how much work do I want to talk myself into R1150RT

[bacos]

 

I bought this '04 R1150RT (59k) because I live 100 miles upstate from NYC but have to work in the city sometimes, for some reason I've suddenly lost all interest in using public transportation to get there or get around, a cage is not necessarily the best choice if one has to get out during Wave 2 or something, and 100 miles is a little longer than I want to commute on my R11S in the US. (I keep an S in Europe but Europe's a different ball game and so is commuting. I like the S well enough but a 100m drone down the Taconic just isn't that interesting, give me a real fairing and a topcase.) Yeah I shoulda got a newer RT but I think they're ugly, I can't help it; I like the '00-03s and everything newer is just... newer.

 

It's new to me; it's had at least 3 owners before me, the only useful records stop in 2014. (I know I bought the "wrong" bike; there was one with like 20k on the clock I should have bought but I thought an '04 would be better than an '02 because my '02 shredded its splines, and it _was_ cheap, I got it from a Harley shop who got it from an auction. It was well loved at one time; it came with all sorts of farkle and has had maybe 15k miles in the last 10 years. Someone replaced the swingarm bearings twice, can't fathom that one; I suspect paranoia.

 

The bike is currently part-strung across the garage floor; I don't have to go to the city anytime soon and I finally have garage space so I'm just going through it in one go. I just replaced the brake lines with Spieglers since everyone appears to feel leaving the old ones would be akin to Russian roulette despite looking ok. Standard maint stuff in progress - standard consumables, standard 12/24k stuff, replace the U-line in the fuel tank, working my way through a list DR put up back in 2015. Taking 3x as long as a normal person but I'm slow.

 

Questions:

 

- The bike rides fine. The engine's running nicely enough that I hate to sync the TBs because there's nothing obviously wrong and I might screw it up. Is that poor thinking?

- How badly do I want to replace that L/H cam tensioner? There's no untoward noises coming from there, any more than you'd expect from an oilhead, and I've owned one in various forms since '05 so I've a reasonable idea of "normal". If it's a "I'll hear it before it's too late" then that's fine but that's not clear to me despite research. I know y'all say it's not hard but it doesn't look easy to get at either.

- clutch slave seems fine, in that it seems to engage fine and the fluid seemed ok when I bled it - hadn't been changed in a while but nothing untoward. Can I tell if it's leaking if I pull the starter and poke in there with one of those camera-on-a-stick things? What am I looking for?  I've never looked in there so I don't know what I'll be looking for. (I'm dreading it - the likelihood of bad splines is probably near zero at this point but it's not zero... and I would hate to find out I bought a lemon.) Do I really want to proactively replace it even though I've no plans to split the bike otherwise? If pulling the starter is 1/2hr I can pop down tomorrow and yank it and get a pic.

- there was a bit of carbon buildup on the piston that I saw through the plug hole. Do I care? Or shove some liquid moly in the fuel and hope? Or "that's just gonna happen"? Again, runs fine other than both lower plugs being black-ish.

- someone mentioned something about doing something with or checking the lower coils? I can't find a referent.

 

 

Anyone with any suggestions on shocks that won't leave me out $1400 on Ohlins? The ones on it aren't great. I had wilbers 5xx on my European S, I wasn't impressed but maybe the 5s weren't impressive and I don't want to go there again. (*) I can get shocks shipped in from Europe, I have some contacts, but I'm not sure that helps. Beemershop has YSS but that's still $900, though a good friend of mine is a longtime customer/friend of Ted's.

 

(*) I did have them set up for me by Wilbers through the German seller, but that didn't really help the ride. Then the front blew at 180kph+ on the bahn somewhere on the A6 east of Nuremberg; it's possible I hit something; I don't recall seeing anything but at 180kph it's easy to miss these details. It's a miracle I didn't end up sliding half a click down the bahn on my ass - AndyG does good work with Darien gear but I don't think it's rated for that. Thank God the road was completely empty at the time - I damped the bars some but let it do its thing, and it settled itself. Then I stopped in shock at the next opportunity. Rest of the run to Prague and back sucked. No choice, work thing, had to keep going, just slowly. Then the dealer lost it somewhere after turning it into them to have it fixed under warranty. Anyway, don't want Wilbers again, really. Don't need the memories.

