Gen1 2015 XR with 89000 klms Heavy clutch action

[OzbimmerXR]

Hi All

I have noticed over the past 10 to 20K my clutch lever pull seems to be quite heavy, heavier than what I remember.  I have just ridden my mates Gen2 2020 XR with 10K on the clock and his felt soooo light compared to mine, 2 finger operation.  Does anyone know if there was an upgrade to the Gen2 clutch to make it lighter?

I bought a Motion Pro cable luber and gave mine a good flush out with silicon spray, removed a lot of gunk and improved the smoothness and feel considerably but pull action is about the same a little lighter but nothing like my mates still.

I thought maybe the cable might be on the way out, had checked the lever action without cable connected whilst lubing it, no problems.  So contacted the very helpful people at Venhill but ended up purchasing from AS3 who sell Venhill featherlight cables also very helpful.  Had the cable here in Oz in a week.  Highly recommend both these companies, brilliant service.  $73 AUD landed at my front door.

You can remove the old cable with minimal disassembly but the tank has to be lifted to install the newie properly.  Comparing the new Venhill to the OEM out of the bike there wasn't a huge difference Venhill better of course, the OEM had started to fray at gearbox end.  Once installed there was an improvement in feel and smoothness from the lubed original but still nowhere near as light as the Gen2?

I checked the operation of the actuation lever on the gearbox while the cable was off nothing restrictive there through the free play section, if you use a shifter (10") to operate the lever through the clutch actuation it does feel quite heavy?

It must be something to do with the clutch itself, I would have thought if the springs on pressure plate were worn it would be a lighter operation?  Clutch has no drag, slipping or difficulty taking off or changing gears just heavy feel to the lever action.  Anyone have any ideas I could investigate please?

[smithy]

Originally Posted by OzbimmerXR

Hi All

I have noticed over the past 10 to 20K my clutch lever pull seems to be quite heavy, heavier than what I remember.  I have just ridden my mates Gen2 2020 XR with 10K on the clock and his felt soooo light compared to mine, 2 finger operation.  Does anyone know if there was an upgrade to the Gen2 clutch to make it lighter?

I bought a Motion Pro cable luber and gave mine a good flush out with silicon spray, removed a lot of gunk and improved the smoothness and feel considerably but pull action is about the same a little lighter but nothing like my mates still.

I thought maybe the cable might be on the way out, had checked the lever action without cable connected whilst lubing it, no problems.  So contacted the very helpful people at Venhill but ended up purchasing from AS3 who sell Venhill featherlight cables also very helpful.  Had the cable here in Oz in a week.  Highly recommend both these companies, brilliant service.  $73 AUD landed at my front door.

You can remove the old cable with minimal disassembly but the tank has to be lifted to install the newie properly.  Comparing the new Venhill to the OEM out of the bike there wasn't a huge difference Venhill better of course, the OEM had started to fray at gearbox end.  Once installed there was an improvement in feel and smoothness from the lubed original but still nowhere near as light as the Gen2?

I checked the operation of the actuation lever on the gearbox while the cable was off nothing restrictive there through the free play section, if you use a shifter (10") to operate the lever through the clutch actuation it does feel quite heavy?

It must be something to do with the clutch itself, I would have thought if the springs on pressure plate were worn it would be a lighter operation?  Clutch has no drag, slipping or difficulty taking off or changing gears just heavy feel to the lever action.  Anyone have any ideas I could investigate please?

Gen-2 is a totally different engine to the Gen-1, two totally different animals and mainly unrelated except by name.

Gen-2 clutch cable goes into the engine on the opposite side to the Gen-1...nothing engine wise interchangeble except maybe the oil flter and spark plugs.

Smithy.

[OzbimmerXR]

Thanks Smithy knew they were different another mate has a 2018 XR his clutch is lighter than mine too but still not as good as the Gen2. Interesting

[Antares]

Originally Posted by OzbimmerXR

Thanks Smithy knew they were different another mate has a 2018 XR his clutch is lighter than mine too but still not as good as the Gen2. Interesting

Gen 1.0 is 2015-2016 (Euro 3)
Gen 1.1 is 2017-2019 (Euro 4)
Gen 2 is 2020-Now  (Euro 5)

One of the few small changes on the Gen 1.1 was a lighter clutch pull I believe they put a lighter return spring on the clutch arm to lessen pull effort.
As Smithy said though the Gen 2 is totally different, but you could look into which part it actually is on the Gen 1.1 that makes the clutch pull lighter and replace that. 

[capt cf]

No ideas to investigate, but my gen 2 is waaaay lighter than my gen 1 (1.1 per the above table - 2018).  It's not even close.

[Salem]

Just looking at realoem for the gen1: That must be a cam above part 3 actuating the pushrod. That's a tiny cam, high forces and potential high wear. As said gen 2 is completely different. Also on realoem but seems a larger cam profile that actuates on a curved out section in what BMW calls the mushroom. Difficult to see but assume this has a much larger contact area. Being well lubricated where it is..

[capt cf]

You inspired me to look at the clutch adjustment on my gen 1 and I can't get the gap down to 1mm at the lever even with the adjuster all the way out.  No issues shifting or with the QS, but now that's going to bug me..

[Salem]

I have a gen2 now but guess it should not be too difficult to pull out the gen1 clucth camshaft and inspect the cam? It should be unloaded. Finding the wear specs is something else, but assuming the cam is wider than the pushrod there will be an obvious groove on the cam.

[smithy]

Originally Posted by capt cf

You inspired me to look at the clutch adjustment on my gen 1 and I can't get the gap down to 1mm at the lever even with the adjuster all the way out.  No issues shifting or with the QS, but now that's going to bug me..

You need to adjust the outer cable at the bottom end, pig of a thing to get at, ideally the tank has to come off to get to it easily.

Smithy.

[capt cf]

Originally Posted by smithy

You need to adjust the outer cable at the bottom end, pig of a thing to get at, ideally the tank has to come off to get to it easily.

Smithy.

Funny you say that...I was just down there earlier with a socket extension, a universal joint, a 13mm crows foot, a headlamp and my readers on trying to figure out how the ***** I was going to get that adjusted without taking everything apart.  Any tips welcome..