Clacks , Crunches, or cant get Neutral

red1 said:
Sticking my neck out here (again) but I followed this thread and I've just accepted the concensus that it's a clutch problem, but how do you explain the bad changes from 2-3-4 etc? Most gearboxes will easily do clutchless upshifts, even my old 1150GSA had no problem with those.
The finding neutral problem is again more of a gearbox problem to my mind. Selector forks, etc., etc..
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My thoughts exactly as changing 2-3-4 is awful , to be honest after 2000 miles in Europe over the Alps etc the gearbox got worse and worse . Now at the dealers for them to prove to me there is a problem with the clutch as I don't think it is , as above a selector or similar.
The movement to change gear went fro a small ,smooth foot action to one similar to kicking a dog ( not that I would) I even moved the leaver down a load as I was getting cramp from the foot lift .............
Bmw service agrees its not right , but not sure what to do , im on his case !!!!!
 
dave hendy said:
How about a new gearbox? It wouldn't hurt them to stick one in if that's what it needs!
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That would be good but , BMW will have to get involved for the dealer so they may be restricted by the factory decision makers ,,, lets hope common sense prevails and we get some good old customer service ..:roll

Could stamp up and down but sometimes this does not work..
 
These bikes are new, bmw should go out of their way to make us happy. The GS is a great bike but we don't want problems that should have been sorted before it went on sale!

Hope they come up with something for you, and quickly!
 
gearbox problems

biggeorge said:
Hi just got info from AJ, BMW have informed them that a replacement clutch assembly is on order, to replace mine , keeping fingers crossed hope it cures the gear change . neutral selection is fine on mine ,just the crap gear selection ,Will update when fitted.
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as said previously ,personally don't think its the clutch but a gearbox/ selector issue , my clutch disengages no problem and neutral can be selected easily . its just the gear lever movement that results in the clunk from 2/3/4.
5th to 6th easily and down shifts great .
but will have to see after clutch replaced.
some of the replies are are from owners with no issues , but the other genuine owners with problem are not complaining for the sake of it after spending £14k
 
stick said:
My thoughts exactly as changing 2-3-4 is awful , to be honest after 2000 miles in Europe over the Alps etc the gearbox got worse and worse . Now at the dealers for them to prove to me there is a problem with the clutch as I don't think it is , as above a selector or similar.
The movement to change gear went fro a small ,smooth foot action to one similar to kicking a dog ( not that I would) I even moved the leaver down a load as I was getting cramp from the foot lift .............
Bmw service agrees its not right , but not sure what to do , im on his case !!!!!
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Stick you may be right about the fault being in the gearbox but my money's on the clutch or clutch operating system being the villain. What you describe and I also experienced on the BMW Garmisch trip, could also be due to increasing clutch drag preventing normal gear change on long runs requiring lots of clutch action. I see this on a classic bike I own when I'm caught in traffic with it - rough gear changing/stiff to move the gear lever/clutch drag/neutral only available when drifting to a stop etc - this is less/not so noticeable when you take the LC to the dealer of course but this is supposed to be an adventure bike isn't it and not just for gentle trips to the shop. I have a trip to Corsica in the beginning of September so I have my fingers crossed it'll be fixed by then.
 
One of us with a bit of clout with a BMW dealer and having the clutch looked at should talk them into leaving one of the friction plates out of the clutch, just as a test. a gentle run around would tell a lot, it would eliminate drag and would give the rider a chance to evaluate the gearchange. If it was wellied it would slip but i bet it would take some power before slip started.
BMW are not going to go into the gearbox its a complete tear down.
Not using a cassette gearbox was a decicion made by overconfident designers.
 
Random

I have only done 95 miles from new. The quality of gear engagement is not bad but can be a bit clunky. Nothing worse than a lot of the bikes I have had. Whilst out this evening I was in slow moving traffic going down a hill. I was holding it gently on the back brake and changed down from 3 to 2 to neutral and then to first. It was like a very light pressure switch and completely smooth and silent. Could the incline have made a difference? I know everyone is clutching at straws so throw it in for what it is worth.
 
