Seeking advice (‘01 R1150RT)

[FCM1]

R1150RT ‘01 56000 miles

ANNUAL WITH REAR DRIVE AND TRANS OIL 20240502 (past Thursday) $286.44

Out of dealer throttle felt hard to roll but attributed it to having forgotten how old this bike is. But was this a sign that I ignored? No ride until next Sunday.

20240507 (Sunday) ride to breakfast and from there to meetup. 12 miles into it, clutch transmission slip and forces me to stop. Horrible noise under either of these conditions:

Clutch in - noise like servo interference. No gear engage.

Clutch in - noise like servo interference. Gear engage. No move.

If bike in center stand, rear wheel moves as commanded but not power to displace whole mass on pavement.

Roll throttle in Neutral - noise like servo interference.

Called a tow service (have RSA but was denied; could anything else get worse this Sunday?)

Disabled vehicle towed home. $400. Would be better heard than me describing it. But I do not see option to post videos here. Advice is welcome.

Over the phone interim estimate today 20240507 is a expensive $2500 service (OTD). Cannot upload video here. Advice also how to share a video of this symptoms? Thanks

Feel free to ask any well intended and related questions. Stay on topic please.

 

[PGlaves]

It sounds like splines have failed. Most likely the clutch hub/transmission input shaft splines. That means a whole new clutch assembly and transmission work including a new input shaft.

The other cheaper possibility is a stripped driveshaft spline.

 

[FCM1]

It sounds like splines have failed. Most likely the clutch hub/transmission input shaft splines. That means a whole new clutch assembly and transmission work including a new input shaft.

The other cheaper possibility is a stripped driveshaft

 

[FCM1]

Well. Thank you all for the advice. If I were to attack this on my own; in addition to knowhow (which can be learned with error making and some positive thinking) i would need tools and parts.
My initial estimate would be:
Acquire/borrow a motorcycle lift table
Claimer book (I have)
Torque wrench (own)
Heat gun (own)
Set of T heads, Allen, pliers, rags, grease (what kind?)
All set of wrenches and sockets (metric)
Degrasers
You name it (i might not have it )
Patience
Parts list. No idea!

 

[r0ckrat]

If you can't borrow a lift table (not entirely necessary), one worth using is going to be almost half the initial estimate... Just FYI.

 

[kbasa]

Well. Thank you all for the advice. If I were to attack this on my own; in addition to knowhow (which can be learned with error making and some positive thinking) i would need tools and parts.
My initial estimate would be:
Acquire/borrow a motorcycle lift table
Claimer book (I have)
Torque wrench (own)
Heat gun (own)
Set of T heads, Allen, pliers, rags, grease (what kind?)
All set of wrenches and sockets (metric)
Degrasers
You name it (i might not have it )
Patience
Parts list. No idea!

You're going to need to have a set of guide pins to help you remove and install the transmission. You can buy the factory parts, which are quite nice and not expen$$$ive or you can use some long bolts of the right size and cut the heads off.

I pulled the entire trans and final drive as a unit, which eliminated having to deal with removing and replacing the swing arm. Our 94RS didn't have a connector between the front of the bike and the gear position sensor on the back of the trans, so I snipped the cable and installed a waterproof 4 pin connector. Whoever has had to take the transmission out since I did that 20 years ago is probably appreciative.

If you're going to swap the transmission out, you'll get to pull the swingarm off of the transmission, but it still won't be awful to do. It took me a pair of weekends to do ours.

 

[pauls1150]

Here's a partial list of what I used for my clutch replacement (and pivot pins); your 2001 may take different parts.
And this does not include the trans input shaft.

 

[tangoalpha]

Here's a partial list of what I used for my clutch replacement (and pivot pins); your 2001 may take different parts.
And this does not include the trans input shaft.

What a great resource. I just downloaded it and have saved it for future reference. You even provided her numbers. It doesn’t get any easier than that! Thanks!

 

[pauls1150]

It might get easier if I copied my entire job/worksheet... not tonight...

 

[FCM1]

You're going to need to have a set of guide pins to help you remove and install the transmission. You can buy the factory parts, which are quite nice and not expen$$$ive or you can use some long bolts of the right size and cut the heads off.

I pulled the entire trans and final drive as a unit, which eliminated having to deal with removing and replacing the swing arm. Our 94RS didn't have a connector between the front of the bike and the gear position sensor on the back of the trans, so I snipped the cable and installed a waterproof 4 pin connector. Whoever has had to take the transmission out since I did that 20 years ago is probably appreciative.

If you're going to swap the transmission out, you'll get to pull the swingarm off of the transmission, but it still won't be awful to do. It took me a pair of weekends to do ours.

