2005 GS Gearbox issues- Advice Please!

  • Thread starter Thread starter CrashhappyMatt
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CrashhappyMatt

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Hey Folks,
I have a 2005 1200GS that is currently on 38k (25k since I got it a year ago).

I have been told by my BMW specialist that the gearbox is about to go. Noisy shifting and lots of clunking etc. The box doesn't like to change at all and althought the clutch is going as well he tells me I need a knew box too. Mike at cardiff Motorrad is a top bloke and has been more than helpful so to accompany his advice I thought I'd post a question to the experts assembled.......

If it were your bike would you go for a new BMW box or go for a reconditioned one?

Any other helpful advice gratefully recieved!

So much for a mile munching adventure tourer.:spitfire
 
My experience (although with older models) was that a gearbox rebuilt can be better than a new one off the shelf. I had three rebuilt - my '93 R100GS PD (at 18,000), my '91 R100R (at 20,000) and my '90 R80 GS (at 32,000).

All three boxes were rebuilt - the R100R was amazing afterwards! Very smooth in fact it felt like a different bike. The guy who rebuilt the R100R was Phil in Northampton (can't remember the name of his company). The PD and 80 GS were rebuilt by BMW dealers and felt great afterwards.

All three boxes had failed output shaft bearings - first sympton was oil coming out of the bevel box overflow as oil had run out of the gearbox, down the shaft and into the bevel box - I understand that this was a very common problem...........seems to me that it still is!

My opinion is that it is possible for someone to rebuild the box with more care than a new one factory assembled.
 
Jon P said:
My experience (although with older models) was that a gearbox rebuilt can be better than a new one off the shelf. I had three rebuilt - my '93 R100GS PD (at 18,000), my '91 R100R (at 20,000) and my '90 R80 GS (at 32,000).

All three boxes were rebuilt - the R100R was amazing afterwards! Very smooth in fact it felt like a different bike. The guy who rebuilt the R100R was Phil in Northampton (can't remember the name of his company). The PD and 80 GS were rebuilt by BMW dealers and felt great afterwards.

All three boxes had failed output shaft bearings - first sympton was oil coming out of the bevel box overflow as oil had run out of the gearbox, down the shaft and into the bevel box - I understand that this was a very common problem...........seems to me that it still is!

My opinion is that it is possible for someone to rebuild the box with more care than a new one factory assembled.
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...Interesting.......

There are people around here, that would have you believe that BMW's (un) reliability issues, started with the R1200GS.....:rolleyes:

I'm definitely not an expert, but aren't those mileages very low, to be needing gearbox rebuilds ?.......:nenau
 
Wait a minute, I thought in the history of BMW bikes it was just the R1200GS that broke down and nothing before it ever went wrong :nenau how wrong was I!
 
CrashhappyMatt said:
Hey Folks,
I have a 2005 1200GS that is currently on 38k (25k since I got it a year ago).

I have been told by my BMW specialist that the gearbox is about to go. Noisy shifting and lots of clunking etc. The box doesn't like to change at all and althought the clutch is going as well he tells me I need a knew box too. Mike at cardiff Motorrad is a top bloke and has been more than helpful so to accompany his advice I thought I'd post a question to the experts assembled.......

If it were your bike would you go for a new BMW box or go for a reconditioned one?

Any other helpful advice gratefully recieved!

So much for a mile munching adventure tourer.:spitfire
Click to expand...

Sounds like a normal BMW gearbox:aidan
No seriously I agree with Kai, all depends on the cost comparison of the 2 options. Generally a recondition gearbox is cheaper than a new one, but I would ensure the warrantee periods are the similar before choosing.
I think I would go for a recon box (after being convinced that the reconditioner knows what he's doing):thumb.
As for the mile munching adventure tourer(what ever that means), I think that's a style choice:). The GS's engine & transmission are'nt "beefed up" and are just as fragile as the rest of BMWs range.:mmmm
I'll keep my head down now & await the "incoming":mcgun
 
jonnie comet said:
There are people around here, that would have you believe that BMW's (un) reliability issues, started with the R1200GS.....:rolleyes:
Click to expand...



nedflanders said:
Wait a minute, I thought in the history of BMW bikes it was just the R1200GS that broke down and nothing before it ever went wrong :nenau how wrong was I!
Click to expand...


