How long should clutch last??

Northern Monkey

Northern Monkey

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This is not a thread for mine lasted six million miles and the like...

I’ve just got an rt - turns out it’s done 107000 miles , it had a new clutch at 93000, 72000 and 55000

That seems like a lot of clutches to me

Now I bought this as a project as there’s no driver to rear wheel so I’m suspecting clutch but won’t know until it’s in bits

Should the clutches wear that quickly ? Is there something wrong somewhere causing it to wear quickly

Or is it ‘they all do that sir’

As always your help is appreciated and if you really would like the world to know you manage six million miles from a Clutch then fill yer booots


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Not normally no, I'd suggest an average of around 65K assuming 'normal' riding style. Obviously more stop/start riding will wear it quicker than plodding up/down a motorway with little gear changes.

Me thinks somethings not right.

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I'd suspect a broken driveshaft joint. Seen it before, all gears selectable but horrendous noise on engaging the clutch and no drive to rear wheel. Quick and easy to drop the final drive and inspect the shaft.

Slipping clutches are not uncommon.

My GSA clutch sometimes slipped in higher gears when revved hard at 10,000 miles, its replacement sometimes does it too (started at 24k , now on 46k). I just moderate the revs if it slips, I now suspect a slave cylinder or pushrod issue with my bike, a winter job to sort.
 
A clutch can easily last 100,000 miles. But you also root a new one in less than 100 miles.
 
The clutch slave piston moves back as the driven plate wears. That can overfill the reservoir causing the clutch to not fully engage. The RT has the same clutch as lighter versions of the bike so a bit of spirited riding could easily take enough material away especially if the reservoir was filled full to start with.
 
The life of a clutch depends on many things...... mechanical sympathy/awareness being one.
 
Ex-police RT ?

You can very easily wear out a bmw dry plate clutch in 20k miles if used in stop start traffic and ride/feather the clutch at low speeds.

Also, if only the friction plate (cheap) was replaced each time instead of the complete clutch unit (expensive) that would explain the frequent replacements needed.
 
Pukmeister said:
I'd suspect a broken driveshaft joint. Seen it before, all gears selectable but horrendous noise on engaging the clutch and no drive to rear wheel. Quick and easy to drop the final drive and inspect the shaft.

Slipping clutches are not uncommon.

My GSA clutch sometimes slipped in higher gears when revved hard at 10,000 miles, its replacement sometimes does it too (started at 24k , now on 46k). I just moderate the revs if it slips, I now suspect a slave cylinder or pushrod issue with my bike, a winter job to sort.
Click to expand...

Thanks it doesn’t sound like a spline issue as I can hear the clunk of the gear selecting there is no grinding or grunting noise just nno driveat the wheel


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Steptoe said:
Ex-police RT ?

You can very easily wear out a bmw dry plate clutch in 20k miles if used in stop start traffic and ride/feather the clutch at low speeds.

Also, if only the friction plate (cheap) was replaced each time instead of the complete clutch unit (expensive) that would explain the frequent replacements needed.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that I suspect it has been used as some form of Moto Marshall rather than a police bike but same applies. The receipts that came with it from Williams BMW suggested they replaced all three components each time


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Paul G (BHT) said:
The life of a clutch depends on many things...... mechanical sympathy/awareness being one.
Click to expand...

I agree.

I knew a woman that could see a clutch off in her car in 15k. Accompanied her on a drive
to see what she did and yep. she slipped the clutch at every corner apart from using ballistic revs
when pulling off and reversing. Once educated she did much better.
 
Bendy toy said:
The clutch slave piston moves back as the driven plate wears. That can overfill the reservoir causing the clutch to not fully engage. The RT has the same clutch as lighter versions of the bike so a bit of spirited riding could easily take enough material away especially if the reservoir was filled full to start with.
Click to expand...

Thanks - I don’t think I understand what you mean - are you suggesting the piston doesn’t go fully to the rest positron and therefore slipping??


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As the friction plate wears, the fluid gets displaced back into the handlebar reservoir and the level rises (opposite way to most normal hydraulic clutches).

If the reservoir becomes full, the fluid has nowhere to go. With heat and expansion, it then applies pressure to the slave piston and you get unwanted clutch slip.

Makes sense ?

Last time I replaced my clutch myself, the full kit was £400 (with discount.) BMW Dealer wanted £1200 to do the job.
 
So backwards to normal? So should the reservoir be empty with a new clutch? So that when it wears the fluid goes back up?

🤷🏻*♂️ thanks for this, looks a good place to start when it’s in bits, may get my head round it better when I see it




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Northern Monkey said:
So backwards to normal? So should the reservoir be empty with a new clutch? So that when it wears the fluid goes back up?

🤷🏻*♂️ thanks for this, looks a good place to start when it’s in bits, may get my head round it better when I see it




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Click to expand...
. .............. There's two millimeters of wear between a new friction plate and a fecked plate. That's not much in fluid level movement, but if it's fully filled to start with... you can work out the result.
 
Northern Monkey said:
So backwards to normal? So should the reservoir be empty with a new clutch? So that when it wears the fluid goes back up?

����*♂️ thanks for this, looks a good place to start when it’s in bits, may get my head round it better when I see it




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Click to expand...

You'll see once apart that the pressure plate acts as the flywheel and also carries the starter ring gear. It is bolted onto a carrier hub with the friction plate sandwiched in front of the pressure plate, as you depress the clutch the pushrod assembly flexes it towards the engine relieving the bite on the friction plate. Hence everything moves rearwards towards the slave cylinder as things wear, which displaces fluid from it back into the handlebar reservoir.

Always keep the clutch fluid at its normal level (which is a mineral oil such as Vitamol V10, LHM+ or Magura Royal Blood but don't mix them).

NEVER use your typical DOT4 brake and clutch fluid which will kill the seals.

Use a syringe to remove a few cc's worth during servicing as necessary to keep the level correct.
 
For some reason, BMW decided to make a bespoke and very expensive clutch system with slave cylinder working via pushrod through the first motion shaft and an unsupported clutch. It's a common method on chain driven bikes but for them it's worth having as they have an easy access clutch.

Who knows why BMW did not use a normal flywheel and toroidal slave cylinder like any other car. Commonly available automotive parts would have been cheap as chips and well proven. They would have also had the first motion shaft supported by a needle roller bearing in the end of the crankshaft.
 
I’m no expert but.......... I think I’ve found out why there’s no drive !! 🤦🏻*♂️


397bea8f762983371e1b270a02112216.heic
e21a5503b003f06e69363f9c92e63b8e.heic



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