KLT 1200's/Clutches/motor oil leaks

[Polarbear]

What kind of miles have some been getting on these clutches and bikes in general(KLT's). Mine is a '01 model with 75000, original clutch, original brake pads:). My rear main seal has been leaking for 10000 miles now. What a job! I'm waiting for the clutch to wear out first, to fix it. It is a minor leak. I drilled a hole in the case, below the clutch, to let the oil escape into a rag that I've rolled up in a tidy fashion. You'd never know unless I told ya it was there. Seems to work and has saved an early split of the bike. I suspect the clutch will go over a 100000, as I have a very easy clutch hand, through the gears. Any high milers with these KLT's rid'in around. I've had several Beemers get very near the 100K mark, with one hitting 300K(Airhead R100/7) and this KLT will probably be the second of mine to hit the 100K mark. I still have the 300K bike; bought it new. My baby! Thanks on the K question. Randy13233

[roy]

What kind of miles have some been getting on these clutches and bikes in general(KLT's). Mine is a '01 model with 75000, original clutch, original brake pads:). My rear main seal has been leaking for 10000 miles now. What a job! I'm waiting for the clutch to wear out first, to fix it. It is a minor leak. I drilled a hole in the case, below the clutch, to let the oil escape into a rag that I've rolled up in a tidy fashion. You'd never know unless I told ya it was there. Seems to work and has saved an early split of the bike. I suspect the clutch will go over a 100000, as I have a very easy clutch hand, through the gears. Any high milers with these KLT's rid'in around. I've had several Beemers get very near the 100K mark, with one hitting 300K(Airhead R100/7) and this KLT will probably be the second of mine to hit the 100K mark. I still have the 300K bike; bought it new. My baby! Thanks on the K question. Randy13233

Hi Randy
You may want to post this question on the BMWLT website. It seems that the majority of clutch failures are due to oil or brake fluid contamination from slave cylinder failures. I have read about very few actual clutch plates wearing out.

Roy

[eljeffe]

Mine went 68000 miles before my rear main seal contaminated the clutch and it started slipping. I was in the middle of a 5000 mile trip, and after talking to a couple respected mechanics, it was felt that I could finish the trip.

When my hometown mechanic took it all apart, the clutch component barely looked worn, and could have easily gone 100K or more miles. Thanks to my aftermarket warranty, and a really good mechanic, I was out of the shop with a minimum amount of pain to my wallet.

[TourDawg]

I hope more maintenance (wrenches) become aware the drain hole at the bottom of the clutch bell housing is missing from the K1200LT. The very similiar K1100LT and many other Beemers along with decades of standard transmission cars with dry clutches had the drain hole cast in place. I don't agree the fit of the engine block to bell housing is such that it would allow engine rear main seal seapage to seap thru! It will, but too slowly. Failure of the transmission input seal probably would "get the clutch" (that is the seal on the same shaft that is the clutch slave seal just the opposite end).
What we need is more data on simply drilling the clutch slave cylinder boss casting for "that" drain hole and reduce the amount of work involved in doing a "slave job". What we need is wrenches to drill the hole first, then R & R the final drive and swing arm, pull the slave carefully and see the containment of aluminum chips. I have (Tourdog) posted this "heresy" on BMWLT the principle K1200LT site and easily get flamed but mostly it is by those who have done "their's" and are then satisfied to do no more. I wish I had simply drilled mine (yes, it was loaded with brake fluid) and then pulled the swing arm. It would have given me a chance to see the results inside the cavity. Better to remove the slave, then drill, sure because you can clean all the chips out (no argument from me) but for those who not venture that amount of time or the money (dealer won't do it) this is a simple way to keep a slave cylinder failure from failing your clutch (big job and big money). Most ney sayers see the chips flying when drilling and presume it is the same with the "in situ" drilling, not so. The barrel of the slave has about a half mm of room and that allows little "flinging" to go on.

Now about the Final Drive.................... no thread hijack here just info but for a latter time. :)

And, I agree with you Polar Bear, Big Bear and ElJeffe et al.

[Polarbear]

Yeah, I drilled mine alright and definately motor oil came out. No brake fluid from my slave as yet. I figured the drilling would relieve any buildup of oil hitting the bottom of the clutch assembly, therefore contaminating the clutch. I was right. It works great, for now. The oil spillage is very small, from my engine rear seal for now and this drill fix has saved me some earlier than required expenditures. I have never visited the other KLT site for info., but thanks for this feedback....Randy13233:)

[r1150gsadvrider]

However unpleasant (and expensive) it might be to repair, I think ignoring a obvious maintenence problem, that may cause a failure of another component of the motorcycle at any moment is foolish. Eventually the repair must be made and will last, more than likely, indefinately. Why not just have the repair made and not worry 'bout it?

[PGlaves]

However unpleasant (and expensive) it might be to repair, I think ignoring a obvious maintenence problem, that may cause a failure of another component of the motorcycle at any moment is foolish. Eventually the repair must be made and will last, more than likely, indefinately. Why not just have the repair made and not worry 'bout it?

I agree .... but .... in the process of doing the repair I would also make sure that a drain hole magically appeared where one needs to be.

And, by the way, it is not true that "dealers won't do it." At least not all dealers won't do it. I have been told by one dealer that every time they are in there they drill the drain hole to forstall a roadside failure if the clutch slave cylinder or rear main seal does start to leak. That allows fluid to be added periodically to get the bike home without the need to tow it due to a trashed clutch.

[Polarbear]

I did the drilling on mine to keep from having to do a premature clutch job. My original question was to those who have high mileage clutches, etc on KLT's. I did not have a ruler to gauge the life on my clutch vs. miles. I knew this would be guesswork, trying to figure clutch life, because no two riders would probably work their clutch the same. But, I might get some feel for when to expect my clutch to go bye bye. I don't think any other failure could result from my doing the self hole thing and consider what I've done to mine to be(in hindsight) be a good thing. Why do a clutch job on such a very labor intensive bike like the KLT, for a seal that will most likely not leak more than a spoonfull of oil every few weeks, or perhaps days. I learned one thing; I did not know that previous bikes had the holes already. I wonder why the KLT's did not! Probably something missed in manufacturing, I would guess. Thanks everyone. I will ride for now and turn these wrenches another day...I do my own work, as a mech for ages now. Happy Trails,Randy/Polarbear13233:)