clutch noise

[joe helman]

2002 r1150rt 32k with clutch pulled in knocking noise ,goes away when you release clutch ,hot or cold more noise when hot,when in first gear same noise at idle.has been a great bike no promlems shifting running bmw syn. in gear box and motor,daily rider and weekend trips.

[bmwmick]

Joe,

I think you'll find it's your throw-out bearing making noise. My '96 R11RT is making a little noise right now when hot. I think BMW calls it the 'thrust' bearing and it is at the rear of the tranny behind the swingarm.
On the k-bikes, this piston or 'thrust' bearing was lubed by the tranny lube. Now it has been improved(?):dunno and is packed with grease but is separate from the tranny lube.

HTH,
Mick :eek

Here is a pretty good description of your problem. http://tinyurl.com/3bxlg If you let it go, it can cause you to lose the ability to disengage your clutch when the bearing fails completely.