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

I saw DD's post on "First Gear" and I have a follow up question on Second Gear.

My RR is a 2002 model and it just turned 10k miles. I acquired the bike about three months ago and I have been riding it to work every day. I figure that by now I should be able to smoothly shift from first to second. I don't have a problem with any other gear change; for some reason I can't get a consistent shift up to second. About 20% of the time I hit neutral. Gosh is it embarassing to let out the clutch when that happens!

Obviously the problem is either with the bike or me. My first inclination is that I need better technique. I have tried routine clutch and then shift. I've tried preloading the shifter and then clutching. I've even tried speed shifting by preloading the shifter and blipping the throttle off and on by about 25%. When the latter works, it works well. However, I'm trying to acheive smoothness and make life easy for both the machine and my passenger.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Try a name brand, fully synthetic 75-140 transmission oil. Made a ton of difference in my bike.

just an other thought.

don't use the clutch.

when shifting upwards give a lite pre pressure on the shift lever and release half on the throttle, the gears will match together.
from one to two make full travel with the gear lever, 2-3, 4-5 will do with half 5-6 needs 3/4.

my shifting is much smoother without clutch

just a thought

I switched to RedLine "Shock Proof Heavy" and it was like night and day. Have not hit neutral instead of second since. Much better!

I have the same problem - if i rush my changes i would grab neutral.
I spoke to my dealer and he suggested to bit a little bit of upwards pressure on the gear level just before i shift...usually i have no issues unless i am not paying attention

I concur with both - fluid and technique. There is also a time & practice factor in this somewhere. First, I did the fluid change to the Redline "Shock Proof" gear oil - it is the strangest looking stuff I've ever used. Next I continued to use the upward pressure technique. As you are experiencing, I was getting about 2 of ten shifts going into neutral from first to second. Now (6+ months) I never get the dreaded green light upon the 1-2 shift.

Is the Redline ok to use in the final drive?

Redline says it is great for the final drive and I hope so as I changed to it also at 36K service. It should be great there also.

OU812

Is the Redline ok to use in the final drive?

copied and pasted from somewhere else...

Willy, as long as you don’t puke the heavy out the final drive vent it shouldn’t hurt anything.. I personally (& lot of others) can’t get that Shock Proof heavy to not puke out the final drive vent at high speeds in cold weather.. It’s so thick when cold it seems to pack up around the vent due to ring gear pumping then get pushed out onto the tire as the final drive heats at speed..

Capt. Blackadder wrote:Try a name brand, fully synthetic 75-140 transmission oil. Made a ton of difference in my bike.

Excellent suggestion.........but, also add 10% moly to the oil. Shifting? like butter........you'll never miss 2nd again.

Bampa wrote:Redline says it is great for the final drive and I hope so as I changed to it also at 36K service. It should be great there also.

There are reports of this oil foaming excessively. Air does not lubricate.

What the heck is moly?

Buckster wrote:What the heck is moly?

Moly, short for molybdenum disulfide, an additive used in various lubricants and greases. Moly possesses some interesting properties namely, very slippery, tolerance for very high heat, attaches to metal friction surfaces in a desirable way and is not easily oxidized.

It is used often by BMW riders and techs alike for lubricating the splines in the Paralever driveline. It is also added to motor oil.

It is alloyed with other metals and used for the friction surfaces for piston rings.

It can be added to transmission gear oil to reduce friction, improve shifting and reduce gear noise. See this

http://www.guarddogmoly.com/gd401.shtml

Hello! I'll always remember my first post!

I've had the same problem at times and thought to try an "up-grade" adding synthetic to the box. It made no difference but I've found comfort in knowing it's there. Solving the problem, for me anyway, was all technique.

Sorry for the long post, but unscientific theories with few facts always require long explanations.

From the time I purchased my R new in the winter of 2003, I can say that I regularly miss second gear at an average of 1 out of every 20 chances, and always when the trans is warmed up.

After only 1 month of ownership, and after reading many posts on this forum about people over 5'10" tall complaining about the cramped riding position, I bought a peg lowering kit with shifter and brake extensions (don't remember which brand) that I was convinced I needed. I proceeded to rack up 6000 miles during the spring/summer of 2004, and noticed that I experienced few, if any missed shifts. I chalked it up to the "break in" period.
One day I test rode a new R with ABS at Cross Country BMW, and realized I liked the way the bike felt with the stock pegs, and that I may have been a bit hasty in ditching the factory parts.

So, off came the lowering kit and on with the stock equipment. It felt like home again on the very first ride, which resulted in the first missed shift after only 10 miles.

I currently own 3 bikes, with the Beemer having the shortest shifter travel by far. This and the significant reduction in missed shifts with the extended shifter lead me to believe that the leverage exhibited by the stock linkage, or lack thereof, contributes to missed shifts.

FWIW - I use synthetic trans fluid in all my bikes, current and past - Red Line Shock Proof and others. Aside from the warm and fuzzy feeling of knowing that the transmission will probably outlive its owner, I've never noticed a significant difference while riding.

Still missing second, but I'm over it.

I had smothness issues when I first got mine. I noticed that it shifted better when the fast idle(choke) was on. So I practiced with leaving the throttle on when shifting and found that I get better shifts by just barely tapping the clutch with 2 fingers. Don't move it more than just a hare and leave the throttle steady or just BARELY backed off.

Using this technique, shifting above 4k (5k is better)and the preload on the lever gets me so smooth that it feels like an automatic and it moves out very well.

Backing off the throttle lets the revs drop and with the flywheel/dry clutch and shaft it gets very jerky at low revs. At least for me and I had to slip the clutch to stay smooth when shifting at low revs.

It is mostly technique at least it was with mine. If you do a search you will find several other threads on this topic.

telliott wrote:I had smothness issues when I first got mine. I noticed that it shifted better when the fast idle(choke) was on. So I practiced with leaving the throttle on when shifting and found that I get better shifts by just barely tapping the clutch with 2 fingers. Don't move it more than just a hare and leave the throttle steady or just BARELY backed off.

Using this technique, shifting above 4k (5k is better)and the preload on the lever gets me so smooth that it feels like an automatic and it moves out very well.

Backing off the throttle lets the revs drop and with the flywheel/dry clutch and shaft it gets very jerky at low revs. At least for me and I had to slip the clutch to stay smooth when shifting at low revs.

It is mostly technique at least it was with mine. If you do a search you will find several other threads on this topic.

Exactly.

This transmission is rather picky too compared to some other bikes.

I can shift the smoothest when I barely ease off the throttle when shifting gears. This helps reduce engine movement, which helps with a smoother shift.

I was taught to always use all four fingers on the brake and clutch, so I wouldn't recommend using only two fingers. It shouldn't matter how many fingers you use on the clutch lever as long as you are not fully releasing the throttle between shifts.

- Anthony