How High Must I Raise the Tail to Remove Transmission

[RTNewbie]

I'm in the middle of a transmission removal (96 RT) and it appears after raising the rear framework of the bike that the top of the transmission may hit the aircleaner preventing me from pulling it straight out of the bike.

I have raised the tail as far as looks to be possible. How much clearance do I need?

Thanks in advance.

[MCMXCIVRS]

I'm in the middle of a transmission removal (96 RT) and it appears after raising the rear framework of the bike that the top of the transmission may hit the aircleaner preventing me from pulling it straight out of the bike.

I have raised the tail as far as looks to be possible. How much clearance do I need?

Thanks in advance.

You should be able to swing the rear frame section up to nearly vertical. Make sure you have the rear brake lines and all wires free so they are not being damaged when you lift the frame. The airbox will stay in place until the frame is up, then it should just come off on its own. Make sure you detach it from the frame first, there are small bolts with rubber bushings on either side of the airbox.

[kbasa]

I'm in the middle of a transmission removal (96 RT) and it appears after raising the rear framework of the bike that the top of the transmission may hit the aircleaner preventing me from pulling it straight out of the bike.

I have raised the tail as far as looks to be possible. How much clearance do I need?

Thanks in advance.

You need to remove the aircleaner before it comes out. You'll need to remove most of the zipties on the cabling on the rear subframe as well, so you can get the subframe raised high enough. I used a couple tie downs to hold the subframe up, attaching them to the upper triple clamp.

The subframe should up about 75 or 90 degrees.

How are you dealing with the final drive? Are you removing the paralever and FD? I was going to, primarily so I could get access to the gear position switch on the back of the trans. Instead of taking all that stuff apart, I spliced a 4 pin connector into the harness, right where it sits on the rear subframe. I could then wheel the entire trans/paralever and FD out of the way on a transmission jack.

I used to have some pictures of the RS all taken apart. I'll look around see if I can post them on smugmug.

[lionlady]

Two summers ago, my hubby replaced the transmission on his '94 RS. A fellow BMWBMW club member had a spare to swap in while the bad one was sent out for a rebuild, so he actually did this TWICE, though he didn't disassemble the bike quite as completely the second time.

http://www.bmwbmw.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1841&highlight=clifford+lives

There's lots of helpful advice in the thread.

P

[kbasa]

Looks like he took the subframe completely off.

That's a lot more work than you need to do.

Looks he did the same as me with the trans/paralever/fd.

[MCMXCIVRS]

Looks like he took the subframe completely off.

That's a lot more work than you need to do.

Looks he did the same as me with the trans/paralever/fd.

I did that too the first time, then I learned the pivot it up technique and saved myself a bunch of work on later dissassemblies (four times now total).
I still prefer to pull the swingarm off completly (done it both ways) as it makes the transmission much less of a bear to handle. I usually find its a good opportunity to check the bearings and splines anyway.

[CTHalk]

Taking off the rear drive and swingarm will give you a chance to replace the swingarm bearings (which is easy enough to do). At ten years old, they may need it...may not. While you are in there, it might make sense to replace them. I just replaced my transmission, and I also replaced the swingarm bearings. The bike feels a lot tighter now. When I roll on and quickly roll off the throttle, there is no feeling of 'lash' or slop in the drive train. Before I did the bearings, I could sense a little 'flop' or lash when doing that. If you use a good heat gun (no torch) the job is easy. Be patient enough to get the pivot bolts hot enough to degrade the loctite before removing them. When putting the new bearings in, be patient enough with the heat gun to get the housing hot enough so the bearings drop right in......but don't burn your powder coating. Chill the bearings in the freezer to make them contract before putting them in. H.