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96 K1100LT true maintenance schedule

leftturn

New member
am a new owner to this bike and figuring it out maintenance wise. So far it seems pretty easy just time consuming. I am concerned about the major greasings that are said to be required. The dealer wants me to do an annual 6 hour deal at $91 and hour. Supposedly I am supposed to grease the input shafts every year. I am using this bike on the Florida east coast right at the ocean and I am riding it in town so I am using the clutch alot. How often should I drop that transmission to take care of this issue? Also is it a good idea to just not use the clutch? It's pretty easy to hift without it..thanks
 
With a good high moly content sticky grease (see Gudardog Moly GD525 for example) a 40K interval seems to work well on that model. Given your salty coastal air, I certainly wouldn't go beyond two years regardless of mileage.
 
DO NOT SHIFT THESE TRASMISSIONS WITHOUT THE CLUTCH!!!!!

Nothing will destroy these transmissions quicker than shifting them without the clutch!

These are not like your typical Japanese transmissions. When shifted without the clutch, you will rapidly round off the shift dogs that connect the gears to the slider that connects the gear to the shaft. When rounded, instead of sucking the gear and slider together, it will start pushing them apart, bending the shift fork, denting the shift drum, and possibly shattering the shift fork roller. It will put lots of metal into the oil and bearings. It will start popping out of gear with increasing regularity. To have it repaired at a shop with new parts will cost you well in excess of $1000!

DON'T DO IT!!!


Clutch spline greasing is more of a mileage thing than a calender thing (your dealer should have told you that). 30-40,000 miles is realistic unless you start having issues with stiff downshifting sooner than that.



:dance:dance:dance
 
OK OK OK I waon't You scared me to death..
DO NOT SHIFT THESE TRASMISSIONS WITHOUT THE CLUTCH!!!!!

Nothing will destroy these transmissions quicker than shifting them without the clutch!

These are not like your typical Japanese transmissions. When shifted without the clutch, you will rapidly round off the shift dogs that connect the gears to the slider that connects the gear to the shaft. When rounded, instead of sucking the gear and slider together, it will start pushing them apart, bending the shift fork, denting the shift drum, and possibly shattering the shift fork roller. It will put lots of metal into the oil and bearings. It will start popping out of gear with increasing regularity. To have it repaired at a shop with new parts will cost you well in excess of $1000!

DON'T DO IT!!!


Clutch spline greasing is more of a mileage thing than a calender thing (your dealer should have told you that). 30-40,000 miles is realistic unless you start having issues with stiff downshifting sooner than that.



:dance:dance:dance
 
DO NOT SHIFT THESE TRASMISSIONS WITHOUT THE CLUTCH!!!!!

Nothing will destroy these transmissions quicker than shifting them without the clutch!

These are not like your typical Japanese transmissions. When shifted without the clutch, you will rapidly round off the shift dogs that connect the gears to the slider that connects the gear to the shaft. When rounded, instead of sucking the gear and slider together, it will start pushing them apart, bending the shift fork, denting the shift drum, and possibly shattering the shift fork roller. It will put lots of metal into the oil and bearings. It will start popping out of gear with increasing regularity. To have it repaired at a shop with new parts will cost you well in excess of $1000!

DON'T DO IT!!!


Clutch spline greasing is more of a mileage thing than a calender thing (your dealer should have told you that). 30-40,000 miles is realistic unless you start having issues with stiff downshifting sooner than that.



:dance:dance:dance


So I guess the 150K miles of clutchless shifting on my K100RT and 80K miles of clutchless shifting on my K1100LT with no problems says differently. If you are smooth and can match rpm fairly well its not a problem to shift without the clutch.
 
So I guess the 150K miles of clutchless shifting on my K100RT and 80K miles of clutchless shifting on my K1100LT with no problems says differently. If you are smooth and can match rpm fairly well its not a problem to shift without the clutch.


Tom,

What YOU do with YOUR bike is YOUR business.

You will always be able to find a couple of people who have survived years of playing Russian Roulette, whether by luck or by a system. I would not recommend it.

I have rebuilt several of these transmissions with this exact problem. The owners almost all admitted to "occasionally" shifting without the clutch. Now, admittedly, none had the skill that you must have at always matching RPMs, but they all said it worked "for awhile", so they saw no problem with it. :dunno



:dance:dance:dance
 
Tom,

What YOU do with YOUR bike is YOUR business.

:dance:dance:dance

Oh Ok, gee thanks!

I just thought your huge screaming letters of pending doom were a tad bit over the top. Thought the OP might want to hear someone elses real world experiences with clutchless shifting these bikes. Sorry if that upsets you.
 
Tom,

Does that mean if Leftturn's tranny starts popping out of gear, he should send it to you and you'll fix it?:wave



:dance:dance:dance
 
I once down-shifted and up-shifted my K75 for about 6 miles without benefit of a clutch - running three stop signs in the process - simply to get it home when the clutch cable broke. Not fun, but good to know it is possible though certainly not smooth on the down-shifts. I have on a few occasions unintentionally up-shifted my K100 without the clutch. I guess it is common knowledge that with most BMW bikes, the proper shifting procedure is to pre-load the shifter, slightly pull in the clutch while you slightly roll off the throttle, then get back on the gas as you quickly but smoothly release the clutch. Right?

Do it right and it is seamless increase or decrease of speed with no jerks. (No, I don't always do it that way. Don't ride enough. But that is how it works for me fairly often.)

