A Clutch of Questions

[Duane Ausherman]

That input shaft wear is unusual.
I can't tell from what you wrote to be able to adivse.
We put together a lot of clutches with used parts that had never seen each other before. For normal average riding they worked out quite well. Are you willing to take it down again in a couple of years in order to get the full wear out of it? Or bite the bullet now and get all new parts. For a customer we would go the more conservative route of replacing rather than risk our reputation on used parts. We had a few customers that were always in hard straights and "had" to take the risk. They usually did very well with used parts.
Not much of an answer, sorry.

[Deleted User 61]

Guess I'm just not a me person ---

That's funny, Roy!

[Deleted User 61]

That input shaft wear is unusual.
I can't tell from what you wrote to be able to adivse.
We put together a lot of clutches with used parts that had never seen each other before. For normal average riding they worked out quite well. Are you willing to take it down again in a couple of years in order to get the full wear out of it? Or bite the bullet now and get all new parts. For a customer we would go the more conservative route of replacing rather than risk our reputation on used parts. We had a few customers that were always in hard straights and "had" to take the risk. They usually did very well with used parts.
Not much of an answer, sorry.

I thought it answered the question quite well, Duane!
And welcome to the new forum!

[Airbear]

Welcome back Duane. Your reply is, as usual, right on the money. I had already got away with putting back those crappy old parts for an extra 45,000kms. At the time I did promise the old dear that they would be replaced 'next time'.

Re the wear on the input shaft - I can only postulate that along the way the bike sat in the weather for a long time without the splines being protected with grease, and they rusted quite badly. The splines on the friction plate indicate that it is a lot younger than the other parts. I have elected to replace the plate because it has previously been soaked in oil and the wear is uneven.

A new friction plate, pressure plate and diaphragm spring are on the way from the UK. The cover (pressure ring) appears to be just fine (I know because I showed it to a bloke who knows a lot more than me and he said, "Nah, that's just fine. Shove it back in.") The current strength of the Ozzie Dollar has been a boon. I am getting those 3 parts delivered for less than a friction plate would cost here in Oz.

[Jean]

Since you've already made the right decision, I'll only make you feel better with my comment.
Unless you just REALLY enjoy jerking the tranny, etc. out and going into the clutch, I think to replace questionable parts when found is the right thing to do.
I get a lot of trash-talk about my tacky s-faring and windshield, but the money spent on the new clutch parts was better spent. I hope they last as long as the first batch...over 200,000Km.
Nasty break about that OEM cable!! They ought to give you another, although I'd be hesitant about USING it!!

[Airbear]

Thanks Jean, for the comment. Kind of timely since my new clutch arrived on the kitchen table yesterday afternoon. I'll quote a bit from my thread on the Oz election thread in the Speakeasy -

A fun thing happened today down at the hall. The post office dragon was handing out 'How to Vote' cards for the party I could never vote for, as she has done for at least 300 years. It happens that I was waiting on my new clutch from Motobins, so I asked her if there was a nice heavy package for me. There was; it had arrived late yesterday, so I said I would vote for her preferred party if she would open the post office and retrieve the parcel for me. She did and I didn't. Should I feel guilty?

A nice new pressure plate, diaphragm spring and friction plate have joined the other bits on the kitchen table. I start assembling tomorrow. My 'little white lie' has saved me two days.

The OEM clutch cable was weird. The cable inner was a somewhat smaller diameter - yep, just checked - 1.6mm instead of 2.0mm. I have never been happy with any experience at BMW shops (boutiques). I hope I never have to enter one again. Fortunately we have a pretty good mail order supplier just a few thousand kms away. Unlike BMW, they seem to know about old airheads.

[Jean]

That is only worth 2 beers.
Do not compromise your morals.
Hell, you might even start looking at an oilhead.
"Oh, the humanity!!!!"

[Major Softie]

Fortunately we have a pretty good mail order supplier just a few thousand kms away. Unlike BMW, they seem to know about old airheads.

Actually, there are dealers out there that know the airheads, but who knows how long it will last.

I'm very lucky in that both the closest dealers are very retro savvy, not just with /5 on, but /2 as well. The Reno dealer (Sierra) is a real joy to visit - small, and not too "boutique." The Sacramento dealer (A&S) has a very large web presence and is a big boutique, but they do know the old bikes as well, and stock many parts for them. A&S does feel pretty alien compared to old dealerships, but they've opened up their own Ducati dealership right next door, and that helps make up for it.

[Airbear]

That is only worth 2 beers.
Do not compromise your morals.
Hell, you might even start looking at an oilhead.
"Oh, the humanity!!!!"

Jean, I have been looking for my morals for some time now, going back through the um, ... memory thingie, trying to remember when I last saw them. You know how it is when you've lost something ....

Just say for instance, (just as an example mind), that you were looking for the 3 long bolts that you need to remove and replace the clutch. You know exactly where they are, hanging in their little ziplock back on the nail in the shed where they have been for 5 years. You go to get them and WTF?, they are not there. You've been trying to keep things organised, trying to be a bit anal about the collection of BMW bits and special tools and so on, even though this is slightly out of character. Now, (this is still a hypothetical) you know you have loaned them out to mates a couple of times but they have always come back, or have they? Ah that's it, you think. Last person you loaned them to was so-and-so, but he is 300kms away taking his boys to a football game. Damn, you think. (Actually you might have said some stronger words than that). So you remove your clutch by carefully removing the 6 little bolts, even though you have just read in the book that there will be risk of injury and damage. At the final turn of one of the bolts there is a loud sproinging sound and there are bits flying everywhere. No injury, no damage, but (in this example) where are all the bolts? Now, say all this happens on your front porch, next to a garden that for some reason hasn't been maintained in recent years. It is full of weeds and looks pretty ugly and that last bolt is probably in there, somewhere. Being a resourceful blighter, you get a nice strong magnet and search that garden, get scratched by the wild rose bushes that have never flowered and have no luck at all.

I know this is a long winded and unlikely hypothetical, but something like this could happen to somebody. Anyway, the time comes to put your shiny new clutch back on. You have ascertained that the bloke you might have loaned them to has definitely returned those 3 long bolts so you start doing a proper search, through your entire house, your shed, the boxes of things that you have packed away up on the top shelf in the back of the shed, under the seat of the car. You even grill the cat (not too hard, he's a sensitive soul). You begin to regret the astonishing amount of alcohol and possibly other substances you have perhaps unwisely consumed in your long life, but get over that in no time. Then, just as you about to give up, realising that you will just have to wait until Monday so you can borrow a car and drive 30kms to the bolt shop to get some more bolts and, Holy Sheepshit, there they are, hanging on a different nail about a metre away from their original location. You grin wildly but your joy is short-lived because there is still the matter of that goshdarn (you might have used a slightly stronger word here) missing bolt. On the way from the shed to the porch you suddenly think, "Ah, what if " .... and you move the trailer and there it is - that lovely bolt. It is truly gorgeous - so compact and sturdy looking. It has done its job so well for 36 years. It was 5 metres from the bike. You hold it in one hand, and the little bag with the 3 long bolts in the other hand. You look at the sky for a moment but no, you remind yourself, don't even think about that.

I could have used a different and much shorter hypothetical example here, and I have no idea why I chose this extremely unlikely one, but to get back to the original question ... er ... yep, my morals. Phew. I know I use them a lot, or at least try to. Sometimes it is difficult. I know I put them somewhere ......

[grant81rs]

hypothetically speaking of cause Charlie

I'll come up and prune those roses for ya, love gardening and I'm a gem with the 20" bar petrol pruner...