Clutch Slave Cylinder

[meese]

I know it's short notice, but this Saturday the 12th I'm heading down to David Shealey's near San Diego to get his help with replacing my clutch slave cylinder. I know a couple of people wanted to witness this procedure, so PM or email me and I'll send the details.

I plan on being there at noon, and David claims it's a 2-3 hour job. We won't be doing any other service work, but I'd like to get first-hand experience with this procedure so that I can help others when their time comes.

[graydude]

Ken,

I'd love to witness the procedure. I'm only about 45 minutes from Dave. I won't know for certain if I can make until Friday but I'd like to have the details on how to get to Dave's

[McAllister]

I was looking for an excuse for a long ride before the weather turns bad! But, my wife has other plans. Something to do with firewood I think. Anyway, how about taking a couple of pictures after you dig your way to it?

[meese]

Todd - PM sent.

Bill - What's 1,850 miles or so among friends? If you left Friday around 10 a.m., you make it in plenty of time. :) Good idea on the camera, though. Sure wish I'd thought of that while we were doing Brian's throttle cables recently.

[dshealey]

Here is my address:

3010 Calle Mesquite
Jamul, CA 91935

Hwy 94 towards Campo/Tecate
After the Jamul Post office take Melody Road to the right
Next right is Calle Mesquite
Second house on the left.

[meese]

So I picked up all the parts I'd ordered for this job today, only to find two small problems. The felt ring didn't come in (or they couldn't find it), and they only ordered 1 of the crush washers for the hydraulic hoses (instead of 4).

No matter, as Irv Seaver, Brecht, and Brattin all have those parts in stock, all are on my way down to Jamul, and are all open tomorrow morning.

Oh, and if anyone needs the special BMW spline lube, BMW of Ventura now has plenty on hand. Apparently ordering a quantity of 1 gets you a full case.

See you there at noon.

[Randy]

See you there at noon.I really wish I could be there to watch and take pictures. This job would be a great candidate for our articles system. If someone was to take pictures, especially of those critical elements of the procedure, I would be happy to help create the document.

[dshealey]

I assume by Brecht you meant BMW Motorcycles of North County. Brecht is no longer the dealer, but the new shop is just a couple blocks away on the same street (Hale Ave.)

[meese]

Well, whoever answered the phone this afternoon. :) The address I have is 230 S Hale Avenue. I'll probably stop by Irv Seaver, or maybe Brattin, as those are both closer to my intended route. No matter, as all three had the parts in stock.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I looked for the link to the list of BMW dealers recently posted here, but couldn't find it with the search engine. :( The list I found on the web is out of date, as it still listed Marty's and not BMW of Long Beach.

Randy, I'll have my camera with, and will probably conscript someone to take pics. I'm sure that between you, I, and David, we can come up with a reasonable procedure to post. I've spent quite a few years writing installation and upgrade procedures for the semiconductor industry, so I should be able to come up with a reasonable first draft. Hm, maybe I should read the official procedure in the BMW manual before tomorrow. :)

[graydude]

Ken,

I might suggest you go for North County on Hale. They don't open till 10:00 but they are closer to your route than Irv Seavers. I'm assuming you're taking the 15 south. Exit at Auto Park in Escondido and go right at the bottom of the off ramp. Then right at the next light and right again on Hale. The shop is kinda hard to find down the road on your left. Scott in parts should be able to take care of you.

See ya tomorrow. Todd

[meese]

I go wherever my GPS tells me to go. :)

Actually coming from Ventura County puts me on 101/5/805/94. I have another quick errand to run in downtown San Diego that morning, so I'll be pretty close to Brattin anyway.

The route home is yet to be determined, depending on how much daylight is left after we're done. I hear there are a couple of good roads down that way. :D

[Jriverside]

Iam going to make it tomorrow. Sounds very interesting.
Jim

[mjordans2000]

For those who couldn't make it, you missed a great tech session. Not only is David a wealth of knowledge he is a great host as well (did you know he has a four car garage, I'm still drooling). I'll leave the tech stuff to Ken who plans a detailed write up but I will say we need to listen to David's advice to change the clutch cylinder around 60K. Ken's was starting to leak, clearly he dodged a bullet. Ken also replaced his centerstand assembly while he was under there. It was fun following him through a few tight curves in the dark as he 'adjusted' the ground clearance. The shower of sparks was very impressive.

[meese]

And the very next thing I did when I got home was cut down the rubber bumpers to reduce the spark effect. :) Why, I hardly touched the center stand down at all at Buttonwillow raceway yesterday. The pegs are a bit lighter though, as are the tires. :D

I'll do a ride report, as soon as my arms are recovered enough to type all that, but here's the short version:

This was an absolute blast. It was great to be able to focus on the bike's abilities without worrying about oncoming traffic, driveways, cops, etc.

The LT is way too heavy for this kind of thing. It does alright, but I was fighting the weight the whole time as well as the relatively weak horsepower/weight ratio.

Hanging off the LT really isn't worth the hassle. It does help some, but it's a long way from full left lean to full right lean. In tight chicanes it just takes too long to make the transition, and the bike gets all squirrely while you're moving around.

Practice, practice, practice and get your shifts right. The advantage of riding the same track over and over is that you can try out different shift and brake points and see what works best. Get it wrong and the whole bike gets upset and starts sliding around. :(

The Integral brakes work great. There were a few times that I was on them really hard just before leaning into a corner, and they just worked without complaint or drama.

The BT020 bias tires work really well in the dry, at about 36 psi front and rear. I pushed them hard, and the front always stuck while the rear let me know when I was getting to far leaned over and beginning to hit the traction limits. Plus I finally scrubbed off the shoulders from all my recent interstate riding. :)

I did manage to pass a K12S, in a corner no less. :) Note that he was quite gun shy of the corners, but would rocket ahead at any straight. I finally got close enough to him on a short straight leading into a long sweeper that I could carry my momentum through the corner as he tucked inside and slowed.

When they call your group, be ready and get into the line ASAP. If you can get out front and use the whole track, it's pretty tough for anyone else to pass (except on the long straights). Normally, I stayed tight inside the long corners and straights (passing was only allowed on the outside), but a few times i just let 'er rip and rode my own line.

The LT gets about 20 mpg at full tilt in 1st - 2nd - 3rd. :D

No matter what you ride, learn to ride it well. I was the only LT there, and managed to surprise quite a few folks, myself included.

More to come later.