Clacks , Crunches, or cant get Neutral

No change ( jumping forward is the same ) unfortunately . I shall do some mileage over the W/E . We shall see...
I really would like to meet up with somebody who's bike does not have this issue and compare the 2 bikes.

So there is still clutch drag after the mod - seems like the mod is for some problem other than clutch drag then?

Let us know what happens please.

My gear changes are fine, it is just the clonk into first that I find hard to get used to, it would be nice if it wasn't there but otherwise I have no complaints.
 
So there is still clutch drag after the mod - seems like the mod is for some problem other than clutch drag then?

If she jumps forwards a bit on start up with the clutch lever pulled and in 1st gear, it's clutch drag. In my mind I can't see the clutch push rod change doing diddly squat for clutch drag either.
My money's still on the need for a smaller clutch slave cylinder to release the clutch further.
Anyway, as you might know I've finished Euro touring now and the GS LC has gone. My new Ducati Diavel is mine from this Friday so I expect to be facing a whole bunch of different problems, but to be fair to Ducati, over the last 7 years of Ducati ownership (Multi Mark 1 and 999S) nothing went wrong.
Maybe BMW needed to look at the latest Ducati clutches which are sprung very lightly to give light clutch lever action but are designed to increase plate clamp with increased torque and also provide a slipper function on rapid down changes. BMW have gone down the route to get a light lever action by reducing the slave cylinder movement, as far as I can make out.
 
I've had the pushrod fitted about 700 miles ago.

My bike started out super smooth then developed this clunking before the 600 mile service and having read all the posts in here I got concerned. After say about 1400 miles the bike went in for some other work and after describing my symptoms my dealer agreed to fit the push rod

Tbh it's made absolutely no difference to me, but I don't think my bike was too bad compared to what others were saying


I found that if I clutch less shift there is no clunking at all. Got to be super quick though otherwise it won't change

I've decided to accept the clunking as a characteristic of this box. I'll focus on the many things the bike does brilliantly rather than one of the minor annoyances :)
 
Clutch drag

Taking a simplistic approach, if an oil immersed clutch is dragging the first thing I would do is to change to a thinner grade of oil. :hide
 
Taking a simplistic approach, if an oil immersed clutch is dragging the first thing I would do is to change to a thinner grade of oil. :hide

I wouldn't, the same oil dies the more important job of lubricating the engine / gearbox - I'd design a clutch that worked.

The needs of the engine come first. The clutch should be designed to work properly with the specified engine oil.
 
I've had the pushrod fitted about 700 miles ago.

My bike started out super smooth then developed this clunking before the 600 mile service and having read all the posts in here I got concerned. After say about 1400 miles the bike went in for some other work and after describing my symptoms my dealer agreed to fit the push rod

Tbh it's made absolutely no difference to me, but I don't think my bike was too bad compared to what others were saying


I found that if I clutch less shift there is no clunking at all. Got to be super quick though otherwise it won't change

I've decided to accept the clunking as a characteristic of this box. I'll focus on the many things the bike does brilliantly rather than one of the minor annoyances :)

Mine goes in, in a weeks time for this mod so not what I wanted to hear:blast

Hope BMW work on another solution then I love my bike but I want it fixed:confused:
 
My bike , which had the mod last week at 9000 miles, has improved and seems to be getting better but still clashes at high revs but in a different way......less lag but still a grunch.

I will thrash about this weekend and see if it improves some more .

Clutch less changes are easy and perfect, could not be better......even clutch less down changes if revs matched.........so the clutch or cylinder gets in the way!
 
Clutch

I wouldn't, the same oil dies the more important job of lubricating the engine / gearbox - I'd design a clutch that worked.

The needs of the engine come first. The clutch should be designed to work properly with the specified engine oil.

Yes agree, but isaid as a first attempt to cure the problem. If the recommended oil is 10/40 it might be worth trying 0/40 or 0/50 . There are oils capable of meeting the needs surely?
 
Yes agree, but isaid as a first attempt to cure the problem. If the recommended oil is 10/40 it might be worth trying 0/40 or 0/50 . There are oils capable of meeting the needs surely?

The Oil used is BMW Specific to the GS, change the grade and invalidate your warranty....

I'm on my second LC GS, its going in for its first service next Tuesday, my first GS was fine until the first service eaK!
 
The Oil used is BMW Specific to the GS, change the grade and invalidate your warranty....