I've certainly heard of racers up-shifting without the clutch. Do they down-shift that way? Always good to learn something new. But, for sure, a properly adjusted clutch needs very little lever movement to change gears when you are moving. Getting from neutral to 1st at a long stop light may well take more manipulation of the clutch and taps on the gear-shift lever.
 
1100lt

I thought that no question asked is a stupid answer. My being yelled at like a little boy was uncalled for.
Maybe Lee had a bad day. Lord knows it's hard enough to get replies here. Tom is no more responsible for my shifting without a clutch than some one that tells me to run bridgestones instead of Metz"s and I get in an accident in the rain. I am ultimately responsible for ALL of my actions. It looks like I have to pull that tranny on this maintenance intrusive thigh boiling motorcycle every few years anyway. That would probably be the time to open the tranny anyway. Looking at the schematic that spring on the shifter looks pretty lame anyway. I may as well open her up. Lord help me if I get a spec of anything in the ABS system and it decides to stay red until the cows come home. It sure does accel and handle like a dream, but, court is still out for me on whether it's worth all the maintenance issues.
Tom, Thanks for your input on your experience at shifting. I have a friend with an 06 1200 GS that does it all of the time. I just thought maybe I could get another couple of years out of the lube job if I didnt have the clutch plate run up and down the shaft. Probably not. I frequent delphi forums LC/C90. It is the most helpful site I have ever experienced. All should go take a look..Where never is heard, a discouraging word, and the clutches are all run in oil. Stupid japanese.
 
Leftturn,


As a new owner, I thought that you might benefit from experience. I was not yelling at you (even though, on the internet, caps and large letters are construde as yelling). I was just trying to EMPHASISE my point.

If you care to shift your bike without the clutch, by all means, do so. But, do so with the full knowledge that you MAY be doing expensive damage to the transmission. As you correctly pointed out, these are NOT Japanese bikes with wet clutches. It makes a big difference!

Opening up the transmission to look at it is a waste of time, unless you know specifically what you are looking for and why. If you knew that, you wouldn't be talking about shifting it without the clutch.

Sorry if you felt yelled at. It was not intended in that way. I was just trying to help you out. As with any internet advise, you will always get differing views expressed. It's up to you to determine which advice to follow.

When I answer inquiries on this forum, I also have to take into account that hundreds of other members are also reading these answers and comments. I try to make sure others do not get the idea that it is OK to not use the clutch. If they did, and even 30% of them developed shifting problems, I would have done a great disservice to the members.



:dance:dance:dance
 
Leftturn
I think one of the best aspects to a K bike is the lack of maintenance required.
My philosophy is if it works don't fix it.
Me? I'd change the oils if needed and just ride it. That's it.
Maybe clean the mirrors!
I also upshift alot from 3rd to 4th to 5th, without the clutch.
When done correctly seems seamless to me!
 
I know what Lee is saying I also see that downshifting is harder to hit than upshifting..especially at the gears
you mentioned..I love the way this bike handles but I am not willing to spend the money or time for 6 hours labor
just to grease a spline. It was a bad design in my humble opinion.
 
I know what Lee is saying I also see that downshifting is harder to hit than upshifting..especially at the gears
you mentioned..I love the way this bike handles but I am not willing to spend the money or time for 6 hours labor
just to grease a spline. It was a bad design in my humble opinion.

It may be a bad design. But you own the bike. When the spline wears out and disconnects due to lack of lubrication, leaving the bike motionless beside the road, you still have to spend those six hours, plus the time and/or money to replace the clutch and put a new input shaft in the transmission.
 
I agree that it is a bad design. I do own the bike, but that can be rectified. It is also a very hot bike to ride. No vents like the Japs put in
their Honda. It is way too high as well. Many people have dropped this bike. Great mirror placement too. I love watching my forearms.
I am lucky so far that my abs is still working. I like the way it handles and the windshield. I have everything stripped off of ir just to try to not
get over heated. It looks like a K75. Should I mention the wonderful sound system>>? lol Want to put water in the radiator>? Sure, pull the
tank off..How about using chopsticks to pull the radio. That was a genius. So thats the rant. I am told just to do the maintainance and this bike
will run forever. 600 bucks a year for the annual at bmw. after 10 years on my
Suzuki Intruder I might have put in 500 dollars. For six grand I could just buy another bike
 
I agree that it is a bad design. I do own the bike, but that can be rectified. It is also a very hot bike to ride. No vents like the Japs put in
their Honda. It is way too high as well. Many people have dropped this bike. Great mirror placement too. I love watching my forearms.
I am lucky so far that my abs is still working. I like the way it handles and the windshield. I have everything stripped off of ir just to try to not
get over heated. It looks like a K75. Should I mention the wonderful sound system>>? lol Want to put water in the radiator>? Sure, pull the
tank off..How about using chopsticks to pull the radio. That was a genius. So thats the rant. I am told just to do the maintainance and this bike
will run forever. 600 bucks a year for the annual at bmw. after 10 years on my
Suzuki Intruder I might have put in 500 dollars. For six grand I could just buy another bike

I agree it's not the right bike for you. Whenever I hate a bike I trade it for one I like better. I love my K75s. Didn't like my K1100LT so traded it in on an R1150R.
 
I agree it's not the right bike for you. Whenever I hate a bike I trade it for one I like better. I love my K75s. Didn't like my K1100LT so traded it in on an R1150R.

Everyone likes the K75s. I was looking at an R1150RT during this last bike week. I do like the sound of the boxer. I like the old airheads too.
In all honesty I just love the way my K feels at 80 and up. So smooth. There are just no autobahns around here. We shall see.
 
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