Every once in a while my '03 RS (with 24k on it) exhibits a feeling like the clutch is dragging.
It occurs when the bike is started, not warmed up and I first put it in gear (1st). The engine slows and the bike tries to lurch forward, but the brakes hold it easily. I either hit the kill switch or the engine dies on it's own. I then pull the clutch lever a few times (not sure why I did that the first time, it kind of reminded me of "pumping" the brakes in a car that has just lost it's brakes.....?) After the lever pumping, I restart the engine, pull in the clutch lever and snick it into 1st gear and all is well. No more occurences for the rest of a good days ride. It happened again this past weekend.
Could it be a leaking master cylinder, or something? Is there anything to adjust? I did have the clutch lever pulled tight to the hand grip. I suppose I could add some travel by adjusting the lever position farther from the bars, but that seems temporary.
I'm unfamiliar with the clutch hydraulics so any experiences would be greatly appreciated.

A simple bleeding of the clutch may be of big help.

My '97 KRS engages the clutch with only about 1/2" of pull at the lever, I can shift in and out of neutral at that distance with no drag.

Perhaps you should start by flushing through some new fluid and make sure there is no air in there. If you had a leaking seal, I'd expect the reservoir level to drop and you wouldn't get a drag problem until the level got so low the clutch master cylinder on the bars started to pull air. Check your levels first and do a bleed. I think my clutch lever is set to No. 2 position.



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I had a very similar problem.

I took it in and let the dealer bleed the clutch and brakes at the same time.

Took care of it.

Good luck!

I had something similar right before my clutch slave failed. How is the fluid in the reservoir? On our particular model of bike the fluid level should rise as the clutch wears, so a low fluid level may indicate a clutch problem.

Been there...done that.
Watch the reservoir level. If it's dropping, you may have a slave cylinder leak. That's not the exciting part, though. That fluid leaking, if it is, gets to places where you don't want it to go...rear engine seal, and input transmission seal.

Having said all that, here's the deal. If the fluid is leaking, it was a BMW warranty item. Depending on how it's handled, if you can have the slave cylinder serviced under warranty, pay for the rear engine seal and input transmission seal replacement. The seals aren't that expensive, and it's an additional 1 hour labor. Otherwise, you're most likely going to pay for the removal of the drive train to replace those seals down the road as "wear items".



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Warranty Item? On a 4 year old bike with 24k?

Well...service contracts will extend the warranty time, but I should have rephrased it "if it's under warranty". Point was that if you go in there to fix the slave cylinder, replace the seals anyway.

Thanks for spotting that one, though.



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I know because I just (last week)went through this on my '03 GT with just 22,000 miles on the odometer. While riding to Florida with my daughter I had two instances were the bike lurched when I tried to start it. I made it back home, but the dealer couldn't fix an intermittent issue. When it finally failed it had leaked fluid all over the clutch plate, etc. I did have the shop replace the rear seals also. My extended warranty provider (Pinnacle) doesn't cover the part, so all of the damage caused was not covered either. So, I guess the moral of the story is, not all extended warranties are created equal?

Your service contract didn't cover a failed slave cylinder? Why?