I'm on my second LC GS, its going in for its first service next Tuesday, my first GS was fine until the first service eaK!

Mine got worse after the 1st service but that was because they overfilled it with oil:eek:

Would have thought they could get that right:nenau

Good luck, sure you will be OK this time!
 
The Oil used is BMW Specific to the GS

Really? What you should mean is that yes, once again, BMW and Castrol have clubbed together to form a temporary (usually 6 month) agreement (read cartel) over the supply of a particular brand of oil (not classification) to increase profit margins by scaring users and limiting supply where possible to BMW Dealers. They've been at it for years..... IMHO of course :D
 
What a load of bollocks, it's thrust-bearing, it's job is to thrust :rolleyes:

Fair enough - as you were :rolleyes:

Have you actually seen the size of the thrust bearings on oilheads BMW's? Them 'as know reckon they're undersized and can be prone to early failure and it's a bit of a pain in the arse splitting the bike for the sake of a 50p bearing. But don't take my word for it - ask Steptoe about the advisability of sitting in gear with the clutch in.

Anyway, good to see that you have such faith in BMW's designers though - you're obviously not the kind of person who'd ride round the alps with a spare FD in a tank bag :thumb
 
The issue with the bike being ok till the first service is interesting, I doubt the overfilling is the answer, I suspect that the oil the dealer uses may be different to the oil factory filled, I suspect!!! maybe they use a running in oil that is thinner, but i doubt it has anything to do with level. But the fact of it is I have changed a few clutches and while i am not an expert you pull in the clutch lever and the plates, say for the sake of argument 6 steel plates and 6 fibre plates part and disengage the engine from the drive. On this bike that doesnt seem to be happening as well as it could. I have ridden enough trials bikes to know that different oils make the clutch feel better or worse, but they are two strokes so only use gear box oil and dont lube the engine. If there was an easy fix then BMW would have it sorted before it was mentioned on here. I wonder if they have crammed in to big a unit to to small a space. Does the push rod act on a spring assembly like other clutches, is there enough space in the cage for the plates to part, who knows. I wonder if the designer of the gearbox and clutch still has a job!
 
As I mentioned in a previous post after a test-ride of the GS, it feels like the gearbox in the K series. I've now had my 2014 GS for 400 miles and the gearbox/clutch is just like my old K1300S - clunking into 1st, jumping out of gear changing down into 1st at too high a speed etc. etc.

I really don't think they've made a naff clutch for the GS. They've just used re-used a naff clutch they already used in the K series for the last 4 years. :rob
 
500 MILES LATER...

So there is still clutch drag after the mod - seems like the mod is for some problem other than clutch drag then?

Let us know what happens please.

My gear changes are fine, it is just the clonk into first that I find hard to get used to, it would be nice if it wasn't there but otherwise I have no complaints.

No change...But finding neutral is spot on:mmmm . Actually changing to second it got worse:confused:. Bike going back to NOG for a check up , there is no plan B...
 
No change...But finding neutral is spot on:mmmm . Actually changing to second it got worse:confused:. Bike going back to NOG for a check up , there is no plan B...

:eek: that's not what I want to hear:blast

Mine is OK into neutral, not too bad into 1st most of the time it's the other changes that bug me:(

Had hoped it wouldn't be worse:confused:
 
I stopped at Scotch Corner services tonight on the way home from a meeting, there was a guy on a very tidy 1150 greeting ready to leave.

I watched him get on and select 1st. It went in like a hot knife through butter!

Annoying really when you consider the crash that goes with the LC.
 
So the conclusion so far seems to be that 'the clutch push rod thingy mod' makes no real difference to the clunk into first gear?

Correct me if I am wrong.

So where does that leave us?
Do the 2014 bikes 'clunk' into 1st?
 
Relearning how to change gears on the LC

So the conclusion so far seems to be that 'the clutch push rod thingy mod' makes no real difference to the clunk into first gear?

Correct me if I am wrong.

So where does that leave us?
Do the 2014 bikes 'clunk' into 1st?



Can somebody verify if this technic works on your bike . Works on mine ( just like on my old R100RT:blast ) and I managed to get some smooth gear changes.

Change from 1st into second at exactly 2000 revs , just before changing apply a bit of (up) pressure on the gear lever. Do the same from 2nd to 3rd.

Is still a hit and miss, to low revs and is dragging, to high and it clanks . It is not ideal and you have to be super smooth, if this is the mod than is back to the drawing board:rolleyes:
 


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