Point-Seven-five wrote:I assume the starter just spins merrily without engaging the clutch to turn the engine over.  Is that a correct assumption?

If that is the case, I would remove a quart of oil from the crankcase and replace it with a can of Seafoam. 

Then do a back spin bump on the engine by pushing the bike backwards in 5th with the lutch pulled in and then popping it to bump the engine backwards.  This should loosen the pawls in the starter clutch so the engine can be started.  Then take the bike for a ride of about a half hour or more at highway speeds.  That should clean the crap out of the sprag so it will engage. 

Drain the oil and refill with Shell Rotella T6 full synthetic 15W40.  this is a heavy duty diesel engine oil that has heavy duty detergents that will help clean the engine.  You can use it for a couple oil changes and then go back to your regular oil or just keep using it, it won't hurt the engine.

If that doesn't work search on "sprag clutch" and you will find a plethora of other ways to get the clutch working again.

Thanks. This sounds doable.

arbalest wrote:A friend has a 95 K75. On day he went out to start the bike, no start. Took it to the local BMW dealer and they told him it was the starter clutch....$3000. Any D.I.Y. fixes?

92KK 84WW Olaf wrote:

arbalest wrote:A friend has a 95 K75. On day he went out to start the bike, no start. Took it to the local BMW dealer and they told him it was the starter clutch....$3000. Any D.I.Y. fixes?

I know its a lot of work to get at it if you are replacing it....but even at that a main dealer price of $3k sounds completely over the top. 

A summer of riding and oil changes as suggested, should get you out of the problem. When you get it running, as suggested a good long ride, but if you have hills near you, then killing the engine and trying the starter at frequent intervals also helps. Do it on a hill so you can just do a rolling start and try it again. I got a potentially difficult one out of trouble like that. A few frequent oil changes at about 1,500 miles [didnt change the filter each time] made a very big difference.

This has all been great advice. Thank you all. Hopefully I can help get the K75 back on the road (and save the guy $3000), using the info from this forum.