Right. The guided pins. If and when I get that far (using NASA lingo) in the

You're going to need to have a set of guide pins to help you remove and install the transmission. You can buy the factory parts, which are quite nice and not expen$$$ive or you can use some long bolts of the right size and cut the heads off.

I pulled the entire trans and final drive as a unit, which eliminated having to deal with removing and replacing the swing arm. Our 94RS didn't have a connector between the front of the bike and the gear position sensor on the back of the trans, so I snipped the cable and installed a waterproof 4 pin connector. Whoever has had to take the transmission out since I did that 20 years ago is probably appreciative.

If you're going to swap the transmission out, you'll get to pull the swingarm off of the transmission, but it still won't be awful to do. It took me a pair of weekends to do ours.

I watched the BMW Guy in youtube yesterday, he has a video titled “easy” which in my view is nothing but (subjective) however the very first act he does -and I verified with my vehicle- was put in first gear, hold bike in center stand with wight off rear end, and observe if the rear wheel moves and if it “grinds” when it does. He calls this a definitely source of trans spline wear. I did the step and definitely observed such behavior.
However another friend knowledgeable with this approach indicates that it could actually be as well a drive shaft wear. Which would be less labor intense and therefore least expensive. I am in the fence as I don’t know which end (or both?!) has failed.

 

[pauls1150]

Use a mechanics stethoscope to definitely "localize" where the noise comes from.

https://www.harborfreight.com/search?q=mechanic%27s%20stethoscopes

Or, hold the handle of a heavy screwdriver against your ear, and use the screwdriver's tip to check around.
There are gears in the rear housing, plus two U-joints (one at each end) on the driveshaft.

When my trans input splines were worn, I heard NOTHING there - but shifting was getting pretty sloppy.

 

[FCM1]

paul, thank you.

 

[m_stock10506]

However another friend knowledgeable with this approach indicates that it could actually be as well a drive shaft wear. Which would be less labor intense and therefore least expensive. I am in the fence as I don’t know which end (or both?!) has failed.

My opinion, more likely to be the transmission. Simple way to check (relatively simple), remove left panel, left foot peg plate (some say not needed) and remove the starter motor. Take a flashlight and get down low and look into the hole left by the starter. Look for the clutch hub and trans splines. If you are seeing a load of metal particles all over the place, you have your answer. The clutch splines are wrecked. If that's the case, there is a small chance that only the clutch disk splines are bad, the transmission input splines might be still okay. At least then, only the clutch has to be repaired, not the transmission.

 

[FCM1]

Okay. Good suggestion.

 

[FCM1]

I actually have one of those inspection snake cameras. Supper useful tip. Thanks again!

 

[m_stock10506]

actually have one of those inspection snake cameras.

Won’t really help you much. The only way to get access is to remove the starter. By then, you can just look in there unassisted.

 

[fbt80]

The BMW Guy. It's work but not anything you can't do.
Parts from EME and a trans shaft (maybe) from Ted Porter. https://www.beemershop.com/?utm_source=GMBlisting&utm_medium=organic

 

[gordonb]

The BMW Guy. It's work but not anything you can't do.
Parts from EME and a trans shaft (maybe) from Ted Porter. https://www.beemershop.com/?utm_source=GMBlisting&utm_medium=organic

I went thru something similar. Went in and replaced clutch (worn but not worn out). Problem persisted. Drained the tranny and the amount of metal bits that drained out pointed to failure. One of the three shafts within failed (well the supporting bearing on one end failed). My suggestion before you do anything is to drain the tranny and inspect the fluid. Easy enough to eliminate that possibility.

 

[fbt80]

Yes, goes without saying, do all 3 fluids first (final drive, tranny and bottom end) whenever there is a engine/drive malfunction suspected.

 

[TheDamun]

Well. Thank you all for the advice. If I were to attack this on my own; in addition to knowhow (which can be learned with error making and some positive thinking) i would need tools and parts.
My initial estimate would be:
Acquire/borrow a motorcycle lift table
Claimer book (I have)
Torque wrench (own)
Heat gun (own)
Set of T heads, Allen, pliers, rags, grease (what kind?)
All set of wrenches and sockets (metric)
Degrasers
You name it (i might not have it )
Patience
Parts list. No idea!

You might pull the rear wheel ( remove brake caliper M6 Allen socket - buy a set then 17mm socket, long ratchet or slip a pipe over it..) and rear drive (12 point 12mm socket) and find a busted drive shaft. That makes it easy. If not, then it could be a splurted clutch slave cylinder or worn friction p;late or ground splines. You will need to do a tail-up sequence. Watch the Chris Harris video and take notes - both for sequence of events and tools you will need. https://www.youtube.com/watch? Yes it's an 1100 but yours is similar except for the clutch slave cylinder.