Clutch....smells

[Whip]

R1200RT now has 6500 miles....Whenever I start from a dead stop I can smell the clutch burning.....Even worse two up...up hill it's real bad.....what up?????????

[ShovelStrokeEd]

Assuming nothing mechanically wrong, you are probably slipping it for way to long and using too many revs while you are at it.

 

This bike requires a very different technique from the other bikes you have listed. The real secret lies in throttle and clutch management. Fernando Belair, from this site and a long time rider posted a tutorial on this awhile back. Try searcing back about 6 months on his user name.

 

If you have trouble with the search function, many do, many do not, try this.

 

Ride your bike in first gear down as low as it will go without stalling. That is the lowest RPM at which you should have the clutch fully engaged. In other words, you can actually fully engage the clutch at that RPM or slightly higher. Interesting, wasn't it? Now why are you using so many revs to get the bike rolling? There is a very simple balancing act that requires a bit of learning. You learn to balance the clutch against the throttle so the revs remain almost constant. You only need a fuzz above idle to get going and then feed very small increments of throttle as you engage the clutch further and further. The RPM remains the same or nearly so. Then, as the clutch reaches fully engaged, you can just kind of pull the bike away from the stop with the throttle.

 

It took longer to read the above than it does to do this by the way. It all takes place in about 1 turn of the rear wheel or a bit over 6 feet. Its a matter of finesse over force.

[Loves 2 Ride]

Good posts about this topic. I have the same problem with the new 1200 RT and it is compounded since I still ride the 1150 GS. My buddy who has the first 1200 RT in the club also notes the same issue. The clutch is definitely different in first than my other BMWs but I like the thoughts on practicing engagement. Except for that and the lousy radio AM, this is a great bike !!Thanks gentlemen.

[artig]

In their latest catalog, Wunderlich now have a replacement ceramic clutch plate for the R1200GS and the R1200RT. No smell and presumably a longer lifetime for those who slip their clutches. It's not cheap, though. 370 euro. Part number is 8510018, and can be found in the shop on their German-language web site (http://www.wunderlich.de/). The english-language catalogs are available for download at http://www.wunderlich.de/html/cat/engl.html

[Iron Al]

In their latest catalog, Wunderlich now have a replacement ceramic clutch plate for the R1200GS and the R1200RT. No smell and presumably a longer lifetime for those who slip their clutches. It's not cheap, though. 370 euro. Part number is 8510018, and can be found in the shop on their German-language web site (http://www.wunderlich.de/). The english-language catalogs are available for download at http://www.wunderlich.de/html/cat/engl.html

 

You should be able to get this through BMW of Santa Cruz as they are the Wunderlich distributer for the USA.

[ShovelStrokeEd]

FWIW,

My experience with the ceramic clutch disk business has them as a pretty much racing only application. They tend to be very abrubt in their engagement and, as a result somewhat harsh on drive trains. They do offer superior friction but often require stronger clamping force to get there. Not sure you would like your bike so much with more lever effort.

[dmenace]

Upon reading your post I started looking at the tach upon starting on flat ground. I tend to engage my clutch at about 1200 rpm. No smell. Much fewer rpms and the engine dies, much more rpms and the clutch smells. Let the clutch out quickly but don't dump it. Good luck.

[MoroCycler]

Whip:

It made me happy to see your post, since I was just about to post the same subject.

My garage has a short but steep ramp so everytime I enter I must stop and then engage 1st gear then get the bike in with little throtle and some clutch lever in-out.

 

Maybe you will laugh cause the first 10 times I did not realize where that old dead cat smell came from. So I decided to check all the corners of my workshop, maybe looking for a dead mouse or some kind of dead animal.

 

Then I noticed that the familiar stinking smell was present everytime the clutch made even a slight effort and I give me the chance to stop and smell.

 

I now am getting used to the farting-clutch and I hope it is not wearing as much as it bad-smells.

 

 

 

MoroCycler

[Clive Liddell]

I would try and stop just short of the steep section up to your garage so that by the time I hit the ramp the clutch is fully engaged in first gear?