problems with first gear

[allan]

Hi All,

My year 2000 1150GS is giving me jip. its getting harder and harder to get first gear from neutral. you know the situation you pull up to the lights knock it into neutral then when the light change it refuses to go into first and leaves you sitting there looking pretty embarrassed.

anyway on previous bikes I would have taken this as a sign that I need to adjust the chain but what could be causing it with shaft drive.?

allan

 

[Steptoe]

How long have you been riding BMW's ?

I only ask, because lots of new riders of BM's have this problem

 

[allan]

this is my first BMW, I have only had it for about four months.

is there an easy fix or is it something I will just have to live with.

Allan

 

[Schtum]

Just let out the clutch slowly while keeping a downward pressure on the gear lever.

Now.....why are there so many people in Gala with Tourettes Syndrome...?

 

[allan]

b@&*d F@7k its something in the F&@k*ng water I think.

 

[Flyer]

I think it's because the BM has a dry clutch, which totally disengages when held in, so gears don't always mesh on first attempt because teeth are not aligned.

Jap bikes use wet clutches, which always drag a bit when held in, so gearbox primary shaft still rotates wen clitch disengaged, allows gears to engage first time.

Superior engineering, inferior performance!

Flyer

 

[wessie]

this is my first BMW, I have only had it for about four months.

is there an easy fix or is it something I will just have to live with.

Allan

Very easy fix. Experience.

I used to get a sore foot from fart-assing about with the gearbox.

Now, it seems quite silky smooth and I can ride hundreds of miles in Alpine passes without any foot pain.

I think an involuntary technique develops whereby the rider pulls in the clutch then releases it about half way. Then you apply pressure to the gear lever whilst pulling the clutch back in. The gear is then selected with a very smooth action.

I'm not sure about this. You'd need to set up some of those MotoGP style cameras to verify my theory.

 

[Cheesy Mike]

IIRC the problem is a little nylon bush that is part of the external gearchange mechanism. It gets all crudded up and needs taking out and cleaning. It has happend to my bike twice in the last 45K miles.

Mike

 

[sniper]

On my GS you have to select first gear (from neutral) quickly. If i hold the clutch in for to long first gear is reluctant to select so i have to let clutch out wip it in and quickly cog it in first. Always been like that for me,try it

 

[pomm001]

My adventre was always a bit 'clonky' through thr gears, I followed the advise on this forum and removed the gear lever , cleaned and greesed the bush, also clean and greese the little linkages to the gearbox.
This did ease the change very slightly,but the biggest difference came whem i pulled off the foot rubber removed the two plastic half bushes , cleaned out and added a LITTlE bit of greese,now the foot rubber is free to 'roll' on your boot,the gear change has improved no end.

Its still no Honda, but predictable

Its worth doing takes 5 mins

 

[allan]

Thanks all for the advice, I think I will look into the bushes fix in time ( perhaps once the salt on the roads make it no good for riding ) but for now I will just practice letting the clutch out a bit and see how I get on.

Allan

 

[xpi0t0s]

On my previous bike (a Fazer, so could be completely different) I found the gears getting harder to engage. Tightening up the clutch cable seemed to solve the problem - I figured the cable had probably stretched a bit and wasn't fully disengaging the clutch thus making gear changes difficult.

 

[Cheesy Mike]

On my previous bike (a Fazer, so could be completely different) I found the gears getting harder to engage. Tightening up the clutch cable seemed to solve the problem - I figured the cable had probably stretched a bit and wasn't fully disengaging the clutch thus making gear changes difficult.

How do you tighten the clutch cable on a 2000 1150GS?

Mike