[dirtrider]

Evening  bacos

 

Too many questions for one reply so I will address a few of the major ones. 

 

 

- The bike rides fine. The engine's running nicely enough that I hate to sync the TBs because there's nothing obviously wrong and I might screw it up. Is that poor thinking?-- As long as it runs good (especially just above idle) then probably no immediate reason to do a TB sync. 

 

- How badly do I want to replace that L/H cam tensioner? There's no untoward noises coming from there, any more than you'd expect from an oilhead, and I've owned one in various forms since '05 so I've a reasonable idea of "normal". If it's a "I'll hear it before it's too late" then that's fine but that's not clear to me despite research.-- As long as it doesn't rattle the L/H cam chain right after cold engine starting, or while riding, then no real urgent need to replace.

 

 

- clutch slave seems fine, in that it seems to engage fine and the fluid seemed ok when I bled it - hadn't been changed in a while but nothing untoward. Can I tell if it's leaking if I pull the starter and poke in there with one of those camera-on-a-stick things? -- Probably not, if it's leaking bad enough that you can see it through the starter hole then you would also  be complaining about a slipping clutch. 

 

What am I looking for?  I've never looked in there so I don't know what I'll be looking for. (I'm dreading it - the likelihood of bad splines is probably near zero at this point but it's not zero... and I would hate to find out I bought a lemon.) Do I really want to proactively replace it even though I've no plans to split the bike otherwise? If pulling the starter is 1/2hr I can pop down tomorrow and yank it and get a pic.-- Through the starter hole you are usually looking for excess spline play. Zip tie the clutch lever to the handlebar then use a sharp pointed tool to rotate the clutch disk on the trans input shaft (within it's free-play). If a lot of movement found then your splines are probably going bad.

 

- there was a bit of carbon buildup on the piston that I saw through the plug hole. Do I care?-- Not really unless you are getting a lot of spark knock under engine load. 

 

Or shove some liquid moly in the fuel and hope?- This won't do a thing for the hard carbon buildup.

 

Or "that's just gonna happen"? Again, runs fine other than both lower plugs being black-ish.-- It's going to happen, as long as not excessive then no problem. 

 

- someone mentioned something about doing something with or checking the lower coils?-- No lower coils on your 1150, lower plugs use a standard coil  up under the front of the fuel tank.

 

 

 

[bacos]

Just came back from taking the starter off. I can wiggle the edge of the clutch disk 1/8" before the shaft appears to turn, plus or minus. That looks "normal"?

 

Is there any way to know the clutch slave is going bad at all, besides it actually going kaflooey on you? I can go in and rip it out and replace it proactively but if it's something I can predict, I'm happy to wait. I'm trying to find a description of what happens besides "it just dies" and not coming up with anything.

 

 

You got the major questions. The rest was beer-induced musing. thanks!

 

[dirtrider]

9 hours ago, bacos said:

Just came back from taking the starter off. I can wiggle the edge of the clutch disk 1/8" before the shaft appears to turn, plus or minus. That looks "normal"?

 

Is there any way to know the clutch slave is going bad at all, besides it actually going kaflooey on you? I can go in and rip it out and replace it proactively but if it's something I can predict, I'm happy to wait. I'm trying to find a description of what happens besides "it just dies" and not coming up with anything.

 

 

 

 

Morning  bacos

 

A 1/8" inch of disk movement at the outer OD is showing a little wear but not going to leave you walking any time soon. You might check it again in another 10,000 miles just to see if it is staying put or getting worse. 

 

On the slave cylinder?---  you can keep an eye on the fluid level in the clutch master cylinder to verify that it is staying the same or getting higher. (fluid level increases  as the clutch disk wears) so you never want to see the level decrease. 