Bionicmunky said:
It's in my post further up:

To clarify, it was not an official announcement from BMW, it was information passed to me from my dealer, who spoke to BMW. I passed it on here to try and help others who's bikes may be affected.
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Then it is hearsay, a dealer will say anything for a sale or make a problem customer go away. There is no doubt that some don't like the way the gear box responds to changes, but that is different to stating that it is a defect that effects all bikes, or 30% of all bikes . My experience to date is the bike is excellent in most aspects and a huge improvement on the old.
 
biggeorge said:
as said previously ,personally don't think its the clutch but a gearbox/ selector issue , my clutch disengages no problem and neutral can be selected easily . its just the gear lever movement that results in the clunk from 2/3/4.
5th to 6th easily and down shifts great .
but will have to see after clutch replaced.
some of the replies are are from owners with no issues , but the other genuine owners with problem are not complaining for the sake of it after spending £14k
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Shifting from 1st to 2nd is the worst at mine. It's like something is breaking inside. It gets better going up the gears. 5th to 6th and downshifts are smooth
 
Although I've already decreased the master cylinder oil level to half full some while ago, it leaked some more by its own today. It was a hot day. The master cylinder will be replaced with a new one tomorrow
 
I always think of this thread when I'm out riding. Last night I thought I'll just take a little more notice and yes I can confirm this bikes gearchange is better than my Ducati Multi Strada. In fact I went up and down through the ride without using the clutch and thought just how good the box is. Going down is about matching revs, the box is very direct so it takes a few times to get it right , up can be changed in a smooth way pretty quickly. I can see no reason why it would be deemed a clutch issue , if I can change without a clutch then it can't be a clutch issue. For really fast up changes I use just a very small pull on the clutch and the upchange is fast and smooth. Not a racing bike change, and a little notch from first to second but after that I'd give this box 9 out of 10. Well done BMW
 
Bails said:
I always think of this thread when I'm out riding. Last night I thought I'll just take a little more notice and yes I can confirm this bikes gearchange is better than my Ducati Multi Strada. In fact I went up and down through the ride without using the clutch and thought just how good the box is. Going down is about matching revs, the box is very direct so it takes a few time to get it right , up can be changed in a smooth way pretty quickly. I can see no reason why it would be deemed a clutch issue , if I can change without a clutch then can't be a clutch issue. For really fast up changes I use just a very small pull on the clutch and the upchange is fast and smooth. Not a racing bike change, and a little notch from first to second but after that I'd give this box 9 out of ten. Well done BMW
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The point is that not all have the poor shifting, only some percentage. I'm sure we're all happy that you received one of the good ones. Others are not so fortunate, and do have a problem of some kind. It is not imagined. The fact that yours does not have the shifting problem does not have any bearing on whether other people have some bad parts or whatever the cause is.
 
Emoto said:
The point is that not all have the poor shifting, only some percentage. I'm sure we're all happy that you received one of the good ones. Others are not so fortunate, and do have a problem of some kind. It is not imagined. The fact that yours does not have the shifting problem does not have any bearing on whether other people have some bad parts or whatever the cause is.
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My point was if it were the clutch then clutchless changes would reveal this! My thoughts on the matter are that some of the posters have issues and some have expectations.
 
Bails said:
My point was if it were the clutch then clutchless changes would reveal this! My thoughts on the matter are that some of the posters have issues and some have expectations.
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But if yours is not an affected unit, I can't see how it proves anything. Am I not putting 2 and 2 together here? :blast
 
Bails said:
My point was if it were the clutch then clutchless changes would reveal this! My thoughts on the matter are that some of the posters have issues and some have expectations.
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Bails, your thinking doesn't make any sense I'm afraid. If you aren't using the clutch on 'clutchless changes' then the clutch is not in use. So how can this prove there is nothing wrong with the clutch? On the contrary, if the gearbox changes without the clutch it implies it's not the gearbox, at least for the higher gears when you (certainly not me though) use clutchless changes.
Let's leave it to the the BMW engineers who are working on this to find a solution e.g. they have test parts in the field, and when they do we'll know for sure what was going on in there.
I also have a Ducati, not the latest Multistrada which apparently has too many neutrals ;), and the clutch and gearbox action at all speeds (including in city traffic) is excellent and wish my GS was as good or even approaching this standard.
 
As a point of reference. I bought a new multistrada this year and went on a 2000 mile trip to France. The gearbox from new was atrocious and did not improve with mileage. False neutrals and not being able to select a lower gear on the move unless I changed up BEFORE trying to go down to where I wanted to be.

Within weeks of returning I swapped the mts for a GSLC and , in comparison , the bm gearbox is a significant improvement. I am a Ducati fan and have owned approx 10 over the years but I am now converted to the GS. My gearbox seems fine.
 
I tried a friends LC today. The gear changes were effortless and smooth. Nothing like mine.
 
My new GS which I picked up on Saturday has a clunky gearbox worse between 2-3 and 3-4. Selecting 1st also causes quite a jolt to the bike on occasions. The bike has only done 220 miles but I doubt it will get better?

Shame only issue spoiling what is a great bike. Hope we get a cure before too long! I have told the dealer about the problem but as there is no cure yet I have said they can look at it on the 1st service.
 
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