Have you noticed towards the end of an oil change cycle...

...that when you let out the clutch lever from a dead stop in 1st gear it will rather suddenly but not violently grab towards the end of the clutch lever release, rather than smoothly engage? I can get around this by intentionally slipping the clutch more than one should need to. I ask this because w/ my recent oil change a couple hundred miles ago now that behavior suddenly stopped. The '16 RT has 35K miles now, same oil type used throughout its life. I don't remember when I first noticed this snatchiness as it were, but I think it's been several hundred miles or more towards the end of the prior cycle's ~5,000m. I don't recall noticing this at the end of other oil change cycles. Since the new oil this behavior is completely gone and it feels smooth as it should, normal clutch engagement since the change which was just about 200m ago. Do I perhaps have a clutch wear problem that is unmasked by old oil, or is it that the old oil had lost its shear strength or lubricity or what have you and this happens to others?

I'm guessing this is not a common symptom as the same post at BMWLT got no replies in 85 views so I thought I'd repost it here. Part of the reason I'm asking on this is bike is near its end of warranty so if I have a clutch issue I probably have masked it, but I'd still like to know how many others have experienced this.

I don't have a answer for you but at least I can bump your thread

Sounds possible that old or dirty oil could cause what's happening.
I have not noticed it on my wethead and my wife has not mentioned it about her bike but our oil changes have been in the 4,000 to 5,000 mile range. One change was at 3,000 miles.
I have about 29,000 miles on my bike and Debbie has about 28,000 miles on hers.

Wouldn't hurt to look under the bike and see if the clutch slave is wet.
I doubt that's your problem since the problem went away with new oil.

Since you're almost out of warranty explain to the shop what's happening and ask them to check it out.

On my 2017 RT when its hot I let the clutch almost all the way out before it starts to move but when its cold the clutch will grab a lot sooner. I change oil ever 6000 miles and don't notice a difference near the end of the oil life.

Oh good. I observe the same thing on my 2017. Thought the clutch was wearing prematurely.

Sorry. I haven’t seen the grabbing clutch issue however.

bobw said:

On my 2017 RT when its hot I let the clutch almost all the way out before it starts to move but when its cold the clutch will grab a lot sooner. I change oil ever 6000 miles and don't notice a difference near the end of the oil life.

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Thanks all. I'll mention it at the shop on Tuesday but as it's all back to normal again they'll likely be stumped as well, but hopefully will have a clue.

Lee said:

Wouldn't hurt to look under the bike and see if the clutch slave is wet.

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Thanks for the reply. I looked at maxBMW's part list to learn what the clutch slave might look like and from there I could not find where it lives. Trace it to the other end of the line coming out of the hydraulic clutch reservoir on the handlebar? I don't see anything dripping on the garage floor if that says anything.