BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

Ok, seems like a common problem and of sometimes I worry about the clutch slave cyl problem or the dreaded spline chewing problem biting me out of nowhere. For those that have had the slave cylinder die, was there any kind of warning before it took out the clutch, etc? Was it a total surprise? How many years old/miles when it happened? Mine is an '02 with 18k on it. I think I remember reading something about finding gunk in the clutch fluid when bleeding in one of the posts. If someone could take a picture of where to drill a "weep hole" that would be great. No problems with anything so far on the bike.

combustor777

It is really hard to predict, loss of level on the master cylinder is one sign. Clutch sliping is a more advanced sign, assuming is not wear due to hard usage or high mileage. Do a search for CycleRob or clutch slave cylinder and you should be able to find the mod to save the clutch disc in case of a leak.

Rob drilled these out for me when I had the bike all apart last Fall. My slave was still in top-notch condition so I just cleaned it and put it back on with Rob's little hole drilled in it for any future leaks.
I cut the tiny hole in the gasket so any leaking fluid would drain out past it, should it start leaking.

The little hole is on the bottom side of the slave, of course.

Boxer, thanks for posting the pics. The clutch slave on Mrs. Sweatmark's Roadster is leaking, according to the shop.

combustor777,
Removing the clutch slave is not an easy task because it is buried and blocked from access. Here's a full teardown to grease the clutch shaft spline where the clutch slave was replaced and a drain pipe was added.
http://r1150r.org/board/viewtopic.php?f ... ve&start=0

The pics pertaining only to the slave are here:
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r87/ ... ube-17.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r87/ ... ube-30.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r87/ ... ube-26.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r87/ ... ube-27.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r87/ ... ube-29.jpg

The slave can be removed w/o lifting the frame up or removing the crossbar rod, but it will require a lot of patience!


Words worth repeating from that clutch spline lube post:
Do not treat the clutch slave as a lifetime part. In my estimation, it has a service life almost equivalent to a fuel filter that is never replaced. The non-contact release mechanism of the older R1100 cable actuated clutch release mechanism made lots more sense than the very stiff spring pressured release bearing in permanent rotating heavy contact in our R1150's hydraulic release system.


.

Thanks for all the replies guys. After looking at it I noticed that getting to it would not be easy. I guess I'm slightly concerned because when I bought the bike 2+ years ago it was already 5 years old with maybe 6-7k on the clock. More likely than not just sitting with the old gunky fluid fouling things up. At what point do I (or would you) bite the bullet and do a preventative transplant? Now? Next year? Do I shorten the spring to relieve the pressure on the bearing or is that too radical? I can follow the mechanical stuff once I see it usually, but this is something I've never tackled. Heck it runs fine so I've never even touched the valves (might do that today since I'm wrenching stuff off to do the ABS anyway).

Combuster,
I see you are in Sharpsburg, just east of Newnan. You might want to get in on the next Tech Day at CycleRob's place up in Gainesville. We have a full house at this one coming up, but with enough interest I'm sure he'd have another sometime in the near future.
That slave cylinder CAN be removed without raising the frame...I did it with some tricky twisting and maneuvering of the apparatus. The problem is getting it back in, because you need better access to the fluid lines attached to the slave on the top. And to raise the frame and remove that crossbar(which is what impedes access) you also must remove those frame bolts on each side which are loctited in! That's where my project went bad. I used the wrong size Torx tool and stripped the head out on that bolt. Rob had to come save my butt. I'm certain, now, that using the correct size Torx and by heating the area with a heat gun to loosen the glue, it will come out properly. But be aware...it ain't easy!

Would love to see pictorial and discussion how-to for clutch slave replacement, with or without spline inspection. Rob's pics are great start for step-by-step instructions.

Actually, I'm just looking for inspiration to do the spline inspection since clutch slave and rear shock replacement need completion.