....great minds......:D
 
Jon P said:
My opinion is that it is possible for someone to rebuild the box with more care than a new one factory assembled.
Click to expand...

If what we are talking about is bearings and seals then its a diy job to re-build a box. I doubt that anyone could build one better than the factory though, because there is no room for individual non standard techniques. Its a straightforward assembly job and the only difference between factory new and a re built box is that the remaining original components wont be so tight any longer.
 
birdseye said:
I doubt that anyone could build one better than the factory though, because there is no room for individual non standard techniques. Its a straightforward assembly job and the only difference between factory new and a re built box is that the remaining original components wont be so tight any longer.
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Wrong. Having a properly built box relys on the workers giving a shit. The guys at HPN said to me, when I turned up there with my box making horrible noises at 22K, that he's had to rebuild boxes after silly low mileages because they were shimmed up incorrectly in the factory.
 
birdseye said:
If what we are talking about is bearings and seals then its a diy job to re-build a box. I doubt that anyone could build one better than the factory though, because there is no room for individual non standard techniques. Its a straightforward assembly job and the only difference between factory new and a re built box is that the remaining original components wont be so tight any longer.
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It's not a straightforward job - gearboxes are shimmed - and just as we know that three different people adjusting the valves will get three different results so will those building a gearbox - except there is a greater range of adjustability building gearboxes.
 
jonnie comet said:
...Interesting.......

There are people around here, that would have you believe that BMW's (un) reliability issues, started with the R1200GS.....:rolleyes:

I'm definitely not an expert, but aren't those mileages very low, to be needing gearbox rebuilds ?.......:nenau
Click to expand...

I think the reason for folks assuming that the 1200 is the first with trouble is simply to do with numbers. When I started riding Boxers in teh late 1980's they were sold in much smaller numbers than they are now. When I bought my first 1100 everyone teased me - "what an ugly duckling etc" - they took a few years to catch on but slowly the magazines came around to realising what superb machines they were and their popularity slowly increased. I understand that BMW have now made more than 100,000 1200 GSs (plus all the other 1200 models!) since 2004. Clearly these things are popular - I notice since moving the the US two years ago that the GS is everywhere (and I live in the middle of nowhere!) and keep in mind that BMW sell more bikes in the UK than the whole of the US!

So anyway, there are loads more Gss out there - thereby increasing the potential for faliure and of course with the advent of the internerd, whoops, internet we get to hear about them much more as well.

The general impression in the trade is that BMW bikes are very reliable and sturdy - that was not the case about 10 years ago - the early 1100s had REAL problems with boxes and BMW did a lot of modifications at that time. I am sure that in percentage terms the bikes are now much much better, it's just that when something does go wrong we all get to hear about it where as before there was no 'network' to report these things within an interested community.

By the way, 1150s have just as many if not more problems on a percentage basis than the 1200s but not as much as the 1100s. I had two 1100s and did about 60,000 between them with nothing going wrong - even the plastic fuel tank gave me no problems (and that really was a BIG problem in 1994 and 95, so much so that BMW went back to a steel tank on later 1100s and 1150s - only now with the 1200s do we get the plastic tank again) But then again true numbers of problems are small (of course, now everyone who has had trouble will reply - but I bet you don't represent 0.5% of the bikes sold)
 
If it was me i would remove & strip the box,then make a decision based on what i found.
The noisy shifting & clunking could all be related to clutch drag so wait till you have the box out
 
Jon P said:
I think the reason for folks assuming that the 1200 is the first with trouble is simply to do with numbers. When I started riding Boxers in teh late 1980's they were sold in much smaller numbers than they are now. When I bought my first 1100 everyone teased me - "what an ugly duckling etc" - they took a few years to catch on but slowly the magazines came around to realising what superb machines they were and their popularity slowly increased. I understand that BMW have now made more than 100,000 1200 GSs (plus all the other 1200 models!) since 2004. Clearly these things are popular - I notice since moving the the US two years ago that the GS is everywhere (and I live in the middle of nowhere!) and keep in mind that BMW sell more bikes in the UK than the whole of the US!

