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

I just bought a 2004 R1150r with 17500 miles on it and it seems like the clutch might be bad. When I engage first gear the clutch has to be let out almost to the end. But it does catch and every other gear seems to work fine. I don't feel anything slip but I took the bike to BMW for the Oil problem with the o rings and they told me my clutch is letting out way to late and I will need to replace it. I just bought this bike and the job will cost 2600. Not sure if the dealer is trying to get the job or if the clutch is actually bad. I brought it to 2 people that rid and they said the clutch seems fine but they dont know if that is just how the BMW operates. Any assistance and helping to figure this out would be appreciated.

Is your clutch slipping at all? IOW, if you are running down the road and shift to a high gear then really open the throttle, does the engine speed increase noticeably while the bike does not?

If I get into a high gear and run the engine slow the bike does increase speed just fine. I tried on the parkway to get into 6th gear at 30mph and the i hit the throttle all the way and the speed increased to 60mph with what seemed to be no slipping. Its just when I get into first the clutch lever is able to get to close to the starting position before it grabs first and for the remaining gears I only need to tap the clutch in a tiny bit to change gears.

Worn out clutch at 17,500 miles???? VERY unlikely! If it can do a standing start wheelie or a yank you off the seat burn-out, the clutch is good.

Clutch engagement at/near the very end of lever let-go is typical for a properly bled clutch release system on the OilHead. The 50R's dry car type clutch has 2 very hard and dry friction surfaces, unlike the oil soaked, 10--18 cork type friction surfaces on the 5--9 wet clutch plates and like number of steel disks you are comparing it to. That's all it is.

I had the same concern initially, but this is the rationale I came up with:

We usually engage first gear from a total stop, with the bike in first gear but the clutch pulled all the way in while waiting to go. Then the clutch lever is let almost all the way out and the clutch engages first gear. Switching up to the other gears does not require much pull on the clutch lever. In other words, the lever itself is probably in about the same position when engaging gears 2 through 6 as when engaging first gear, but the starting position is all-the-way-in for first, and all-the-way-out for the other gears. The travel distance of the lever is different.

Steven