Clutch Question

[Trajan]

Good morning.

 

I have a 2006 R1200 RT with about 19,000 miles. MPG has dropped from 43mpg to about 36mpg indicated and my logbook indicates the same. Most of my riding in in the San Francisco Bay Area, I-580 and surface streets with the occasional long ride. I try to ride at about 4,000 RPM.

 

The last time this happened was at the 6,000 mile service when the clutch was replaced under warranty because of a leaking washer (sic) that allowed oil into the transmission case.

 

Is my shifting style part of the problem? I try to be smooth but sometimes I can smell the clutch, especially when pulling away from a stop going uphill.

 

Is ~12,000 miles normal wear for a R1200 RT clutch?

 

Thanks,

 

Trajan

[CoarsegoldKid]

Shifting style might be prematurly trashing the clutch but not likely decreasing mpg. I get nervous stopped on hills when loaded two-up. I hate the smell of clutch. Just do.

Perhaps it's just the hills. RPM shift points might have more to do with mpg.

I'd throw away the logbook of mpg and it will get better.

[johnlt]

A clutch at 12K miles is NOT normal wear. Many get more than 100K miles. You shouldn't smell the clutch burning on a normal take-off, let it engage fully then accelerate. If it's slipping, there is something else wrong, possibly another bad seal.

[windyducat]

I can smell the clutch, especially when pulling away from a stop going uphill.

 

Trajan

 

I have a R1200ST that when it was running poorly at low RPMs I had to slip the clutch going up hill and the smell was terrible. After correcting the low speed power problem I now can engage the clutch quickly and let the engine torque do the work.

 

On the gas mileage....based on riding style, IMO shifting style will not materially effect gas mileage. Running hard at high RPMs especially high speed with increased wind resistance will drop gas mileage.

 

Could be the EFI is out of wack which will drop gas mileage...these are highly tuned machines and rely on every component of the complex fuel and ignition to work properly.

 

Cheers

[bmurphypdx]

Re the comment that the clutch should not smell. I agree that the odor from the clutch indicates it is under mechanical stress. OTOH, I noticed the comment stating that the clutch should not smell is from a poster who lives in Tucson, a very flat city compared to SF. On Seattle hills, I have yet to find a way to avoid that other than taking a different route, which I often do, to avoid the traffic lights on steep hills.

[JayW]

You shouldn't smell the clutch burning on a normal take-off, let it engage fully then accelerate.

 

Good advice. Sometimes on hills you have to give it just a liiiitle throttle to keep it from stalling, but not so much that you smell the clutch burning. These are robust clutches and should last a long time, barring contamination. I don't know why BMW geared first so high, but it can be worked around with delicate and practiced clutch/throttle inputs. 12,000 miles is way too early for an RT clutch to be worn out.

 

Jay

[Trajan]

Thanks for your responses.

 

A fellow rider opines that it could be the clutch linkage. But then he also didn't check the oil in his motorcycle and blew the guts out of it.

 

A blindingly obvious question, what is the correct way to engage the R1200 RT clutch in first gear? I completed the Alameda Sheriffs Department Beginning Motorcycle Course in July and may have picked up a bad habit or several. They rented Kawasaki 1000's but I rode the RT.

 

Could the seasonal change in fuel mixtures be contributing to this?

 

The bike will roll in first gear at idle which is fine for crawling through the parking lot.

 

I do have a Cal-Sci windshield that I raise a coupla inches on the interstate to reduce noise and buffeting. I don't think that would reduce mileage by 8 mpg.

 

All these clues and I should be able to figure it out.

 

Trajan

[Ken H.]

A blindingly obvious question, what is the correct way to engage the R1200 RT clutch in first gear?

In a word - quickly.

 

One of the keys to success with the BMW dry clutch is not to linger in the friction zone. I.e. never ‘slip it.’ If a high load situation or small/slow movement situation requires less than immediate full engagement of the clutch then feather it. That is – with small almost micro movements pf your hand move in and out of the friction zone. Rather than lingering in it partially engaged. Also low RPMs. Not 2500 RPM and drag it out, 1400 RPM and quickly engage, disengage, engage, as needed to ‘feed’ it forward. It almost approaches a twitching of your hand.

 

[Jerry Duke]

+1 to what Ken says.

[Beech]

That windshield will take a few MPG off. Just raising my stock windshield up from bottom to mid/no noise level takes 2 or 3 mpg out of the picture. +1 on getting the clutch engaged before 1500 rpm. I have it engaged in just a few feet. Two people on board and a hill is another issue.