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Re: air head hydraulic clutch?
Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 11:39 am
by Deleted User 62
Just a thought, the slave cylinder would not have to be connected directly to the arm to make this work, if you retained the last half of the cable and mounted the cylinder elsewhere on the bike. Say, on the one of the front downtubes, for example. Another idea, if you had a handlebar mounted front brake master cylinder, you could use the under tank MC location for your slave cylinder...
Re: air head hydraulic clutch?
Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 12:07 pm
by BazBro
Many thanks for those thoughts, Ken, Tim and Blitz.
Fabrications like this are way, way beyond my meagre capabilities though! I've drawn Craig's attention to this thread so he may "call in and take a look".
In an emergency I can operate the clutch normally - it's just painful. And my problem is the thumb joints on both my hands, so a right-hand clutch won't help! By the way, this problem was the result of a m/cycle accident in 1974 when I wrote off my beautiful CB750K2, still gripping the handlebars as I hit the curb (Eng - kerb)! Ah the memories...
Yes, I'm all for a creative solution. Bring 'em on!
Re: air head hydraulic clutch?
Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 4:11 pm
by mattcfish
Post 81 tranny and clutch...one of the best mods I've made to my /6. Easy to pull, and performs better during hard riding.
The enjoyment factor went way up with that.
Hydro clutches have been done on airheads. I thought about doing it before the tranny fell into my hands.
I was going to use a spare slave off my 1975 BMW 2002 and a bar mounted master. A serious bracket would need to be fabricated that would bolt onto lengthened tranny cover bolts. The slave would mount parallel to the tranny cover and act upon an L shaped lever with the proper fulcrum for travel.
Re: air head hydraulic clutch?
Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 9:53 pm
by twist
I've seen photos of hydraulic clutches on airheads and I knew some one here would have ideas. I really want to scavenge bmw parts to keep the whole thing German but I'm not against turning to the Japanese for parts, (I run mikuni's on my bike already). There is a way I'm sure, but can it be done with my simple brain and without breaking my budget?
Re: air head hydraulic clutch?
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 1:18 am
by Zombie Master
I may have missed something here, but my '84 R100 clutch is as easy as it gets. There must be a way to fit newer used parts?
Re: air head hydraulic clutch?
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 9:52 am
by painter.724
Interesting thread, As my daddy used to always say [were there is a will, there is a way]
Re: air head hydraulic clutch?
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 10:19 am
by richard t
Ken in Oklahoma wrote:chasbmw wrote:Unless they have changed it, the benchmarks setup would not fit my 82, to fit it you need to cut off the end of the clutch cable, the end of which is secured to the chain by grub screws. If you have an aftermarket clutch cable with a greater diameter than the BMW one, it won't fit.
I'm a bit puzzled about the need for an easier clutch on a '82 bike. It has the later style clutch which is a lot easier to pull than a /5, /6, or /7 series bike. Though I don't have a problem with the earlier clutches I can imagine that a lot of people would.
Ken[/quot
I put a easy clutch on LaDonns's early /6 a few years ago, I makes her happy ever time she rides it.
Re: "where there is a will, there is a way"
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 10:21 am
by Deleted User 62
Yep, just make sure you are in the will...!

Re: air head hydraulic clutch?
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 6:44 pm
by Roy Gavin
http://www.off-the-road.de/XT-660/Magur ... T-660.html
Stumbled on another another link to the Magura kit, with a better description of it.
It seems that is designed to replace the cable only, and there is no mechanical advantage in the hydraulic system, the sole benefit coming from the claimed 20% reduction in friction .
However, if it could be coupled with a extended OEM operating lever a bit or leverage could also be gained that way.
Re: air head hydraulic clutch?
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 8:02 pm
by Garnet
20% reduction is a big help.
One must remember that an EZ clutch ADDS friction, so it does not reduce the effort by one half, perhaps only a third.