R1150 GSA 2004 Clutch Slave Cylinder replacement- PICs

[acupuncture4u]

I let my GS sit for about a month because it had no clutch and I was afraid the slave cylinder was tough to replace. Oh and not to mention I was pinching pennies to get the 141$ for a new one. I did a 4k mile trip last summer and the fluid went bad. Bled it and went about another 500 miles and no clutch again. Another bleed lasted a bit longer and then finally gave up. So got some tips here on how to tear into it and new parts and gave it a go. About a 4 hour job for me that may have been done quicker had I had a thread with pics that could have helped a bit. So I took pics in the process for those out there like me that didn't exactly know where the slave even was.

Ok so first off get the new slave, a new green mickey mouse gasket, and a 2 new crush washers.

Take off the tire and support the bike-


Take off the rear shock and pull the hosing down so you can let it rest on the ground. One big alan bolt on the lower lefthand side and another on the top will allow it to drop down so you can get behind it to the slave.


The slave is behind a support for the frame with 3 alans that are hard to get to. What I did is use the stock alan tool that comes in the BMW kit It's the longest one with the tip that looks like a mushroom. I put that long end into the slave alans and then used the breaker bar in the kit to carefully loosen these bolts. Take your time, breath and don't f*ck up these alans.


Next you'll have to clip a few zip ties to remove your clutch bleed hose. Pull it down and under the frame you don't need to remove it yet.


Remove the other end of the slave's connection which is the one coming from the clutch's master cylinder. This connection was a difficult one for me to remove but hopefully not for you. Be ready for fluid to come out of this connection! NOTE- The pic shows AFTER I loosened the bolt with the other end of the alan wrench. Then I flipped it around to get it out quickly


What you can see from mine is a mess left inside from the breakdown of the fluid causing a fail to the clutch.
Slide the slave to the left of the bike and it will easily come out of the bike without having to remove the swingarm.


Here is what mine looked like. I took it over Medano pass and dug it deep in the Great Sand Dunes area, rode it 45k miles and then took it back to Oregon on the beach and also dug it in the sand a few times there too. So I guess that's a good reason why mine would have been so gunked up. Could it have also been due to heat?



Here is what a new one looks like.

[acupuncture4u]

Next step is to remove the bleed hose off of the old slave and put it onto the new slave. Don't forget to use the new crush washer. As a side note, make sure to check the hoses for corrosion as was suggested to me by Steptoe with his pic-


Clean out the housing for the slave, I used brake cleaner and a rag. Took a bit of aggrivation but was able to get the gunk out. Next I had to take a "SCOTCH BRITE" scouring pad to the clutch housing to clean that up for a flush mount. A bit of compressed air to dry up everything was a recommendation I got (firstworks)


Time for the new one to go in. Here is where you have 2 options. You could put the new gasket on before you put the slave behind the frame. Or, you could wait until you have both the hose connections to the slave made and then slip it on by turning the slave to the left and sliding the gasket into position. I chose the latter and took a few tries but was able to get it. The banjo bolt was hard enough to get back onto the new slave that I chose to wait to put the gasket on for fear of dropping it behind the swingarm.
-Again don't forget the crush washer on this connection as well. I was able to get the alan wrench into the bolt and then get it started in the position shown.


Once the hoses are back on, make sure your gasket is on and slide it into the housing and put the 3 bolts in. MAKE COMPLETELY SURE YOU DON'T PINCH THE GASKET! Re-route your bleed tube up over the frame and to the right side of the bike


To finish this job your going to need someone to help you bleed the system. Make sure to have someone take your pic at your most frustruated moment.


Button things up and now it's time to bleed. Leave your shock and tire off so you can check easily for leaks. Open your master cylinder on your handlebars and make sure your fluids are topped off. This is where your going to need someone to help you bleed the system. Have them pump on the clutch about 5 times and then hold the clutch in. Then you will be on the other side of the bike and open the bleed screw just a turn to allow the air and eventually the new dot 4 fluid to come out. *Be careful if you leave the master cylinder cover off. Sometimes when you pump the fluid may squirt back out at you. I left a rag on the handlebar just in squirt range. We found it helpful to bleed by squeezing the clutch in and releasing it, and then pulling it out to it's full extension position. This seemed to really help speed the process up.

