BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

The symptoms are:
(which seem to be random and impossible to replicate at will)

When shifting into 6th gear from 5th (using the clutch, rolled off the gas), one of two things MAY or HAVE happened (because about 70% of the time, the shift goes through just fine):

1. The gearbox seems to go into 'neutral' (ie. clutch back out, gas back on, revs spike up wildly), pauses, then pops back into 5th gear (cue sudden jolt cos this happens suddenly and the engine revs are much higher than road speed in 5th would have it).

2. The gearbox seems to go into 'neutral' (same as above), pauses, then pops into 6th (same as above).

Anyone else have this issue? Any idea what's causing it? User error? Is my gearbox gonna go kaput soon?

Ride a 2011 R1200R.

Much appreciated!!!

How many miles on the bike and when did it start doing it.

A 2011 should still be under warranty. I would take it to the dealer.

Don't let them tell you, "they all do that." I made the mistake of listening to that spiel from a VW service manager in 1969, when my VW Beetle would not shift into first gear while moving (synchromesh). After the car went off warranty about five months later, the service manager told me I had a defective synchromesh gear that was going to cost me $200 to repair.

Bill

My 2011 r1200r has done that on me a couple of times too, first time coming from just picking the bike up at the dealer and a couple of other times when short shifting. I have come from a Suzuki which are well known for having a slick gearbox.

I am willing to put up with it as I believe it will get better, I just slightly preload the lever before pulling in the clutch and it snicks in nicely.

None of this has ever happened on my bike. If this happened 30% of the time then I'd like to know if it's me or the transmission.

My new R1200r also wont go into first when it is cold without letting the clutch in and out a couple of times. I'm not particularly worried about it as their demonstrator bike did the same thing when I rode it. At least it dosen't make the horrible Honda crunch. If it still does it in 23 months time I'll get them to take a look at it.

mogu83 wrote:How many miles on the bike and when did it start doing it.

Weider - you really have to share some information if you expect a useful answer.

My '11 Does the same thing. I've narrowed it down to when the tranny is cold. It's happened 4 or 5 times in the 10,000 mi Ive put on it. Always between 5th & 6th. At 1st I thought it might have been me shifting lazy & not getting full throw on the shifter but not the case. It will go to 6 on the indicator but as soon as clutch is released the indicator goes blank revs go up causing me to back out of the throttle then bang, it jumps to 5th with an ugly jolt. It's never happened 2 times in a row.
Also the person with the 1st gear issue. It's normal. When it doesn't go into 1st roll forward a touch & try again it should work fine. Both my '09 & '11 have always been a little weird to get into 1st. This also happens more often when the tranny is cold.

We have a 6th gear??

Apologies for the late reply, I've been travelling!

I've got about 3500 kilometers on the bike so, that's about 2000 miles?

I really can't recall when it started, because it seems to be an intermittent problem.

I've been trying to recall; is it possible that it is a symptom of a cold transmission?

In reference to trouble getting into first gear, I've never had that issue, even during start ups.

Hmmm, since no one else has this issue, I'll get my mechanic to check it out.

Thanks all, I'll report my findings ASAP.

I assume the bike is still under warranty and even if your going to wait to see if it goes away you should tell the dealer your having a problem and see what he wants to do. That way if the problem persists, or gets worse, you'll have a trouble history to fall back on.

Good Luck

The gearbox seems to go into 'neutral' (same as above), pauses, then pops into 6th (same as above).

Yep, a couple times now.. I have about 730 miles on mine.

I've just made more deliberate shifts and haven't had a recurrence.

I'm still perfecting my method. The 1200R has a much better shift than I expected, but I'm still working on the amount of roll off to get that silk shift I had on Hondas.... but doesn't bother me a bit.

Hope your issue works out.

Weider wrote:
Hmmm, since no one else has this issue.

Eh? Gbag, and I said above that the same thing has happened to us! When going from 5 to 6 just give it a good boot.

There is some adjustment in that shift linkage. If your having trouble going up, move the shift lever down a little (make part #2 longer). It's a fine adjustment, but if you take the time you can perfectly adjust the linkage to where you keep your foot on the peg and will make shifting effortless. You shouldn't have to stomp it.

BTW: I doubt if your dealer will take the time to monkey around with this adjustment. It's kind of like adjusting the mirrors but a little more involved.

Whoops, apologies for glazing over a couple of replies. I'm still on my travels and it's a little hard to read the forums on a phone's screen.

Somewhat relieved to know my issue isn't isolated, but I'm sorry there are other 'sufferers' out there. Will try all your suggestions when I get back, including fiddling with the shift lever and, report back.

Thanks all for the help and suggestions, keep them coming in if there are more. I own a HP2 Sport as well, and to be honest, I prefer riding the R12R... hence I get really upset when stuff goes wrong.