REplacing the clutch bleed grub screw

[Motocod]

Managed to get the grub screw undone on my clutch bleed thingy last night, so that was a result. I've read about replacing it with an M10 bleed screw. Can this be left in-situ once fitted, or does the grub screw need to go back in once I've bled the fluid through?

Thanks,

Nik

PS Sorry for absolutely dominating this EXTREMELY useful forum with so many questions all the time!

[Motocod]

Thinking about it, I guess I need to unscrew the whole of the bit with the spring/ball bearing in, and just leave the hexagonal fitting. Otherwise the bleed screw would push in the ball bearing, leaving it permanently in an open position.

Off to order an M10 bleed screw...

[JamesL]

Having marmelised the fast fill grub screw itself I removed the whole of the spring / ball bearing fitting and replaced it with a standard bleed valve (plus a valve cover) - it's exactly the same thread. Works perfectly.

J

[Motocod]

Thanks James, confirms what I was thinking. Bleed screw and rubber cover ordered off ebay...

Nik

[sykospain]

Why not ditch the black thingie that's screwed onto the end of the clutch bleeder hose hidden under the helmet lock and ziptied to the frame ?

It was only used at the factory for back-filling the hydraulically operated clutch with DOT4 rapidly and cost-effectively. Thereafter it serves no purpose whatsoever, despite what BMW says, and should be substituted for a Speed Bleeder, making clutch fluid replacement - essential annual job - much easier. If clutch fluid maintenance is neglected, there's a danger of the slave cylinder's tiny under-specced bearing failing and allowing DOT4 to escape along the actuation rod and splurge over your precious friction plate.
Not nice....

See the videos:-

https://youtu.be/IrKr1IiOLvk

and whilst you're at it, check the pesky slave cylinder, which was outsourced by BMW from a manufacturer specialising in push-bike parts :-

https://youtu.be/xXyx4Dwx7Mw

AL in s.e. Spain

[boxerscott]

Why not ditch the black thingie that's screwed onto the end of the clutch bleeder hose hidden under the helmet lock and ziptied to the frame ?

It was only used at the factory for back-filling the hydraulically operated clutch with DOT4 rapidly and cost-effectively. Thereafter it serves no purpose whatsoever, despite what BMW says, and should be substituted for a Speed Bleeder, making clutch fluid replacement - essential annual job - much easier. If clutch fluid maintenance is neglected, there's a danger of the slave cylinder's tiny under-specced bearing failing and allowing DOT4 to escape along the actuation rod and splurge over your precious friction plate.
Not nice....

See the videos:-

https://youtu.be/IrKr1IiOLvk

and whilst you're at it, check the pesky slave cylinder, which was outsourced by BMW from a manufacturer specialising in push-bike parts :-

https://youtu.be/xXyx4Dwx7Mw

AL in s.e. Spain

Brilliant post matey, loved the commentary on the vid. Speed bleeder it is then Edit, second thoughts I am going to ditch the whole bike and buy a new one without all the PITA bits

[sykospain]

Yes, it makes me wonder why BMW ever went to a hydraulically actuated clutch when the previous cable-operated version was so effective - a bit harder to squeeze maybe, but so what ? In fact why did they persevere for so long with their original back-to-front Austin Mini-style DRY clutch before finally changing this New Year to a WET one ? Almost unannounced amid all the hoo-ha about the total redesign of the entire Boxer engine ?

Finally admitting its shortcomings I suppose, without ever offering us 6-speeder hydro-clutchers any updated clutch components as a "Technical Revision", the phrase they insist on using instead of "recall".

Once you've sorted the clutch issues though, that bike should be good for another 40K especially if you get an "EsmirSpacer" fitted to the friction plate hub.

But I must admit after trying out the new glycol / air cooled totally-redesigned R model for 2015 last week here in Spain, it surely is the finest Boxer refinement and the best easy-riding powerful bike I've EVER been on ! Bar none..

But who can afford BMW's profiteering almost £13K in sterling on-the-road price ? I met a German biker on a similarly brand-new GS with all the bells'n'whistles with the latest BMW GPS and luggage accessories in Benidorm the other day - and he said it was the best bike he'd ever had in ten different BMW boxers, but it cost him EIGHTEEN GRAND drive-away price in euro !!
You can get a new Skoda Octavia luxury saloon for that !
AL in s.e. Spain

[boxerscott]

Yes, it makes me wonder why BMW ever went to a hydraulically actuated clutch when the previous cable-operated version was so effective - a bit harder to squeeze maybe, but so what ? In fact why did they persevere for so long with their original back-to-front Austin Mini-style DRY clutch before finally changing this New Year to a WET one ? Almost unannounced amid all the hoo-ha about the total redesign of the entire Boxer engine ?

