Clutch Spline Grease.... .ok.. here goes..

[hawkdad]

Hey Everybody,
Could use some mechanical help..

I got all the tools.. The Clymer manual.. bought my baby 2 seasons ago '03 with just over 6K.. now she's got almost 30K.. I figure before this season starts (NE Iowa, still snow on the ground) I really need to grease my clutch splines..

I'll take ALL the advice I can get... If I'm not mistaken.. didn't CycleRob have a nice pictorial on the job? plus the Clutch Slave Cylinder replacement / drainage mod?

Is it reasonable to change out the slave cylinder while I'm there... just cuz?... there has never been any issues.. or should I wait until the next greasing in two more seasons? (if my average seasonal mileage holds up)

Thanks anyone/everyone..
Hawk

[iowabeakster]

I did this in the fall. I can't say it was enjoyable, but the assurance that my bike is not one those with an alignment problem is a big relief.

I left the transmission, swing arm, final drive, and rear wheel in one piece. I just took it all off as a unit.

Clutch slave? If it is clean and dry, I wouldn't change it "just cuz". Mine (24K miles) looked brand new. Your bike doesn't have that many miles yet. If there is any weeping, I would change it for sure. Be sure to check out the small thowout bearing, that would be another reason to replace the slave. You might want to give the bearing a dab of fresh grease. If the bearing fails, then the slave cylinder might start spinning in the the housing, and faliure will soon happen.

Do you have ABS? (I do) ABS complicates the task dealing with the battery tray and the rubber mounts on the top of the transmission.

I don't know how anything about the Clymer manual. I used the BMW manual.

My little pieces of advice...

1. The lower rear strut mount bolt (attaches to the swing arm) uses Red Locktite. Get it good and hot before trying to remove. I used aluminum foil (3 or 4 layers) as a shield (with a hole punched in the center, so only the bolt head got hit with the flame) to protect the paint of the swingarm. I used a small butane torch.

2. The top bolt on the footpeg brackets (both sides of bike) also use Red Locktite. Again, I used a foil shield to protect the paint. The shaft that the bolts thread into can spin, making removal tricky. Cyclerob advised me to use the pinch bolts (on the right side) to keep the shaft from spinning. I tightend the pinch bolts (I thought PLENTY, I was afraid of breaking the pinch block or stripping something) but the shaft still moved when I yanked on the breaker bar, even after a LONG application of heat. So, if you have the same problem... there are also some flat spots on the shaft (more towards the left side of the shaft) that you can put a wrench on, to keep it from spinning. Cyclerob didn't advise to put a wrench on the flat spots because they ARE pretty shallow, and you could muck up the shaft. But, using both the pinch bolts and the wrench on the shaft, I got the second bolt out.

3. You can remove the throttle bodies from the engine and let them dangle by the cables. Or, you can remove the cables from the TB's and keep the TB's bolted to the engine. I left them bolted to the engine and removed the cables. I just felt better about not having the TB's dangling by the cables. I regretted this when putting it back together. Getting the cable barrels back in their seats is a PITA! It makes me frustrated just thinking about it. And doing the TB synch after completely removing both cables, was a challenge to my patience. If I did it again, I would take close-up pictures of the adjusters, before removal. So I could could approximate the setting (counting exposed threads on the adjusters).

4. I had problems locating the bolts that hold the air box in place. Two on the sides (bottom, outside of the box) and one at the rear (on the inside of the box).

5. At the front of the sub frame (where it attaches to the top of engine). There are two bolts, on each side. Completely remove the allen type bolts. Just loosen the bolts with the standard type heads. The frame will lift, pivoting on those bolts.

6. Lift the frame slowly and carefully. Be observant if anything is catching or straining. The same goes for dropping the frame back into position.

7. Be careful of the wires (the primary ground for the electrical system) that are under the battery tray, as you pull the transmission back from the engine. They could get snagged on the rubber mount posts on the top of the transmission. Make sure they are in the proper position, when mounting the transmission back on the engine.

8. Have a helper when pulling the tranny back from the engine, JUST IN CASE some extra hands might be needed.

[CycleRob]

My post was not written to spoon feed a novice, but it will help:
http://r1150r.org/board/viewtopic.php?p=139009#p139009

There are others here:
http://r1150r.org/board/viewtopic.php?p=157261#p157261

Just be patient and know when to force things and when not to. There's plenty of help here if you get stuck.

[jm1515]

I just did this last week as a result of my clutch splines failing on the road. Hopefully you'll find some good splines there. Tranny is out for re-build and I'll have do a complete clutch job. Oh, well....that's another story

Don't know what your Clymer's says, but my Hayne's want's you to completely remove the rear frame...it warns against hanging the tail in the air. Much more dis-assembly, unnecessarily. I used the BMW repair CD and a couple of checklists floating around the internet.

From my experience, I found it unnecessary to move the TBs at all. I just removed the fuel line/Fuel injector as one piece. They all come out with the airbox. Just be careful and patient when you pull the airbox out....
To remove strain on the right throttle cable, remove the the breather tube at the airbox, which you need to do anyway. It routs under the right cable. Pull it thru the chassis and let it hang. Do this when you start to pivot the frame up, as soon as you can gain access to tube at the rear of the box.
TBs still mounted and function fine.....
I found you really don't need to push the air tubes back into the airbox much more than an inch.

I did not dis-assemble anything from the right footpeg/rear brake bracket, or move the rear brake fluid holder. I zipped everything to the frame after removing the mounting bolts. Everything rides up nicely when you do the lift....

Remove the 4 nuts/washers holding the battery tray, and lift off & push the tray forward a bit. You'll have plenty of room to get that pesky airbox out....

If I did not have remove the tranny for re-build, I would definitely leave the FD/swingarm/tranny connected and remove as one piece. Get yourself 2 or 3 M8 x1.25 bolts at least 100m long for support dowels. Fastenal has packs of 10.

[RiftonRoadster]

I have just finished lubing my splines and bike is currently being re-assembled. Beemerboneyard
has a moly paste with 75% moly vs the beloved Honda moly 60. I used it and it is 'firmer' and tackier
than the 60. I have 20k on my new trans input shaft and it is just beginning to show signs of the
alignment issue. We'll see.
Drive shaft phasing - check this for proper install
http://bmwmotorcycletech.info/phasing.htm

Make 100% sure the all the threads are cleaned and completely free of the old loctite on your
swingarm - trans - FD.

Peter