Clacks , Crunches, or cant get Neutral
- Thread starter needlongerlegs
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PDiddy
Registered user
Perhaps the other 4 gears were broken - 
I bought and was brought up on a Suzuki AP50. Your point is?
Twist and Go, no gears ?
If you gave him a GS to ride, I wonder at what revs he would decide its time to change up - some people really are totally clueless and shouldn't be allowed to ride motorcycles.
Captain Beaky
Registered user
I've been following this thread, and have been paying close attention to the shifting into and out of neutral on my 2013 GS.
Mine has been flawless in this time, with a slight crunch on selecting 1st from neutral, which was as expected from a wet clutch, but never too bad, and never any problem finding neutral.
Due to illness, I have not ridden my GS since November, starting back again about two weeks ago.
In that time, the "dragging clutch" symptoms started to appear, with difficulty in finding neutral, and a really bad crunch on selecting first or second from neutral.
This is exactly the same set of symptoms I get from my xr250 when it's got thick oil in it, and isn't up to temperature.
I had planned to tell the dealer when it went in for a service next week, but the camchain broke last week at 3500 miles, so they have got it back somewhat sooner...
If the symptoms I experienced are the same as other riders are seeing, then they are definitely not acceptable. At one point, I simply could not find neutral - I had to apply a lot of pressure to move out of gear toward neutral, and simply could not avoid going through neutral and back into gear. There appeared no way to get neutral, other than stop the engine.
The trick I use on the XR250 is to load up the clutch a little, to heat the oil up - only for a second, then pull in the clutch, and you can find neutral easily if you are quick. This trick didn't work on the GS.
Definitely wasn't right - and I hope my bike doesn't exhibit this symptom when it is fixed ( or replaced)
Mine has been flawless in this time, with a slight crunch on selecting 1st from neutral, which was as expected from a wet clutch, but never too bad, and never any problem finding neutral.
Due to illness, I have not ridden my GS since November, starting back again about two weeks ago.
In that time, the "dragging clutch" symptoms started to appear, with difficulty in finding neutral, and a really bad crunch on selecting first or second from neutral.
This is exactly the same set of symptoms I get from my xr250 when it's got thick oil in it, and isn't up to temperature.
I had planned to tell the dealer when it went in for a service next week, but the camchain broke last week at 3500 miles, so they have got it back somewhat sooner...
If the symptoms I experienced are the same as other riders are seeing, then they are definitely not acceptable. At one point, I simply could not find neutral - I had to apply a lot of pressure to move out of gear toward neutral, and simply could not avoid going through neutral and back into gear. There appeared no way to get neutral, other than stop the engine.
The trick I use on the XR250 is to load up the clutch a little, to heat the oil up - only for a second, then pull in the clutch, and you can find neutral easily if you are quick. This trick didn't work on the GS.
Definitely wasn't right - and I hope my bike doesn't exhibit this symptom when it is fixed ( or replaced)
Deleted account 181015003
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Camchain in the gearbox can make neutral hard to find but you might know all ready good luck getting it sorted
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Captain Beaky
Registered user
Yeah - I knew something was definitely wrong, when I put it in neutral, and she wouldn't roll.....
A shiver runs down my spine when I thing of what riding I had been doing on the bike 30 seconds earlier, and where I would have been in 30 seconds time.
A shiver runs down my spine when I thing of what riding I had been doing on the bike 30 seconds earlier, and where I would have been in 30 seconds time.
Were they all shaft drive? The inertia of the shaft and bevel box combined with the lack of a cush drive in the BMW drive train will inevitablty make the gear changes worse than a chain drive. The BMW change of flywheel weight will affect the issue too.
I tried a WC RT last week and the crunch into first was very apparent by comparison with my TC GS - which also crunches but far less. That apart all the other gear changes on this RT were far better than the old box, particularly at higher speeds when warmed up. I certainly would not see the bike I rode as faulty.
First 2 are BMW shaft drive, yes
Second 2 are chain drive, but with engines & wet clutches not designed by BMW
That could be the issue
you surprise me a bit Johnny. The chain drive bikes I have had have all had much slicker gear changes than my 3 GS bikes. Or my Pan. I would have thought that inevitable since the chain drive bikes have far less rotational inertia to deal with when making a gear change. Sure that wont matter if you are such a brilliant rider that you can perfectly match engine speed with road speed when changing to a new gear but that skill is beyond me on a bike. And is irrelevant at standstill.
Most people arent engineers. Few people these days seem to have any mecvhanical sympathy. I am constantly surprised by the noddy level of questions that come up on the web site and which make it obvious that the questioner doesnt know a camshaft from a conroid and relies on a dealer to do any mechanical work.
what's a conroid mister???
I think you can get cream for them...
Dont you know noffink? Its the latest Apple conrod. American technology. Got the i that everything has to have these days
I bow to your knowledge oin such matters
I was chatting with one of my mates at a Buell meeting this last weekend and he just happened to mention that another of his friends crashed when his camchain broke and locked the gearbox, I don't know if the guy is a member on here but apparently he was given a new bike by BMW .
