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

Hello everyone. I know how you don't like those that post questions without intros, so . . . Just to introduce myself, I bought an 08 R12R a couple months ago. It only has a little over 1000 miles so far and I am loving the bike. I currently use the bike mostly for commuting, although I am planning trips this summer. My name is Dave. I stumbled onto this site and have been reading some of the posts but never said anything. So, with that, here is the question:

It's about the gear and neutral indicator. I went to start the bike this morning on my way to work and the neutral indicator was lit. Much to my surprise, ie no clutch, the bike was in gear. As the bike thought it was in neutral, the safety system didn't quite work. Well, I figured out the deal and continued to work. During the ride I noticed the bike thinks first gear is neutral, second is neutral and can't figure out what third gear is. Fourth through sixth reads normally. Well, on my way home, I noticed that the bike finally figured out where third gear was and now only screws up first through second.

Has anyone had this problem or know how to fix it? I called the dealer where I bought the bike, but they can't get it in for a week. I am not crazy about having to drop the bike off and waiting for a fix either.

Maybe put it in neutral and reboot it by taking the battery cables loose over night.
It's not all of us who require a full background intro. I really don't care all that much. Better you should feel comforable and we'll find out what you want us to know.
Primarily I hope we can help with the problem.
Mark

Hi Winkel
Welcome to the forum. I've never had that problem but if the bike rides ok just count the gears like we did before the age of electronic gadgets until you can put it in to the shop. The more you ride the bike you will know what gear your in intuitively anyway. Someone else may know a fix but it sounds like a sensor problem that only a BM workshop can address.
Regards Mick

i had a small problem with gears and indicator at about 400 miles on the bike....but the problem didn't show up since.

I was riding with a friend and had to do the emergency stop when the car in front decided that it needs to make a left turn and locked the brakes right in front of me.....the bike was in 4th gear at the time.......when i tried to change gears i could not (clutch in/out, roll the bike a little, bang on the shifter) nothing helped......in addition to this, the gear indicator on the computer showed blank....nothing.......some people here thought it was stuck in between the gears....which probably was the cause.....after a few agonizing seconds (maybe 20-30) where i was stopped in the turning lane it finally went into gear......needless to say....i was very happy to get out from that lane:-)

celticus, I was just kidding about the intro thing. That sounds like a great idea. I will give that a shot and let you know the results.

Mark, I tried the reboot suggestion and it didn't work. It did lead to another question. Is it possible to reset the date on the computer after the battery has been disconnected without taking it to a dealer? Even though the service date reads 5/2009 on the computer, it remains on. Do I just have to live with that everytime I disconnect the battery?

Does anyone know?

Welcome to the group. I also have found out that once the dealership sets your computer for it's next service, the service light will on every time you disconnect the battery. No big deal.....does not mean anything.....except you will not know if you do have an issue come up that needs service. I find this rather stupid and limiting to the bike. I got a freebie the first time I had it happen. Since they must hook it up to the computer to correct, took them 15 minutes, I don't know how many I can get for free.

I keep looking for an easy fix. I know I could rig up something to keep power to the computer but what a pain.

Am I correct in guessing that the service countdown is something added to the '08 models? Sounds like the same thing BMW has had on the cars for ages.. The current car service indicator is resettable by the owner if you know the secret button presses on the instrument cluster... and having it reset with battery disconnect is just plain wacky.

My bike is a 08. I was not able to get any info from the dealer (service manager) other than it has to be cleared by their computer. Boy, am I glad I had the Centech fuse panel put on although I did have to listen to a vendor at a rally tell me how stupid it was and what a waste of $ to have it on the bike. When I could be civil again, I explained the reason behind my decision to place the Centech.

Back to the original post and the gear and neutral indicator not reading right . . .
Apparently the bike has the ability to somewhat repair itself. Slowly, the gears have been coming back and reading properly. Now I am down to just the neutral indicator not responding. It reads all the gears properly, but won't tell me where neutral is. I am hoping in a few days time, the bike will have healed completely. That's Quality engineering.

I don't think you're giving this issue the attention it deserves. I agree that it really shouldn't affect your riding very much, we've all managed to ride for most of our motorcycling careers without gear indicators.

But I suspect there's a switch in the gearbox that's supposed to be engaged with the shift drum, and yours isn't. I have visions of small parts breaking, contaminating the gearbox oil, and getting into all sorts of places they shouldn't be.

Talk to your service manager. If he can't assure you that it's safe to ride with the funky indicator, I'd put the bike away until you can get in for service.

NeilS wrote:I don't think you're giving this issue the attention it deserves. I agree that it really shouldn't affect your riding very much, we've all managed to ride for most of our motorcycling careers without gear indicators.

But I suspect there's a switch in the gearbox that's supposed to be engaged with the shift drum, and yours isn't. I have visions of small parts breaking, contaminating the gearbox oil, and getting into all sorts of places they shouldn't be.

Talk to your service manager. If he can't assure you that it's safe to ride with the funky indicator, I'd put the bike away until you can get in for service.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... g=23&fg=05 - PN#4. The switch (they call it a "POTENTIOMETER", which I think is a misnomer..) is completely external to the transmission. I can't see any bits getting inside the transmission since there is a solid shaft with a seal around it that the bits would have to get past.

On K bikes this sort of behavior was somewhat common if you rode on a very wet day, or washed the bike and sprayed water up into the area the switch was located in. I'd guess we're seeing something of the same here.. either moisture or a bad connection to the switch.

Thanks Don. I stand corrected.

Actually, potentiometer might be the correct description. I can imagine an analog gear-position signal going into the ECU. That's, for example, the usual way of doing throttle-position sensing, so there's probably already an A/D converter in the ECU. And it's easy to imagine how a potentiometer could give the wrong information.

But it's good to know that it can't break the gearbox.

NeilS wrote:Thanks Don. I stand corrected.

Actually, potentiometer might be the correct description. I can imagine an analog gear-position signal going into the ECU. That's, for example, the usual way of doing throttle-position sensing, so there's probably already an A/D converter in the ECU. And it's easy to imagine how a potentiometer could give the wrong information.

But it's good to know that it can't break the gearbox.

The K bike one was a digital switch - 3 or 4 contacts that were combined in different combinations to switch the LCD display in the cluster. What was fun with that - if it got wet, you got new gears like 9th.. the contacts bridged with wetness..

but whatever - it won't break the transmission..

Best,

Don, the moisture thing makes sense not that you mention it. I got caught in a heavy rain the day before this first started occuring. I played with the gear shifter a bit today since all gears but neutral are reading properly and found that neutral reads about a half lower than where the gear rests in neutral, if that made any sense.

Lets try it another way. If I push gently on the shifter peg, neutral will read without slipping into first. The moment I let up it goes blank. I have an appt that I am afraid I will have to keep next week, so we'll see for sure. The service guy didn't seem concerned about other damage after I told him I commute daily. He said it could be an "intermitant short" but that really doesnt make sense since I am getting function back.