Replacing the standard 6th gear cog...

[Finbarr]

Hey folks, do you have any ideas on how easy/difficult it is to drop the gearbox and swap out the useless standard 6th gear cog for the sporty version that the factory will fit on request at order time?

I'm getting sick of wringing the bikes neck in all gears, getting to a decent speed and popping in to 6th just to have it struggle and labour and require dropping back to 5th to get moving again.

Thoughts?

Cheers,
Finbarr.

 

[littleredrooster]

Mine goes like hell in 6th (E). Is it run-in yet? I wouldn't advise major surgery until 10,000mls, when the engine should be starting to loosen off a bit.

 

[glenwatt]

Finbarr,

I know what you mean.

The "Y" Piece and now the Remus, have improved things for me in this department.

I wouldn't advise major surgery until 10,000mls, when the engine should be starting to loosen off a bit.

Only another 8K to go before it's run in.

Hopefully it will start using a bit less oil soon as well.

 

[Finbarr]

Interesting...

The bike has only done a paltry 800 miles, so maybe I need to wiat a bit...

I'm getting a y peice and Remus on Saturday so we'll see what that does.

However, all that notwithstanding, is it a really nasty job to whip out the gearbox and open it up?

Cheers,
Finbarr.

 

[Animal]

The GSA comes with the lower 6th gear

If I had a choice, I'd have gone for an "E" gear instead...

5th takes the bike over 100 anyway, and 6th revs too high at Motorway speeds.

 

[MikeO]

The GSA comes with the lower 6th gear

If I had a choice, I'd have gone for an "E" gear instead...

5th takes the bike over 100 anyway, and 6th revs too high at Motorway speeds.

My thoughts entirely. When riding up in Scotland last year, with my mate on his std GS, we swapped bikes regularly. We both found that the Adv was more tiring and less comfortable to ride on long sweeping A roads. The E gear made fast riding far more comfortable (and economical). Given the choice, I'd specify E on my Adv.

The gearbox seems to be designed to be a 5 speed close ratio with an overdrive for when you are cruising, or putting some motorway miles on (I'm rarely in 6th anywhere but on wide A roads or dual carriageways) . The Adv's 6 close ratios makes the whole package less flexible & usable , IMO.


MikeO

ps Inclined to agree with little red, do some miles before doing anything rash - 800 miles? You've got about 9,200 to go before it's CLOSE to run in

 

[Adrian B]

Finbarr, you really will notice a difference with considerably more miles on the clock, my gearbox improved as well with age/miles

 

[ricardo kuhn]

another more duable option

is to swap the final drive for the one on the R11GS, this will more or less drop the gears about 6/7%,I know is not exactlly what you want,but I think(many others too) that the 33/11 final drive makes the bike way more fun to ride

for the other option I think,,,,will be cheaper and easier to sell this one you have and buy a ADVenture one,with the lower gears.

 

[Simon Eassom]

Finbarr:

The Y-piece, Remus/Laser can, K&N filter, chip and/or Techlusion will all make the bike far more useable lower down the rev range with the net effect of making "E" much more practical in everyday riding. I never used "E" except on the motorway. Now, I change up far more on A-roads knowing that I can still overtake even if I drop down to 50-60mph and stay in "E".

However . . . "E" is an overdrive and regardless of the above mods you will not get the bike to pull through to the redline in "E" (unless you gun it to the stops in 5th, downhill, with a strong tailwind). So, you'll have to settle for about 125mph in 5th instead of a theoretical 137.5mph in "E".

Sacrificing "E" for the 6-speed box will lose you a lot of comfort on long motorway trips (as Mike and Sean both attest).

 

[Panzer Patrol]

Yep, agree with every thing Simon says

Also with Littlered, mine didnt go well at all untill 20k. Having said that, my two mates (who believe running a BMW in after 200 miles is a waste of time) had theirs flying at much lower mileage.

Patience Grasshopper

 

[Finbarr]

Cool comments everyone!

I've never owned one of these horizontal thingys before, so I'm very glad of, and happy to listen to advice from those with more experience...

However, like Panzers mates, I have run the bike in very hard after an initial oil change at 25 miles and another at 250. This hard break-in entailed a lot of full throttle hard acceleration and decels with a warm engine right up to near redline to properly seat the rings. Now at 850 miles and due for the first service tomorrow, the oil is still reasonably clear, although all manner of muck was in the oil at the first 25 mile change, and again at 250 miles it was pretty black.

The bike has loosened considerably since new and is quite revvy now and pulls hard in all gears. I did a roll on test with a colleague who's 03 GS has 1000 more miles on it than mine, and I pulled away noticably from him. He's mentioned noticable oil use but obviously much better fuel economy than me. I've yet to get more than 140 miles from a tank! But the hard break-in is pretty much done now and I expect to be a bit lighter on the throttle from now on. I've also noticed almost no use of oil, the level is unchanged.

I'll see where the Y piece, K&N and Pipe leave me after a couple of weeks. I won't do a lot of motorway riding but perhaps as you say, the "E" gear is the better of the options.

Once again, thanks everyone for taking the time to share your experience and advice - very much appreciated.

Kind regards,
Finbarr.