So anyway, there are loads more Gss out there - thereby increasing the potential for faliure and of course with the advent of the internerd, whoops, internet we get to hear about them much more as well.

The general impression in the trade is that BMW bikes are very reliable and sturdy - that was not the case about 10 years ago - the early 1100s had REAL problems with boxes and BMW did a lot of modifications at that time. I am sure that in percentage terms the bikes are now much much better, it's just that when something does go wrong we all get to hear about it where as before there was no 'network' to report these things within an interested community.

By the way, 1150s have just as many if not more problems on a percentage basis than the 1200s but not as much as the 1100s. I had two 1100s and did about 60,000 between them with nothing going wrong - even the plastic fuel tank gave me no problems (and that really was a BIG problem in 1994 and 95, so much so that BMW went back to a steel tank on later 1100s and 1150s - only now with the 1200s do we get the plastic tank again) But then again true numbers of problems are small (of course, now everyone who has had trouble will reply - but I bet you don't represent 0.5% of the bikes sold)
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......yes, like I said "interesting".........:) :thumb2
 
Most shifting problems with the 1200 models stem from the bushes for the shifting linkage shaft getting dirty. Its a 20 minute job to pop off the shift arm from the shaft, push the shaft in towards the bike then clean with a spray of brake cleaner and apply some grease and reassemble.

I did mine and it really improved the gear selection.

If you haven't done it yet, its worth a try before you commit your hard earned cash to a gearbox rebuild.
 
I have been told by my BMW specialist that the gearbox is about to go. Noisy shifting and lots of clunking etc. The box doesn't like to change at all and althought the clutch is going as well he tells me I need a knew box too. Mike at cardiff Motorrad is a top bloke and has been more than helpful so to accompany his advice I thought I'd post a question to the experts assembled.......
Click to expand...

At my bikes last service the mechanic mentioned that there was something up with the gearbox (okay it was bit clunky but don't they all do that) and that it was relatively common on the earlier bikes. He had changed a few under warranty.

Although the bike (a '04 model) was a few months out of warranty I dropped a line to B*W and they wrote back saying that they would give me a new box and pay for half the fitting costs. Might be worth your while dropping them a line.

Kaycee
 
Jon P said:
All three boxes were rebuilt - the R100R was amazing afterwards! Very smooth in fact it felt like a different bike. The guy who rebuilt the R100R was Phil in Northampton (can't remember the name of his company). The PD and 80 GS were rebuilt by BMW dealers and felt great afterwards.
Click to expand...

The name is Phil Hawksley, the company is Boxerman www.boxerman.co.uk and his web site BM Riders www.bmridersclub.com. Very knowledgable and easy going guy. Who will talk your socks down.

Re-built R60 and R80 gear box myself, can be fiddly Had a 95 1100RS with50,000 miles on, the gearbox had been noisey from new. Got in touch with a a guy from the Midlands call Mick Barr who gave me a lot of information. I decided I would let him refurb the gearbox himself as this was in 99. The internals had been modified and he could put some modified bits in but not all. Remember he charged around £200. As he specialised in BWM Gearboxes BMW Dealers would send him their gearboxes for overhaul but where charging around £400 but he has now retired.

You could also try Steptoe depends how busy these people are, how mechanically minded you are and the timescale you are working to.

I would guess spend a week end taking it out, box it and in first post Monday you would probably get it back for the following week end and spend the week end fitting it. Wouldn't take a week end but do it at your leisure, if its the first time.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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