 

Some drill a small (angled)  hole up from the bottom in the transmission case at the slave cylinder area (into the slave bearing area). If you see fluid dripping there then that tells you that the slave is leaking. This also drains off any leaking fluid before it can get to & damage the clutch. The hole is good option but is a bit tricky to drill in place as the angle & hole placement is very critical, if drilled incorrectly you can drill into the rear trans seal or into the trans oil area. (this is good option if you have the bike opened up enough & have straight access to drill that hole correctly and at the correct angle).

 

The other option is to unbolt the slave (leave lines connected)  then removed the gasket between the slave & the trans case. Then simply cut a 1/8"- 3/16" slot in the bottom of the gasket, then re-install the gasket. This works about the same as drilling the drain hole but without the chance of drilling into a critical trans area.  Works same as the hole, if you see fluid leaking then you have a slave leak. 

 

At 59K,  if you depend on that motorcycle (or are planning a long trip) then my suggestion is to just replace that slave now & be done with it. Not saying for sure that it will  leak or fail but there is a good chance that slave has either a leak or a failed bearing in it's future. 

[bacos]

Yeah, if I'm pulling the slave to cut a hole in the gasket then I've gone to 80% of the bother. I was hoping to avoid yet another $150 and three hours but it's already in pieces and I've no pressing need to ride it yet (still don't have a legal plate even, NY DMV still locked-down).

 

I shoulda thought to mark the play on clutch. Futz. Next time. Clearly I'll be pulling more starters to check the other two bikes. (So why did I decide to start doing my own work? my wife said I needed a hobby, but...)

 

Thanks again DR.

 

 

[bacos]

FWIW, I pulled the slave, and... fluid everywhere. Good call.

 

My neck and shoulder hurt now from all the contortions to get in and out of there, but...it's done. I wasn't supposed to put any lube on the end of the pushrod or anything, was I?

 

Clutch feel is terrible despite this side of a pint of DOT4 through the system, but it does disengage. Going to leave it with a ziptie on the handle overnight and hope...

[dirtrider]

9 hours ago, bacos said:

FWIW, I pulled the slave, and... fluid everywhere. Good call.

 

My neck and shoulder hurt now from all the contortions to get in and out of there, but...it's done. I wasn't supposed to put any lube on the end of the pushrod or anything, was I?

 

Clutch feel is terrible despite this side of a pint of DOT4 through the system, but it does disengage. Going to leave it with a ziptie on the handle overnight and hope...

Morning  bacos

 

Did you install a new slave cylinder? (hope so anyhow)

 

On the bleeding, once you have the air out of the slave cylinder itself the line & master cylinder will self bleed as you ride the motorcycle & use the clutch as the air will travel up on the fluid. 

 

As for grease on the push  rod, manual doesn't mention much but I usually put a very light swipe on the back end (where it seats in the slave bearing) & a light swipe on the front where it contacts the diaphragm spring, & a drop of oil on the felt anti-rattle wiper.  

[bacos]

yes, replaced the slave as you suggested. went back and marked the amount of spline play on the clutch.

 

forgot to lube that shaft. didn't occur to me that it needed to be greased - though it makes sense on principle. guess I'll pull it back out and put a dab on the back end - not brave enough to pull the push rod - and hope I don't screw up the gasket. doh.

[dirtrider]

28 minutes ago, bacos said:

yes, replaced the slave as you suggested. went back and marked the amount of spline play on the clutch.

 

forgot to lube that shaft. didn't occur to me that it needed to be greased - though it makes sense on principle. guess I'll pull it back out and put a dab on the back end - not brave enough to pull the push rod - and hope I don't screw up the gasket. doh.

Afternoon  bacos

 

Personally I wouldn't remove the slave just to lube the rear, that end is not that important. The important part if the front where it interfaces with the diaphragm spring. Just nice thing to do if/when you have the pushrod removed. As mentioned:  nothing in the repair manual to do it.