AntVan
Race Dog
This thread will be updated as I go along.
Long story short, late last year I lost charging on a 2013 K50 R1200GS LC. She was one of the first to come out of the factory with LED lights and all the rider modes. BMW Motorrad Centurion diagnosed it for me since I had her booked in for an annual service in any case.
Now, since the shafts on these bikes run longitudinally there are only two logical places to have the clutch and the generator, either right in front or between the gearbox and the engine. BMW wisely (in my opinion) decided to place the clutch in front and the generator between the engine and the gearbox. After all, clutches go more frequently than the rotor.
To remove the rotor, you have to drop the whole engine though, which BMW quoted 4.5 hours for. In retrospect, that was a very fair quote, however part of my DNA is to understand how my bike works so I can fix things myself. Do not try this without a workshop manual. The cost of a Haynes manual is offset immediately by the saving in labour costs and then again by the parts you do not destroy.
Having said that, photos will follow later but the nut that held my inner clutch basket on was a bit of a difficult one. In the process, I destroyed one inner basket, which I had to replace with a whole new assembly (you cannot buy this part on its own). Acme sorted me out with a clutch assy. In an effort to remove the part I took the engine to BMW Motorrad Centurion and even they, after 30 minutes acknowledged this was a first. No one could get the nut off. In desperation, I then started cutting the nut with a dremel tool and tried splitting it with a chisel. After being at this for a while I got bored and tried my new impact wrench again (which until this point could not move that nut). Imagine my surprise when the driver went BRRRRRRRRRzwhewwwww and off the nut came, while I was holding the basket with my hand. I believe, but cannot prove it, that the nut was cycled through heat and cold just enough at this point and the hits of the chisel probably also assisted.
What was interesting, is that almost all the images of fried stators on the internet indicate similar damage, the first quadrant seems to be the weak one. From the wire, about a quarter clockwise is where they all burn out.
Long story short, late last year I lost charging on a 2013 K50 R1200GS LC. She was one of the first to come out of the factory with LED lights and all the rider modes. BMW Motorrad Centurion diagnosed it for me since I had her booked in for an annual service in any case.
Now, since the shafts on these bikes run longitudinally there are only two logical places to have the clutch and the generator, either right in front or between the gearbox and the engine. BMW wisely (in my opinion) decided to place the clutch in front and the generator between the engine and the gearbox. After all, clutches go more frequently than the rotor.
To remove the rotor, you have to drop the whole engine though, which BMW quoted 4.5 hours for. In retrospect, that was a very fair quote, however part of my DNA is to understand how my bike works so I can fix things myself. Do not try this without a workshop manual. The cost of a Haynes manual is offset immediately by the saving in labour costs and then again by the parts you do not destroy.
Having said that, photos will follow later but the nut that held my inner clutch basket on was a bit of a difficult one. In the process, I destroyed one inner basket, which I had to replace with a whole new assembly (you cannot buy this part on its own). Acme sorted me out with a clutch assy. In an effort to remove the part I took the engine to BMW Motorrad Centurion and even they, after 30 minutes acknowledged this was a first. No one could get the nut off. In desperation, I then started cutting the nut with a dremel tool and tried splitting it with a chisel. After being at this for a while I got bored and tried my new impact wrench again (which until this point could not move that nut). Imagine my surprise when the driver went BRRRRRRRRRzwhewwwww and off the nut came, while I was holding the basket with my hand. I believe, but cannot prove it, that the nut was cycled through heat and cold just enough at this point and the hits of the chisel probably also assisted.
What was interesting, is that almost all the images of fried stators on the internet indicate similar damage, the first quadrant seems to be the weak one. From the wire, about a quarter clockwise is where they all burn out.
