Bike not well!!!

[RichardN]

Hi everybody. Took my 54 reg GS to dealers yesterday to look at a problem with the gearbox; it refuses to go down the box on occasion. The only way is to blip the throttle with the clutch pulled in and then all is ok! After the inspection they came to the conclusion that the problem was in the gearbox and that it would cost at least £1000 to strip the bike to sort the problem, could be more, gulp!!! They also offered £3000 pounds to p/x as a possible solution. Any ideas/thoughts. I have no problem with dealer, they have always been excellent.

 

[French Adventure]

Not sure if it's the same prob but I had a downshift problem on my '03 GSA which was cured by replacing the gear selector bush. I didn't carry the repair out so I don't know the details but it fixed the problem on my bike.

 

[peterh]

Before hitting the panic button have you considered that it might be a dirty linkage? Easy to check and often sorts this type of problem.

Try a search on gear+linkage and look at the GS1200 threads.

 

[Mr K]

I'm no gearbox expert - I hate the things.

But I'd suggest a 2nd opinion from and independant.. in your case I'd ask Steptoe ..

 

[RickG]

Certainly check the linkages are free esp' the bush that supports the gear lever shaft - squirt a bit of WD40 on them if in doubt. If they are sticky the lever won't properly return to it's normal position and hence not hook up with the mechanism that selects the next gear. This is a common fault though mostly on the 1100 and 1150

Put the bike on the stand and rotate the back wheel by hand while you try and change up and down the gears. No need to use the clutch. This will test the selector mechanisms.


Get the dealer to tell you precisely what he thinks is wrong as they may be in the dark and just want to strip it because they can't think of anything more sensible to do. If they can't convince you then get a second opinion like R K suggests.

If they give you £3k as part ex' and then spend £1k on fixing it they are still going to make what? £1.5k when they flog it on? Sounds like a good deal - for them

 

[Schtum]

The only way is to blip the throttle with the clutch pulled in and then all is ok!

How else do you change down....?

 

[RichardN]

Thanks for all the advice. Have tried lubing the gear linkages with WD but no improvement. Will try changing gear with bike on centre stand tomorrow. Have to say looking at previous posts by "Tobers", his replies seem to explain my problem. As I'm a complete mechanical pigmy the upshot to his problems was a new gearbox. I think you're right about a second opinion though. To keep my options open I've booked a test ride on a Honda tomorrow just to see if I'm missing anything. Then I'll call at Oxford BMW and see what they say.

Thanks again.

 

[rick]

How else do you change down....?

I was wondering that too.

 

[theop]

I'm no gearbox expert - I hate the things.

But I'd suggest a 2nd opinion from and independant.. in your case I'd ask Steptoe ..

or Steve @ Motoscot near Luton... he is your man...

 

[ampthill]

Hi everybody. Took my 54 reg GS to dealers yesterday to look at a problem with the gearbox; it refuses to go down the box on occasion. The only way is to blip the throttle with the clutch pulled in and then all is ok! After the inspection they came to the conclusion that the problem was in the gearbox and that it would cost at least £1000 to strip the bike to sort the problem, could be more, gulp!!! They also offered £3000 pounds to p/x as a possible solution. Any ideas/thoughts. I have no problem with dealer, they have always been excellent.

This is not an uncommon issue with Boxer BMW's- happened with my 2004 GS. Although not often mentioned on this site it is quite a common point of discussion on the American site. Do a search on there and you will find numerous references to this issue.

If your gear linkages are properly lubricated (which you seem to have addressed) it is almost certainly dry splines on the clutch assembly which prevents the clutch fully disengaing when you pull in the clutch lever. As you have dicovered the easiest way to address this is to blip the throttle which then fully disengages the clutch plate. Alternatively grease the splines but this would entail splitting the engine/gearbox assembly and is therefore no small job.

Seems to me you have 3 options- either learn to live with it (I did), grease the clutch splines or sell it (which I later did for an 08 model)

Peter

 

[RichardN]

Thanks for all the sage advice. Just to say the dealer made a better offer that I couldn't refuse, so I am now the proud owner of a 57 plate GS and it feels brilliant