Little things. 
If anyone has been having problems with grinding the gears, or difficult or missed shifts (on bikes not equipped with Gear Assist), you will want to check how well-lubricated your gearshift lever pivot is.
I pulled apart the gearshift lever pivot mechanism on my '13 LC a short while ago. It looks like the bike comes from the factory with an 'economical' amount of some sort of lube that has no staying power at all.
Of course, this is an item that most franchised service centres won't even bother to check at service time.
After all, BMW assembled the thing, so the lube must be 'good for life' - right? (Anyone remember the 'good for life' final-drive fluid on '05-onward K-series?)
I cleaned everything with a rag and a little carb cleaner, lubricated every friction surface individually with heavy-duty Castrol wheel-bearing grease, and put it all back together.
I can't put in words just how much better the gearshift quality is now. It's still not as good as it should be (due, I suspect, to some factor causing the clutch plates to momentarily stick inside the clutch basket), but shifts (particularly upshifts) feel smoother and a lot more positive.
Practically a repeat of the story I had with my '08 F800ST.
If you're going to do this, heavy-duty wheel-bearing grease is good, but a sodium-based or clay-based industrial grease with very high persistence (like the stuff used for garage door rollers) will probably be better.
The grease that BMW recommend for lubrication of clutch splines on earlier R-series is probably best of all (according to my Clymer manual, Optimoly MP3 or Microlube GL261).
If anyone has been having problems with grinding the gears, or difficult or missed shifts (on bikes not equipped with Gear Assist), you will want to check how well-lubricated your gearshift lever pivot is.
I pulled apart the gearshift lever pivot mechanism on my '13 LC a short while ago. It looks like the bike comes from the factory with an 'economical' amount of some sort of lube that has no staying power at all.
Of course, this is an item that most franchised service centres won't even bother to check at service time.
After all, BMW assembled the thing, so the lube must be 'good for life' - right? (Anyone remember the 'good for life' final-drive fluid on '05-onward K-series?)
I cleaned everything with a rag and a little carb cleaner, lubricated every friction surface individually with heavy-duty Castrol wheel-bearing grease, and put it all back together.
I can't put in words just how much better the gearshift quality is now. It's still not as good as it should be (due, I suspect, to some factor causing the clutch plates to momentarily stick inside the clutch basket), but shifts (particularly upshifts) feel smoother and a lot more positive.
Practically a repeat of the story I had with my '08 F800ST.
If you're going to do this, heavy-duty wheel-bearing grease is good, but a sodium-based or clay-based industrial grease with very high persistence (like the stuff used for garage door rollers) will probably be better.
The grease that BMW recommend for lubrication of clutch splines on earlier R-series is probably best of all (according to my Clymer manual, Optimoly MP3 or Microlube GL261).