In case you have done the bleed several times and wind up stripping the alan bolt out you don't have to buy a new one. Just loosen these 2 connections shown when you do the bleed. Messy but works when your out on highway 50 and there is nothing but highway.



As long as there are no leaks, your good to go. Put the shock and tire back on and your done. To get the shock back into position with the swingarm I used my jack underneath the swingarm to lift it correctly into position. Ready to ride again with a solid lefthanded handfull of good clutch.

Hope you enjoyed the pics and saved you some time.

Dustin

[billyt53]

Great post!! Thanks for posting pics as well.

I have a 2003 GSA and I saw that the little bit of bent tube near the bango bolt has started to corrode on mine. I haven't looked at a later model s/s hose but am thinking of changing over to one if it's cost effective.
Not sure either if the s/s hose has the bent tube. Any ideas?

Billy.

[Peka]

A tip: get a manual, because once you've learnt how to tilt the rear subframe up out of the way, working on the bike is a lot easier



About 4hrs to get the gearbox out, taking my time and lots of reference to the manual. I reckon I could do it in well under 3 hours next time, maybe closer to 2 if I'm keen. Taking the swingarm out would've made your job easier, and with the subframe up out of the way, the airbox is easy to remove too.

There's a few things to disconnect to be able to do it, and it looks like a train wreck afterwards, but it's really not that hard to do. The hardest part is the swingarm pivot bolts when the heat gun doesn't work

[acupuncture4u]

Originally Posted by Peka

A tip: get a manual, working on the bike is a lot easier

Taking the swingarm out would've made your job easier,
There's a few things to disconnect to be able to do it, and it looks like a train wreck afterwards, but it's really not that hard to do.

Yes taking the swingarm off and the tank and the subframe and airbox may not be that hard to do, esp. with a manual. But where I come from I'm not sure if that would have made my job easier! 4 hours was my total time, not just my teardown time. Cheers!

[Peka]

Yeah but the 4hrs was to get the gearbox out. You could get the subframe tilted up out of the way in under an hour.

I did like the improvisation with the breaker bar in the stock tool kit

[Steptoe]

Originally Posted by Peka

Yeah but the 4hrs was to get the gearbox out. You could get the subframe tilted up out of the way in under an hour.

I did like the improvisation with the breaker bar in the stock tool kit

To remove the clutch slave cylinder takes me 15 minutes. To put it back and bleed it 20 minutes ( admittedly i have an advantage of "thats what i do for a living") .
Absolutely pointless suggestion of taking all the other parts off just because you can.

Good picture write up acupuncture.

[bemiiten]

To help prevent further corrosion on the slave cylinder lines, trim the protective rubber sheath back off the metal fitting so moisture can escape. Did this 2 years ago when I replaced my line and still no rust.

[Peka]

Originally Posted by Steptoe

To remove the clutch slave cylinder takes me 15 minutes. To put it back and bleed it 20 minutes ( admittedly i have an advantage of "thats what i do for a living") .

Ok, I'll pull my head in then...

[acupuncture4u]

Originally Posted by bemiiten

To help prevent further corrosion on the slave cylinder lines, trim the protective rubber sheath back off the metal fitting so moisture can escape. Did this 2 years ago when I replaced my line and still no rust.

A pic would be great if you have one.

[bemiiten]

You can see where the rubber overlaps the metal fitting. This is just tubing slipped over the actual hydraulic line to protect it. Seems to do more harm then good. Cut and peel it off the metal fitting to allow water to escape and prevent corrosion. See how the fitting is only rusted where the rubber overlapped.

[GSMark]

What a great how-to. Should be in FAQ.
My clutch fluid is always very dark. I think that I will be doing this job very soon.
Thanks for taking the time to share your work. This has resolved some of my fears of doing the slave cylinder replacement.

[JimVonBaden]

Nice job!!!

Jim

[acupuncture4u]

I forgot to ask if the old one can be rebuilt??

[mk23]

Good to see someone else using gloves to work on their bikes!