New Final Drive

[celticus]

Has anyone seen the ad for the 3.0 final drive for the R1200 in the latest OTL?
It says go to their web site www.maxbmwmotorcycles.com but I found nothing there.

Mark

[deilenberger]

Has anyone seen the ad for the 3.0 final drive for the R1200 in the latest OTL?
It says go to their web site http://www.maxbmwmotorcycles.com but I found nothing there.

Mark

Mark, is this a 3.0 ratio drive, or version 3.0? (I thought they were only up to V2.0 with a drain plug on the bottom..)

[celticus]

It says 3.0 up from the standard 2.82 ratio. Claiming big boosts in acceleration. Not subtle performance increases.

Mark

[celticus]

The ad is on the inside of the cover. This is what the ad says.
"Performance 3.0
The next generation in performance for your R1200, the 3.0 final
drive upgrade boosts acceleration, strengthens low-end power and
increases range within each gear. Imported directly from Germany,
the performance gap between the 3.0 and the standard 2.82 ratio is
not subtle. Comparative metrics, upgrade options and pricing for
most R1200 models is available at www.maxbmwmotorcycles.com"

There is a photo of what I take to be a final drive. Gears and splines.

Mark

[Shortpower]

I can't stand it---what is an OTL? I know I'm going to get yelled at.

[deilenberger]

I can't stand it---what is an OTL? I know I'm going to get yelled at.

Nahh... no yelling. It's "On The Level" - the monthly (sorta) publication of the BMW Riders Association (International) AKA - BMW-RA. The other national organization. http://www.bmwra.org - the RA has a lot less members than the MOA, but they put on a damn good national every year (sometimes plagued by biblical sort of events and disasters - which make them "interesting"..) and it's a club with the "right attitude" (ie - very little political BS - they have to beg people to run for office..)

Good group of people, I try to help them out when I can, and I'll prolly be doing a Hexhead Farkleization Seminar (in addition to the K bike tech seminar) at the National rally this year (Canaan Valley, West Virginia for '09 - one of my very most favorite spots/areas to ride.. was there last summer just for the heck of it..)

[deilenberger]

Mark,

That does sound interesting. Most people DO consider the R12R geared a bit "high" - ie - taking off in 1st requires some learning skill (but really IS easy after a year or so.. ) Downside would be more RPM "at speed" - which I might not like all that much..

Guess they didn't give a cost (can't imagine it's cheap..)..

[Tr250Tom]

"the 3.0 final drive upgrade boosts acceleration, strengthens low-end power and
increases range within each gear"

Hmmm...a lower (numerically higher) ratio final drive that INCREASES range within each gear? I've got to go think about that for a while.

Cheers, Tom

[ErikM]

I gotta agree with Don on this for sure, Canaan Valley is a great place and a great place for the RA Rally, guess I'll see you there Don


Good group of people, I try to help them out when I can, and I'll prolly be doing a Hexhead Farkleization Seminar (in addition to the K bike tech seminar) at the National rally this year (Canaan Valley, West Virginia for '09 - one of my very most favorite spots/areas to ride.. was there last summer just for the heck of it..)[/quote]

[lewellen]

"the 3.0 final drive upgrade boosts acceleration, strengthens low-end power and
increases range within each gear"

Hmmm...a lower (numerically higher) ratio final drive that INCREASES range within each gear? I've got to go think about that for a while.

Cheers, Tom

Take a limiting case ... say the ratio doubled. Then instead of hitting, oh, 65mph at 4k in 6th gear, you'd have to get to 8rpm to get to 65mph. Or, it means my usual 2nd-gear range would go from, oh, 25-40 mph down to 12-20 mph.

Sorry ... but to me, that means I have less range (e.g. span of MPH) within each gear.

I agree that the lower gears are a little tall, but find that 5th and 6th are about right or are even a little "low" (e.g. could be turning a few less RPMs when cruising on the highway ... not much, but a little). To adjust that properly, though, you'd need to alter the gears in the transmission, not the final drive, to avoid messing up the higher gears.

Good roads,

- lewellen180

[xprof]

Here's from their website:

Performance 3.0 Final Drive Upgrade for R1200: $1191.15 installed*

Quite pricey, and I really like my "overdrive" 6th...

[Tr250Tom]

"the 3.0 final drive upgrade boosts acceleration, strengthens low-end power and
increases range within each gear"

Hmmm...a lower (numerically higher) ratio final drive that INCREASES range within each gear? I've got to go think about that for a while.

Cheers, Tom

Take a limiting case ... say the ratio doubled. Then instead of hitting, oh, 65mph at 4k in 6th gear, you'd have to get to 8rpm to get to 65mph. Or, it means my usual 2nd-gear range would go from, oh, 25-40 mph down to 12-20 mph.

Sorry ... but to me, that means I have less range (e.g. span of MPH) within each gear.

I agree that the lower gears are a little tall, but find that 5th and 6th are about right or are even a little "low" (e.g. could be turning a few less RPMs when cruising on the highway ... not much, but a little). To adjust that properly, though, you'd need to alter the gears in the transmission, not the final drive, to avoid messing up the higher gears.

Good roads,

- lewellen180

I agree completely. When I said I'd have to "think about it", I was politely raising the BS flag.

I could use a shorter 1st gear. I have to slip my clutch at idle to avoid fishtailing on my uphill gravel drive, and it was no problem on my old K75S. But that doesn't mean I want to alter gears 2-6. Not to mention the fact that if you mess with the final drive and then experience a failure, there will be no love at all from BMWNA...

Cheers, Tom

[celticus]

Can someone calculate the MPH at 6000 rpm in 6th gear with the 3.0 final drive?

Mark

[lewellen]

I agree completely. When I said I'd have to "think about it", I was politely raising the BS flag.

Ah. :-)

I could use a shorter 1st gear. I have to slip my clutch at idle to avoid fishtailing on my uphill gravel drive, and it was no problem on my old K75S. But that doesn't mean I want to alter gears 2-6. Not to mention the fact that if you mess with the final drive and then experience a failure, there will be no love at all from BMWNA...

Cheers, Tom

That last point brings up a very interesting question. I wonder how similar the new final drive is to the original, and if it will experience the same failure rates...? In other words, once the warranty is gone, might this be an "upgrade" from the standpoint of reliability instead of gear ratios?

Good roads,

- Lewellen180

[celticus]

I talked to the head of service at Max BMW yesterday and he told me that the new final drive was solely for racing. He said that ABS would be disabled with the new drive on. He said he thought that the RPMs would be 600 to 1000 higher at 60 mph in 6th gear. So much for that. They are working on getting the info into the web site.
I have never had a problem with 1st gear being too tall but in the twisties I spend a lot of time in 2nd and 3rd gears. If those two could be made to be a little shorter that would be nice.

Mark

[mogu83]

The R1200GS ADV/M shows a rear drive of 2.91 and that's a stock Beemer part. I guess you could order the whole drive ($1800 +) or the gears if you really want to do it. For what I do the stock gearing is just fine. I've fooled around with rear drive ratios a fair amount on my /5, right now I have 3 different drives on the shelf, but they can be had for a little over a hundred bucks.

[celticus]

Maybe I'll just wait 35 or so years so the price will come down.

Mark

[mogu83]

That's the bad part about trying to keep an old bike running with new parts. The value of the bike goes down but the price of new parts usually stays the same or goes up over time. There was an R1200GS drive (2.82:1) on E-bay that went for around $500.