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Clutch Slave Cylinder on Rockster


GilH

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Hello riders!

Has anyone changed the clutch slave cylinder on a Rockster.

I have see a few videos and read many threads but it seems the Rockster has such a unique design that none of the threads I have read and the videos match the replacement clutch slave cylinder of my actual bike.

I even read someone said "The clutch slave cylinder is buried inside the bell housing” while others have said it's as simple as removing the muffler and shock.

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What a coincidence !

 

I've just made a video 'How To' showing the details of accessing the Slave Cylinder on my year-'04 Rockster. Much simpler than with the masses of Tupperware and footpeg plates, etc., on an and RS, an RT or a GS.

 

There's a divergence of opinion on whether you can easily do the job with the rear-frame-crossbar in place. That's the one in front of the shocker. Some say leave it there and struggle, I say bollocks to that.

 

Raise the rear-frame a smidgeon and undo the footpeg fixings each side, then the two forward-facing small screws holding the right-hand end of the crossbar, and slide the bastard out and away. Watch for the large washer on the left-hand end as you slide it out. Then the cylinder is in plain sight. The 3 fixings screws go into an alloy casting of course, so they're only torqued to 7. A mere nip-up in fact.

 

You'll surely need to replace the pesky thing, designed for a push-bike, not a heavy-duty motorcycle and made by a pushbike accessories firm in Slowakia called Magura.

 

When you buy the new one, around a ton in sterling, get it from a supplier who's sourced the copy version which is much more durable, NOT the BMW OEM Magura one which won't last. If you're in Trump's Paradise, the supplier BBY does them.

 

The job is basically :-

 

Tank side fairing panels off, side mounted oil coolers moved outwards a bit, then seats off, the tank off, ( so far a mere thirteen bolts, four fuel and vent hoses and an electrical plug - Danke vielmals, Fritz. )

 

Rear hugger and brake caliper off, rear wheel off, silencer off ( sometimes a real pig to separate that rusted-up abrazadera ( clamp ) that's been soaking up all the road crud for years.

 

Next, amortiguador ( shocker ) off.

 

A squirt of surgical spirit ( from the chemist ) along the top edge of the rubber shock-protector-flap makes it easier to unplug the five rubber pegs holding it on, sometimes also with a smecar of rubber glue, depending whether the assembly monkey all those years ago wanted to knock off for a cup of tea, or was conscientious.

 

You'll need to replace the stupid factory chunk on the end of the bleeder hose, the short one of the two attached to the slave cylinder. Instead, fit a SpeedBleeder, because that Werkstück was a once-only-use component at the factory, where they launched the DOT4 into the clutch hydraulic circuit from the bottom upwards; saved five minutes of assembly time on each bike - that' was 30 Marks per bike.

 

To fit the SB, you detach the bleeder hose from the slave cylinder, put it in a vice holding the lower hex in the jaws, and then carefully - and that's carefully, folks - heat up the end fitting ( Werkstück ) with a paint stripper blower so you don't melt the plastic union entering the fitting, and wind the Werkstück off the end of the hose because the a...h...s at the factory put red Loctite on it, as Chris Harris says in his video.

 

I found the whole business easier by emptying the handlebar master cylinder of all its fluid, carefully cleaning it out, then undoing the hose / banjo union and feeding the entire long hose back out through the innards of the bike, so that I had the full monty in my garage to p*ss about with.

 

And we're not finished yet.

 

I'll bet five pounds to a penny that when you look inside the cavity where the slave cylinder has been sitting all these years, you'll find a little puddle of a foul-smelling gear oil / grease / DOT4 cocktail sitting in the bottom of the cavity because the fancy twelve-quid seal deep in there has been contaminated and thus compromised. You'll need a seal-pick set to get the swine out and replace it. Allow half an hour struggling scrunched-up on the floor, banging you head constantly on the pillion footpeg. And that's just for that small part of the whole job !

 

Aaah, the Zen of Motorcycle Maintenance.

 

Here's the vodiodee :-

 

watch?v=8TQ1nTleSYU

 

And for your general info, here's the Tim & a Rockster film, when he did the entire friction plate and splines check. You might be scared s...less by the thought of what's involved there, but least he shows the tank removal, etc.

 

 

 

Buena suerte, amigo...

 

AL in s.e. Spain

Edited by Alan Sykes
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Glad you find the info a help - many thanks - and best o' luck when you embark on the project. Allow a weekend for the job.

