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'04 R1150RT ~ New Clutch ~ No Power to Rear Wheel

tdw

New member
We replaced the clutch on my buddy's 2004 R1150RT, buttoned it all back up, went to go for a ride and ... nothing.

Before we rip it all apart again, can anyone suggest what the issue might be?
 
We replaced the clutch on my buddy's 2004 R1150RT, buttoned it all back up, went to go for a ride and ... nothing.

Before we rip it all apart again, can anyone suggest what the issue might be?

tdw,

Not that I am an expert, but I did replace my 2004 R1150RT clutch a couple of years ago. It all went well for me. I'm sure others with much more knowledge and experience will chime in shortly.

I assume the bike is starting, idling fine? I assume you are not hearing any crazy or unusual noises? Lastly, I assume nothing had to be forced back together and there were no left-over parts.

Thinking through your situation and limited description, I can only think that you are not getting proper clamp on the clutch plates to grab the clutch disk. What could lead to that?

I would think something related to the diaphragm spring or the clutch rod not allowing sufficient clamp on the friction disk. Did you replace or reuse both pressure plates? On my bike both plates were somewhat "dished". I could lay a straight edge across the machined surface and had very noticeable wear / deformation as you looked from the OD to the ID of both plates. So not wanting to have to go back in, I replaced both pressure plates to be safe. Not sure if you reused them with a new clutch disk if you might not have good contact across the full face of the disk? I would presume if it didn't have sufficient contact surface, then you might get some rear wheel movement with no weight on rear wheel, i.e. on the center stand. Otherwise if with weight on the bike, then you might smell some clutch burning since the disk and pressure plates would be slipping.

Does if feel like the clutch is working? Could you have bent the clutch rod and its now bound up and not releasing its pressure on the diaphragm spring?

Will be interested to hear the outcome. Hope I'm in the ballpark and not talking out my a$$. :dance

Thanks,
 
Hi Jim,

Thanks for your response!

Not wanting to rip it all apart again if there was something simple that we missed (like bleeding the slave cylinder?), we spent a couple of hours going over everything we did and researching the situation.

Yes the bike starts & idles fine. No, we do not hear any strange noises; it sounds fine. Nothing was forced back together. It all seemed to go well. Not without challenges (had to replace the needle bearings for the final drive, had to remove the drive shaft to review the connections and ensure we had the phasing correct); but, not totally unexpected for first-timers. No left-over parts.

We did replace the diaphragm spring with the clutch pack. We did not replace the reinforcement ring. Didn't even consider it at the time. Maybe that is the issue.

After all our discussion, review and research, I came to the same conclusion that you have. I think we did something that is preventing the diaphragm spring from applying sufficient pressure to engage the clutch plate with the pressure plate & clutch cover. Or maybe the reinforcement ring is messed up and preventing the diaphragm spring from applying sufficient pressure.

AFAIK, we are not getting any rear wheel movement with the bike in first sitting on the center stand but will have to confirm that. We definitely do not smell any burning clutch.

tdw
 
The slave cylinder and pushrod operate to disconnect the transmission from the engine. Any failure there would have the clutch engaged - not disengaged. So a failure to provide power to the wheel says that the clutch isn't gripping or the shaft is somehow not engaged.

Off hand I can't envision how this could be the case.
 
Remove the starter, and then while looking at the clutch, engage the and disengage the clutch lever. You should be able to see the clutch engage or disengage.

With the starter still removed, put the bike in 6th gear and have someone turn the rear wheel. You should see be able to see if it is engaged and turning.
 
Could the pushrod be installed backwards? If I remember correctly the pushrod is stepped at the slave cylinder end and round at the clutch end. Putting it in backwards would depress the clutch spring and release it.
 
Could the pushrod be installed backwards? If I remember correctly the pushrod is stepped at the slave cylinder end and round at the clutch end. Putting it in backwards would depress the clutch spring and release it.

Excellent possibility.
 
Thanks Paul ... we were thinking the same thing - . I'm hoping it's something simple and glad there's no video evidence of our ineptitude. Hope to delete this thread to destroy all evidence once it's resolved ... LOL

Will try to have a look at the clutch with the starter removed and a look at the gear box through the fill hole once we get back to it. Quick question, is there a trick to removing the starter once the engine is running so that we can see how the clutch is engaging / disengaging? ... LOL

The pushrod ... after all our research & review of our work, we were thinking we may have messed something up with that causing it to continually apply pressure to the diaphragm spring thereby leaving the clutch in a permanently disengaged state. Never thought we could have installed it backwards tho' as we didn't intentionally remove it from the gearbox. My friend had it out briefly to look at it but I wasn't paying attention so I don't know if he inadvertently flipped it end-for-end before reinserting it. Sure hope it's something as simple as that.
 
If you pull the slave you should see the end of the pushrod that has a shoulder on it.


