Shifting gears

[nrg]

With not much over 2000 miles on the dial of my 800, last week I took off to Europe for a tour and have had a ball all the way (apart from the dismal weather through Germany and the Czech Rep) .
The bike seems to run well and keeps a smile on my face most of the time.
I’m in Italy now and the heat is on with temperatures in the lower thirties and plenty of narrow winding and twisting roads around Lake Garda.
One thing I’ve noticed on my GS is the clangy loud gear box. Is it just me or does anyone else here get the same impression? Sometimes gear shifting is smooth without a sound both up and down but most often you’ll get a thud, clang or similar. I've tried to find a sweet spot on the revs for smooth changes and also attempted to smoothen things with a quick flick on the throttle after pulling the clutch but have failed to find anything consistent . I’m not too impressed. Any thoughts?

 

[Womble]

I'm glad you're enjoying your trip, I'm thoroughly jealous.

Hot weather thins the oil so this may improve when the weather cools. Also, have you checked your chain tension recently?

 

[Madame B]

Like what Mr Womble says...the stock chain is, as we know, pretty crappy and may well have given somewhat...my bumble is a bit older than your bike and I've replaced the original really crappy chain (at my own expense just before the recent recall...) but that needed a tweak after a couple of thousand miles which made a huge difference to the gear change and general smoothness of doings... couple that with very warm numbers temperature wise and the type of riding you've been enjoy (lucky thing!)...

 

[nrg]

Thanks for the help guys.

Stopped at "Motoves" the BMW bike dealership in Verona. They had a look at the bike and were helpful. The chain is ok according to them and they assure me that the sounds I hear are normal.
Also, they checked to see whether I fall into the recal category for chain and sprokets and found out that I don't.

Still.....think I might change the chain regardless....I've got into my head now that BMW have little experience whith chain drives having mostly used shafts and belts in the past.