 

Meanwhile, just quoting Chris Harris regarding the black fitting at the very end of the bleeder hose :-

 

"the a...h...s at the factory put red Loctite on it...."

 

Here's the video showing Chris removing that Wekstück in his former workshop in New Hampshire. Nowadays he's on-the-road with his wife & teenage kids looking for somewhere new to settle and resume his fantastic boxer-and-K-bikes servicing, maintenance and instructional filming. All his U-Toob fans wish him the very best, 'cos he's without doubt the world-leading expert in his field. Some people object to his colourful language in the videos, but I don't. To find his videos, just search the Toob for either Chris Harris or Team Monkey Productions. Here's the one that particularly applies to this job with the Slave Cylinder.

 

watch?v=cYPAmrUyiyA

 

AL in s.e. Spain

Edited by Alan Sykes
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Hello riders!

Has anyone changed the clutch slave cylinder on a Rockster.

I have see a few videos and read many threads but it seems the Rockster has such a unique design that none of the threads I have read and the videos match the replacement clutch slave cylinder of my actual bike.

I even read someone said "The clutch slave cylinder is buried inside the bell housing” while others have said it's as simple as removing the muffler and shock.

 

The clutch slave is in the same place on all 1150 bikes, it on the back of the transmission behind the shock and above the swing arm pivot. Below is what you need to do.

 

I'm two for two on clutch slave replacements. ‘04RT at 30K miles and just yesterday my ‘01GS at 45,000 miles. I just did the GS as a precaution and am glad I did. It was slightly weeping, the fluid had absorped water and there was about half a teaspoon of crud on the bottom and the bearing was dry, loose and rattling around. When I did the ‘04RT it had 1/8” brake fluid gel weeping out.

 

The job's a bit of a pain:

—remove seats

—remove left and right seat adjusters

—remove rear brake caliper

—remove rear wheel

—remove muffler

—remove catalytic converter

—remove left shock adjuster

—remove shock/strut

—tape mud flap to fender

—detach zip tie for clutch bleed

—drain clutch master cylinder

—remove clutch slave (very fiddlely job), scrape gasket from transmission

—overhaul/replace slave cylinder

—reassemble and torque most bolts

—fill, bleed and check for leaks

 

Took about 2 1/2 hours.

 

My experience makes me wonder if any slaves don't fail ... and given that a failure might require clutch replacement, should we all just replace them every so often.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi again GilH,

 

As Roger[above] knows, also included in the job of replacing the Clutch Slave Cylinder is the tussle of replacing the gear-oil seal that sits deep in the cavity in which the slave cylinder fits. If the slave shows symptoms of failure, the seal in 'front' of it will by banjaxxed.

 

Unfortunately, I found this extra part of the work the very worst.

 

The seal on my merely 24K miles bike was completely shot - soaked in a cocktail of stinking gear-oil and escaped DOT4 from the failed Slave Cylinder. It took most of a weekend of on-off work to get the darned remnants out, wrecking a set of seal-picks in the process, before I could go ahead and replace this seal with the newly-specified orange ( or brown, depending on the acuity of your eyesight ) viton compound seal.

 

In the process I took the opportunity of withdrawing the long clutch actuation rod, thankfully dry and its little rattle-killer felt sleeve was dry and intact. That little sleeve is NOT a grease / oil barrier, it's a noise reduction remedy.

 

I was then able to dab a smear of the BMW Motorrad Service specified Staburags NBU30-PTM special high-pressure white, sticky grease on its tip and also a smear of the same stuff on the rod's shoulder that bears against the clutch diaphragm spring plate as the rod spins at engine speed.

 

Fotos :-

 

a) first look at the cavity in the back of the gearbox when the Slave Cylinder is first removed...

 

Gearbox_input_shaft_output_oil_seal.jpg

 

Original seal bits....

 

Gearbox_Inoput_Shaft_Output_Seal_-_original_extracted.jpg

 

New 'viton' seal fitted...

 

https://i.postimg.cc/wHxrZzVL/Gearbox_Input_Shaft_Output_Seal_newly_installed_pushrod_insert.jpg

 

And I also got a set of 160mm long small-diameter drill bits so I could drill the recommended drain hole through the bottom of the cavity. Any future gunge entering the cavity can escape downwards to avoid the chance of the cavity filling up and allowing the stuff to migrate along the push-rod to wet and thus wreck your friction plate.

 

Like I said, allow a weekend if your original seal is as sh*gged as mine was.

 

Buena suerte,

 

AL in Andalucía

 

 

Edited by Alan Sykes
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