Correct orientation
 

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Thanks Paul ... we were thinking the same thing - . I'm hoping it's something simple and glad there's no video evidence of our ineptitude. Hope to delete this thread to destroy all evidence once it's resolved ... LOL

Will try to have a look at the clutch with the starter removed and a look at the gear box through the fill hole once we get back to it. Quick question, is there a trick to removing the starter once the engine is running so that we can see how the clutch is engaging / disengaging? ... LOL

The pushrod ... after all our research & review of our work, we were thinking we may have messed something up with that causing it to continually apply pressure to the diaphragm spring thereby leaving the clutch in a permanently disengaged state. Never thought we could have installed it backwards tho' as we didn't intentionally remove it from the gearbox. My friend had it out briefly to look at it but I wasn't paying attention so I don't know if he inadvertently flipped it end-for-end before reinserting it. Sure hope it's something as simple as that.

I don't see any reason why you would need the engine to be running to see the movement of the clutch plate.
 
I don't see any reason why you would need the engine to be running to see the movement of the clutch plate.

You don't, with the starter removed one can easily access the edge of the clutch disc.
Using a pick you can determine if it is released or under pressure.

Alternatively, bike on centerstand, in gear, turn the rear wheel.
 

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You don't, with the starter removed one can easily access the edge of the clutch disc.
Using a pick you can determine if it is released or under pressure.

Alternatively, bike on centerstand, in gear, turn the rear wheel.

Where are you looking to take that picture? I don't recognize that view of the engine.

As for your second question ... yeah, that's exactly why we feel we've messed something with the re-assembly; we can spin the rear wheel with the bike in gear on the center stand.
 
Where are you looking to take that picture? I don't recognize that view of the engine.

As for your second question ... yeah, that's exactly why we feel we've messed something with the re-assembly; we can spin the rear wheel with the bike in gear on the center stand.

You are looking at the pressure plates and clutch disc from the side, starter removed.
 
Not that I have tried, but could you even install the transmission and hydraulic slave cylinder/actuator with the clutch rod installed backwards without severe binding or breaking something? :scratch
 
My bad ... just realized you were responding to kioolt's comment.

Yes, I recognize that photo now. Sadly, my friend and I are both familiar with having to replace our starters ... more than once. :-(
 
Not that I have tried, but could you even install the transmission and hydraulic slave cylinder/actuator with the clutch rod installed backwards without severe binding or breaking something? :scratch

I haven't tried either but I think it's possible
 
Not that I have tried, but could you even install the transmission and hydraulic slave cylinder/actuator with the clutch rod installed backwards without severe binding or breaking something? :scratch

Well ... we did get it all back together, without feeling like we were forcing anything. (You do use a 10lb sledgehammer and piece of 2x4 to seat the transmission with the engine, right? ... LOL) We will find out for sure whether we damaged anything when we have another look at it tomorrow.
 
WOOHOOOOO!!!!!

Thank you for helping and posting your suggestions!

Pulled the starter and watched the clutch engage & disengage as expected when releasing and squeezing the clutch lever respectively. From this we decided we didn't need to pull the slave cylinder just yet to look at the clutch push rod.

Removed the fill plug for the transmission and watched as we attempted to change gears. Not quite as straight-forward as it was difficult to shift with the shift lever removed but still confirmed we could change gears.

Tried turning the rear wheel to watch the transmission move ... nada ... the rear wheel moved freely but nothing in the transmission.

OK, we figured we had an issue with connecting the DS.

Removed the rear wheel and FD ... as we did, the u-joint that connects the DS to the FD input shaft kinda fall out of the assembly. We had not properly set the u-joint on the input shaft of the FD. I thought my friend had used the mallet to set that u-joint on the FD input shaft. Turns out he used the mallet to set the DS onto the transmission output shaft, a step I don't recall watching him perform.

At this point we did use the mallet to set the u-joint on the FD and listened with satisfaction to the 'clunk' as the circlip engaged on the input shaft.

Next we wanted to ensure the DS was properly connected to the transmission output shaft so we tugged on it & it wouldn't budge. We then tried to rotate it by hand but couldn't as the clutch was engaged. We disengaged the clutch and were able to rotate the DS while also watching, and listening to, the transmission.

We spent close to the next hour trying to figure out how the u-joint on the transmission output shaft was oriented as we wanted to ensure we properly phased the DS when re-installing the FD. We did mark it when we first installed it but by this point those marks had been rubbed off. We found it really difficult to determine how it was oriented until we disengaged the clutch and watched as we carefully rotated the DS.

At this point we re-installed the FD and again tested that there was a positive connection from the FD through to the clutch.

Re-installing the rear wheel, buttoning everything back up, my buddy took it for a test drive and came back with a huge smile as he was so thrilled with how the clutch performed.

Again ... Thank you for your help & suggestions!
 
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