Sixth gear

[Raven]

Having just returned from a week long trip to the french alps need advice on an issue that cropped up whilst abroad. Bike performed faultlessly throughout - no complaints.
Was touring with a mate on a honda blackbird so obviously he was not found wanting in the speed department. I find that the rockster cruising speed or comfort zone is 85 - 90 mph which equates to just shy of 5000 rpm. Trying to push the bike harder to keep up resulted in more vibes through the pegs. This is fine for a quick burst but on extended motorway trips found this to be tiring.
My question is, would it be possible to change the sixth gear to the Gs "overdrive" gear as even a difference of 500rpms at 85 mph would make touring that bit easier. I guess this would be a major job knowing the location of the box.
My bike has just shy of 10k miles. Tyres are reasonably fresh dunlop roadsmarts. Valve clearances and throttle body synch were done at 6K and bike is fully up to date service wise.
Found my old single spark GS to be a smoother engine with over 30k onboard. I though the bike would be well run in by now or will it "loosen up" with further use...

[riceburner]

10K miles is barely run in - these bikes need a LOT more than that!

Also, they respond (once setup well) to being ridden hard, if you keep an eye on the valve adjustment & throttle body synchronisation (in that order) then you'll reduce the high-revs vibes to a minimum. That said - it's the equivalent of 2 pots of paint being thrown around in a tumble dryer...... it's NOT going to be anywhere near as smooth as an inline 4!!

Personally I like the slightly lower top gear (shared with the GSA as I understand it) - the Rockster will rev out in top, whereas the R-R etc won't, and "run out of puff" at about 6.5K (around 100 - 110?). My Rockster (over 88,000miles) will still pull up to an indicated 125-130 (private roads, natch!).

What I'd recommend long term is persuading your riding buddies that smaller roads are a lot more fun, and to accommodate the added journey times into your schedules. You'll have a lot more fun.


Incidentally - if this is a Rockster, with only 10K on it...... where the hell did you find it!! I haven't seen a low-mileage one for a while!

[Raven]

Thanks riceburner - just confirming what I suspected!
My other flat twin was used as commuter/tourer and as such was daily transport. Clutch started slipping at around 30K (got it with 7k) and sold it on. Always felt that the bike thrived on regular use.
The rockster is purely for touring and leisure use only.
Also have seen 125mph on the speedo, but I think this is slightly optimistic (garmin reads all speeds on my bike 5 mph slower!)
Problem I have with continental trips is I only usually have 8 or 9 days max to cram everything in. Unfortunately this means having to crunch big mileage in a short as time as possible on motorways to get further south and good roads/weather. Bike was perfect on tight alpine roads. Did similar trip on kawasaki 12r a couple of years back and needed a chiropractor on return.
I bough the bike nearly 2 years ago off a guy who had it lying up in his garage for 6 years. He was the son of a bmw car dealer who acquired the bike to pass his test on. It had 775 miles on it then, now 9800. Some minor issues with corrosion (rust in the fuel tank) aside and the bike has performed faultlessly....

[grwrockster]

+1 on RB's comments.

I've ridden my Rockster on the continent 3 times (so far) - last year to Austria & Slovenia and back in 10 days (& that includes 3 days/4 nights spent in Austria near the Grossglockner (Gastof Hochhalmspitze in Malta, Austria - highly recommended!).

I think the shorter 6th gear is far better suited to the bike TBH, and its only on long straightish high-speed stretches that an overdrive would be nice - for 99% of riding it would be an irritant to have such a lazy and flat-feeling top gear (I rode an R1150RT once, and it felt like you'd run into a massive headwind swapping into 6th - really sluggish and a throttle response like an overloaded estate car in comparison to the perky Rockster).

As RB says - get off the Peage onto something a bit more fun and you'll never miss the OD !

I got my bike with 2k on it in late Sept 2007, and for ages mine was quite vibey above 90mph, with a noticeable vibey patch at 95mph (speedo fib) speed. At 34K miles (and with the valves done and TB's balanced in me shed!), my bike is a lot smoother now than it was then, and has been for a while. The thing is, its such a slow process that you tend not to realise this until you actually focus on it. Your bike will almost certainly get less vibey with some more miles and some enthusiastic throttle-bending!)

Keeping the oil level topped up I find reduces vibes I found too. I know a lot of folks say it'll find its own level and mid-sight-glass is the way to go, but my bike seems happier with the level nearer the top of the sight-glass, so I tend to keep it there.
I keep it simple with oil changes too - I don't keep an accurate record, I just change the oil n filter every time I change a rear tyre - I get less than 6K out of a rear Metzeler Z6 (these, Pirelli Strada & Avon PR2 seem to last better than others I've tried, & I found I like the Metz's best), so its an easy reminder of when to drop the oil.

Might be worth checking what oil your dealer is putting in too - a lot these days only stock fully-synth as that's what all the new bikes run on. I reckon the R259 beds in better on mineral oil (I run my bike on Morris' V-Twin 20w/50 FWIW)

[riceburner]

I'm still using the Castrol Actevo 10W40 (mineral oil) that was the original spec for the bike!

[Raven]

Disagree with you on the sixth gear. Find it relaxing with that overdrive gear. Downchanging is necessary on all but steeper stretches. Maybe its me but a find a 6 hour day stint trying to cover big mileage tiring. Bike is definitely not suited to long motorway blasts. Due to family and work commitments am limited in amount of time I can take off and on hindsight trying to fit so much into just over week was maybe not such a good idea. Was exhausted when I got back!
Saw a recent addition of the hairy bikers where the visited austria and its definitely on my to do list - stunning scenery. Think it will be scotland next year. Used fort william as a base a couple of years ago - great roads and scenery.
Have been using castrol 20w50 from day one despite my local bmw dealer trying to convince me to put semi synth 10w40 in it!

[MIXR]

Did a lot of touring miles on my R1150R with the tall 6th gear. Loved it. My R1150GSA has a fantastic (lower) 1st gear. I love that too.

But the shorter 6th gear? I hate it! Stupidest thing BMW have done.

Give me the old R's 'overdrive' 6th gear any day.

The short 6th may work on the Rockster because it 'suits' the bike's styling and supposed purpose, but for touring you'd have to be nuts to give up that relaxed, low rpm, good mpg cruise that I had on the Roadster. That 500 rpm difference is the one thing I dread now that I'm looking for a second bike (R or RR) to ride.

[m@rco]

I agree with Raven. A "longer" 6th gear would have been great. I find the 5th gear "long" enough to reach high speeds if necessary... But on the long (boring) highway miles to the south of Europe, I wish my engine made a few less rpm and be more fuel economic. In the end, we drive quite a lot of km in 6th gear, so why not make it a real over-drive? It leaves us 5 gears to play with. Plenty, if you ask me

BTW - I find the same applies for cars. The 6th gear is often geared nothing differently that the 5th gear in a previous older version of the car. Loved the good old 1993 Golf 1.4 CL for that... 3,000 rpm at 120km/hr in 5th. Top speed of 155km/hr in 4th...