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

I have an intermittent problem shifting out of neutral, either down to first or up to second. Sometimes I have to stomp the shift lever and it still won't budge. So I rarely use neutral, instead keeping the bike in gear and pulling in the clutch when I stop. The bike is an 07 with 30K. I got it used in 09 with 8K. I don't think it's gotten worse over time. I can live with it but wonder if others have the same issue.

--Roger
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Roger Poppen
<http://mypage.siu.edu/drrock/>

Roger. This is a standard "issue" with BMW bikes. The factory buys transmissions from Getrag and specifies that the rotating parts must stop quickly when the clutch is pulled in. I think this was an attempt to ease clunky shifts while underway. In any event, when you want to engage first or second from a stop the trick is to pull the clutch and immediately work the shifter. If you wait, the trans will stop and the gears will likely not be in alignment.

When it does happen that it doesn't snick into gear, you slightly let out the clutch lever to get the gear shafts spinning again and it'll go right in.

Oh . . . and . . . don't stomp!

my '03 1150 & '11 1200 both have this feature. After trying different methods I find that when I stop, I take it out of gear to wait, and then double pump the clutch lever and it shifts easily into first.

I was going to ask but now I don't have too. That's really informative Bob, many thanks

Welcome to the world of BMW, they have trannys made by the German equivilant of John Deer. Literally

I'd suggest that "stomp the shift lever" is a VERY BAD idea.. you're bending shift forks in the transmission and next we'll hear about it popping out of 6th gear.

The dry clutch on a BMW completely disengages the transmission from the engine.. unlike wet clutches on many other bikes (where there is viscous coupling due to the oil between the plates - so the input shaft of the transmission can keep turning if you're in neutral.) What this means is the gears in the transmission can get into a position where they can't engage. No amount of stomping is going to make them engage. What makes them engage is to get them spinning again.. so the suggestion that you spin them back up by releasing the clutch lever in neutral then quickly shift into gear is a good one.

I suspect this mostly happens to you when you (1) stop (2) pull in the clutch (3) shift into neutral without then releasing the clutch - or (1) stop (2) clutch in (3) shift into neutral and release the clutch lever (4) go to take off - pulling in the clutch and waiting more then about 10 seconds to shift into gear.

What I do so this almost never happens is (1) stop (2) pull in the clutch (3) shift into neutral and then release the clutch. When I'm ready to take off, I pull in the clutch and very quickly (almost simultaneously) shift into 1st gear.

And that only happens at very long lights when (1) no one is in front of me (2) there are at least 2 vehicles stopped behind me... otherwise I stay in gear, ready to scoot out of the way when someone busily texting doesn't notice that there are vehicles stopped in front of them (BTDT and had cars with locked brakes swerve around me..)

Don't consider this a slam - but it's much safer and easier on the equipment doing it the way I do..

Thanks. Very helpful info.

Best wishes,
--Roger
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Roger Poppen
<http://mypage.siu.edu/drrock/>

[quote="rpoppen"]Thanks. Very helpful info.

Best wishes,
--Roger

Hey Roger don't run away with that "Thanks. Best wishes" thing, tell us if you tried the suggestions and if it works?

Actually I wanted to know because my 08 had tough time going into first from neutral sometimes, this was an early 08, produced September 07, and they did change the transmission in January 08, I think the newer transmission is much smoother, I rode 11 classic and the gear shifting was very buttery.

Cheers

Roder wrote:Hey Roger don't run away with that "Thanks. Best wishes" thing, tell us if you tried the suggestions and if it works?

Actually I wanted to know because my 08 had tough time going into first from neutral sometimes, this was an early 08, produced September 07, and they did change the transmission in January 08, I think the newer transmission is much smoother, I rode 11 classic and the gear shifting was very buttery.

I have an '08, not sure of the exact production date, and it's the best shifting BMW MC I've ever ridden. And it usually drops right into first from neutral with no special handling required. Unlike every other BMW MC I've ever owned where from neutral, one must pull the clutch and shift into first immediately while the gears are still spinning. Once in a while though, my R1200R also requires this technique.

At any rate Don's excellent post is right on the money.

From a stop pulling in the clutch lever and then shifting into first right away while the parts are still moving is the way, I have learned this is normal r12r behavior. Clutch and wait will almost never work.

Occasionally when shifting from first to second while accelerating it goes to neutral instead of second, has anyone seen that happen or is it just me?

Thanks to your suggestions, I've found that shifting from N to 1st or 2nd whilst pulling in the clutch results in a thunk into gear. I was pulling the clutch in all the way before trying to shift (though not holding it for many seconds as Don suggests). With more practice and finesse I might find the sweet spot where it will snick.

Best wishes,
--Roger
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Roger Poppen
<http://mypage.siu.edu/drrock/>

The sales person told me this the first time I test road a BMW boxer and told me to use the clutch techniques above. My bike usually only has the issue when it's cold.

hi
here is a small problem that i had with mine , my lever got stiff , tried all the normal stuff , clutch in rev up then try gear change , it got worse over the winter as time went on , it was real bad when first started up from cold , once on the move no problem after a few changes up and down the box , one sunday i decided to clean the bike and the rubbish and salt was getting thrown up off the rear wheel onto the gear linkage behind the gear change all over the knuckle joints , i cleaned them all and squirted motor all all over the linkage joints , next day , felt like i had a new gearbox , it turned out that it was all the salt mud grit and water . now i have made a small rubber flap to block the ingress of water , no problems at all now, water hits the flap first and drops down underneath the bike .
piston

Thank you, Piston! That's an astute observation and a good suggestion for a fix.