Rear Wheel Revolves ! - any ideas ?

[Crazy Mike (UK)]

Hi All

Can anyone offer any advice here ?

2003 R1150R, 20K. Bike on centre stand, start from cold as normal - gear in neutral - but the rear wheel revolves (takes about 6 sec for a complete revolution). Pull in clutch lever and wheel stops. WHY ? !

When bike has been run and back on centre stand with engine running and in neutral - no problem - wheel does not move. No issues on road - no slipping clutch etc. It doesn't seem to effect performance apart from the possibility it may add extra load to the battery when starting from cold (my battery is the original - how long do batteries last before changing ?)

Any suggestions or similar experiences would be much appreciated.

Thanks

[SLEDGE]

It's just the friction in the gead box with cold thick gear oil.After driving the gear lub heats up and thins out. When you pull in the clutch it disingages the gear box. A manual trans. car will do the samething. Just a normal thing.

[boxermania]

+1 sledge

In neutral, the clutch is engaged, spining the input shaft of the gearbox.The high viscosity of the cold oil in the gearbox, in essence, acts as a transfer agent of the rotational speed of the input shaft to the output shaft, via the gearset, causing the slight rotation of the rear wheel that you noticed......technically speaking.

[riceburner]

It's just the friction in the gead box with cold thick gear oil.After driving the gear lub heats up and thins out. When you pull in the clutch it disingages the gear box. A manual trans. car will do the samething. Just a normal thing.

what them two said - don't panic, nothing to worry about, pretty much all bikes do it (or would if they had centre-stands).

[Crazy Mike (UK)]

Guys - Thanks for your replies. Not knowing the intimate workings of the clutch / gearbox - it now starts to make sense !

I've only noticed this happening over about the last 12 months - strange ?

Thanks again.

[riceburner]

It's just the friction in the gead box with cold thick gear oil.After driving the gear lub heats up and thins out. When you pull in the clutch it disingages the gear box. A manual trans. car will do the samething. Just a normal thing.

what them two said - don't panic, nothing to worry about, pretty much all bikes do it (or would if they had centre-stands).

[dragonmojo]

I have noticed this and didn't give it a 2nd thought. Blind faith in BMW I guess. Nice to know there is an explanation to this. Thx!

[duckdave]

I don't think it's a good idea (for me) to routinely start my bike up on the center stand (not saying I don't ever do it, but I do it a lot less) because of a least two reasons:
1). It's too easy to remember something, walk away, and forget to come back promptly (don't ask me how I know).
2). It's possible for the bike to "jump" into gear upon rolling off the stand, leading to a so-called "parking lot drop" (don't ask me how I know... but I will say, to this day, I haven't figured out if my ol'K75 jumped into gear on its own, or if my foot accidentally tabbed the shifter...either way).
-dd