Finally admitting its shortcomings I suppose, without ever offering us 6-speeder hydro-clutchers any updated clutch components as a "Technical Revision", the phrase they insist on using instead of "recall".

Once you've sorted the clutch issues though, that bike should be good for another 40K especially if you get an "EsmirSpacer" fitted to the friction plate hub.

But I must admit after trying out the new glycol / air cooled totally-redesigned R model for 2015 last week here in Spain, it surely is the finest Boxer refinement and the best easy-riding powerful bike I've EVER been on ! Bar none..

But who can afford BMW's profiteering almost £13K in sterling on-the-road price ? I met a German biker on a similarly brand-new GS with all the bells'n'whistles with the latest BMW GPS and luggage accessories in Benidorm the other day - and he said it was the best bike he'd ever had in ten different BMW boxers, but it cost him EIGHTEEN GRAND drive-away price in euro !!
You can get a new Skoda Octavia luxury saloon for that !
AL in s.e. Spain

Aye , it was the best bmw boxer he had ever had and so it should be, I think I met this guy too.... in the Solano

[Motocod]

Why not ditch the black thingie that's screwed onto the end of the clutch bleeder hose hidden under the helmet lock and ziptied to the frame ?

It was only used at the factory for back-filling the hydraulically operated clutch with DOT4 rapidly and cost-effectively. Thereafter it serves no purpose whatsoever, despite what BMW says, and should be substituted for a Speed Bleeder, making clutch fluid replacement - essential annual job - much easier. If clutch fluid maintenance is neglected, there's a danger of the slave cylinder's tiny under-specced bearing failing and allowing DOT4 to escape along the actuation rod and splurge over your precious friction plate.
Not nice....

See the videos:-

https://youtu.be/IrKr1IiOLvk

and whilst you're at it, check the pesky slave cylinder, which was outsourced by BMW from a manufacturer specialising in push-bike parts :-

https://youtu.be/xXyx4Dwx7Mw

AL in s.e. Spain

Sounds good. Where can I get a Speed Bleeder?

Thanks,

Nik

[sykospain]

Depends where you are my friend. Tends to be Goodridge in the USA and Stahlbus in the EU; but a Duckduckgo ( doesn't track your searches and then send you tons of junk pages ) or Google ( does ! ) search for a

10mm by 1 SpeedBleeder

should sort you out. Around 20 to 30 snoojits each depending on your currency - I got three: one for the clutch bleed hose to replace the "factory chunk" that I sweated off the end of the hose, plus one each for my non-ABS brakes. Beware incidentally that DIY bleeding of ABS brakes can be a touch problematical....

Ignore what the book says about "never discard the clutch bleed hose factory end-fitment". Sometimes BMW are simply WRONG - as they were with the original design of the hydraulically operated single-plate dry clutch on all 6 speed boxers. And note that all new Boxers R, RS, RT and GS - now have WET clutches outsourced from our dear friends in Guangdong Province but charged out by BMW at EU prices.

C'est la vie de la famille Quandt.....

Link to SpeedBleeder:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTXhp4JPF3Y

Buena suerte...

AL in s.e. Spain

[Motocod]

Would I be right to assume the speed bleeder is essentially a bleed nipple with a sealed thread? I've seen a few of these, and while I can certainly see the appeal it's not worth the cost to me, and I've never found bleeding hydraulics to be any more than a one man job, so I'll stick with a conventional one. Thanks for the suggestion though!

[dave the german]

Did slparry not post something recently on something along those lines available from Motorworks? STEVE!!!

[sykospain]

I think slparry did, yes to be sure - and Nord at MW in Meltham Bridge supplied an SB to one of my UK boxer pals not too long ago.

Basically an SB differs from an ordinary bleed nipple in that it has a tiny one-way valve inside, so air doesn't get sucked back into the hose if you don't quite get the timing right of the sequence:-
Squeeze lever, shut off nipple with a quarter turn tighten, then squeeze again as you open the nipple, and repeat.
If you can't reach the h/bar lever 'cos you're down by the nipple ( errrmm..) the SB fitment makes it less of a hassle. For the price of five pints of Sneck Lifter, isn't it worth it ??
AL in s.e. Spain

[boxerscott]

I reckon its worth it, you can buy them off ebay. It is just a spring loaded ball valve.. simple and better than conventional bleeding process. IMO