from Halfords for £2, attach a bleed line, again the old fasioned rubber type from Halfords £3, and bleed away. Be careful though with the clutch master cylinder cover off if you grab the lever to hard, hydraulic fluid leaps out and sprays you or the bike.

All should be well but failing that, a mate of mine who had the same model BMW had similar problems. It turned out to be the seals on the master cylinder had failed thus not enough hydraulic pressure to actuate the clutch. Its not an expensive fix just a bit more involved than bleeding a hydraulic curcuit.

Hope this helps, Cobbster.

[teufelz99]

Ok guys, thanks for all the info. I successfully bled my clutch and everything is working wonderfully now. I do have a question though... if i had no murky fluid (i am assuming this means my cylinders are in good shape) then why would this have happened? Could it just be as simple as lots of cold weather? Second, How often do you all bleed the damn thing?

[Cobbster]

Hi,
What murky fluid and from where?

Cheers, Cobbster

[boxerpan]

Ok guys, thanks for all the info. I successfully bled my clutch and everything is working wonderfully now. I do have a question though... if i had no murky fluid (i am assuming this means my cylinders are in good shape) then why would this have happened? Could it just be as simple as lots of cold weather? Second, How often do you all bleed the damn thing?

Clutch / Brake fluid is hydroscopic (absorbs water) even with a nominally closed system, hence the service interval of two years with most cars and bikes

[ivorbaines]

Hi Robert, apologies for the rather late input but never the less, I had a Moto Guzzi years ago that had a similar problem which I bought the bike with(Guzzi's also have a dry clutch like the BMW) , the previous owner had laid the bike up for the winter and subsequently found that he could not disengage the clutch.
Reason in this case was because the friction plate sticks to the flywheel, but once unstuck I had no residual problems. I solved this particular defect by tying in the clutch lever at the handle bar and over a few days occasionally start the bike on the centre stand & in gear, take care as the rear wheel is going to turn, best sit on the bike and keep the front brake on, keep the rev's up enough to stop the engine stalling and dab the rear brake a few times, within a few days the clutch was free.
Appears this may have been a similar problem that has resolved itself.
Cheers
Ivor
Garmouth