Gear change issues

[Raven]

Hi, wondering has anyone else had similar problems.

Have found my gear selector has been acting up as of late (2004 rockster with 5700 miles). It has become increasingly difficult to change down gears, specifically from forth to third and from third to second. If I am driving along in forth and come across a red light I clutch in and try to change down to neutral but its like the selector is not grabbing the next gear and there is no noticable "click". I have tried letting my foot all the way off the selector to allow it to fully return back up but this doesnt seem to make any difference.
If I release the clutch and then clutch in and change down this seems to work. Am certain that I have fully engaged the clutch each time (span adjuster is on setting 3).
Possibly a long shot but have recently changed gearbox and trans oil to a different brand of 80w90, could this make any difference or is this one of those flat twin quirks that one has to live with.....

[grwrockster]

Raven,

I've had this happen 2 or 3 times. So hopefully all your problem is, is what happened with mine......

I'm guessing that what you're finding is this..... You'll probably find that you get the first gear down (as you are heading back down the 'box after after a previous upshift) but can't get the next one gear down the 'box after that? My guess is that 'stiction'on the gear lever pivot bush is overwhelming the gear lever return spring - so the lever isn't coming back up enough to enable the selector to access another gear. For some reason it only affects downchanges, not upchanges.

One way to check if it is what I'm guessing it is, is to gently lift the gearlever with your toe after a failed downshift so the lever is back to it's normal starting position - chances are that next press down will drop you a gear no problem.

The gear lever pivot point (accessed via an allen bolt with a head a bit like a countersunk woodscrew, which seats into a nylon type bush) sticks out right where all the road crud etc. can plaster all over it. I've not heard of anyone else really suffering, but I've had to strip and clean mine and lightly lube it (don't use copper grease btw - it'll make it worse) at least 3 times in the last 30k miles.

You don't actually have to undo the linkage or anything, you can undo it and then clean the bush in situ at the side of the bike. 10 mins and you should have everything working again just fine.

Good luck!

G.

[Raven]

Thanks grw, you have hit the nail on the head. As you say first gear goes in fine and usually the next one will not click home after that and it only affects down changes. Funnily enough this problem only came to light after I started "loading" the gear change lever just prior to shifting in order to make the whole process smoother. Wont be doing that again.
Have located the pivot bolt as you say and found it to be slightly loose - thats to say you can turn it maybe another 90 degrees until it wont budge. Have cleaned,lubed and tightened the whole thing up. Hopefully this will fix it. Will take her for a test spin later .
Thanks again.

[grwrockster]

I 'load' the lever slightly as well in order to keep gearchanges smooth, and I also shift gears as quickly as possible for smoothness (I don't mean I cane it like a drag racer , I mean that a ponderous 'clutch in, then shift, clutch out' method makes most bike sequential boxes clunk due to the time delay allowing a bigger differece in speed between the relative components when they are re-engaged).

A swift clean change is always better, even when shortshifting and cruising IMO. It gives pillions an easier time too - far less of the nodding doggy, helmet-bashing antics cos it keeps things smooth.

But.... I load the lever for upchanges only really. I position my foot correctly in advance, but don't load the lever on downchanges (I also tend to 'blip' the throttle on downchanges as well - again in pursuit of a smooth change and smooth decelleration - again matching the relative speed of the gearbox/r wheel to the engine, by raising the engine revs with the 'blip' to suit the lower gear relative to road [rear wheel] speed).

I don't think the 'gearlever loading' (as long as you aren't using undue pressure of course) is affecting your gearbox at all, and don't think this would have any bearing on your sticky gearchange whatsoever. With my bike it just seems that the bush is a very close tolerance fit with the gearlever pivot so it has to be clean and lightly lubed to keep it moving freely.

It's worth bearing in mind that with only 5700 miles up, your boxer engine and the gearbox will still be a bit 'tight', and as it beds in things will smooth out and make things easier. I got my '04 with just 2000 gentle miles on her, and now with just over 30k miles the gearbox is definitely sweeter, and the engine 'looser' and more freely-revving than when I got it. I'd hazard a guess that time, familiarity, practice and miles will all help smooth things out all round. That clean and bit of lube on the gearlever pivot you just did won't hurt either

Anyway - I hope your bike is now working happily again!

G.

[Boxerpunk]

I've had the same problem with my Rockster.
Cause of the problem is the nylon bush: the nylon will harden in time and because of that it wil wear a lot faster.
Because of the increasing play in the bush, your gear change lever will tilt sidewards, instead of pivot around the bush.
Replacing the bush will solve your problems (it costs about 35 eurocents !)

[riceburner]

I noticed my gear lever movement is getting rough this week.

I'll be stripping and cleaning the linkage during my week off next week - the ball joints can get corroded and "sticky" after lots of use.

[grwrockster]

Cor RB - you're a man who really knows how to enjoy himself on his week off !

Not that I can say anything - spent last Sunday evening fixing my sticky fast idle lever (corrosion in the LH handlebar slider mechanism due to water ingress meant to didn't want to shut-off - a strip, clean & grease and all's well) and checking the valve clearances (which were spot-on so no need to mess with them ). I also pulled the tank as after 30-odd K I thought I'd pushed my luck far enough and a new fuel filter would be a good idea. I did some research to x-ref the filters and Im waiting delivery today of a new Fuel Filter (MANN MWK44) and Oil Filter (MANN MW712).

I know all this is off-topic (sorry!) but as a side-effect of the sticky fast idle I found that the bike seemed to come off the throttle and run on a closed throttle when decellerating markedly smoother with a higher idle. I'll be doing a TB at some point soon anyway, and am thinking of raising the idle speed 100rpm or so to see if it makes it nicer to ride.

[johnnyjs1]

The gear shifting problem was the first sign of the impending Clutch Spline failure on my 04 Rockster. Hopefully that is not the case with your bike.

[Raven]

When discussing bmw flat twins 3 words send a shiver down my spine - clutch, splines and failure. With such low mileage I am hoping this would be not an issue. I do think its down to sticking of the gear selector....I hope!

[grwrockster]

Raven,

I'm very optimistic for you that it's not the dreaded splines. As you say. 5700 miles would be very low. From what I've been able to gather from the data on this most excellent centre of knowledge is that spline failure is very scary, but actually not that common/widespread. It doesn't stop everyone worrying about it though!

There seems to be a few theories floating about as to why some bike are affected and others aren't, including manufacturing tolerances having the gearbox not perfectly aligned with the crank, leading to accellerated wear (presumably from side pressure loading from the drive plate onto the splines) and this being exacerbated by the design which means not all the drive plate splines overlap the gearbox input shaft splines. TBH - I haven't a clue why.

When it comes down to it though, it seems that it's sort of a case of whether you got a 'good un' or not with this issue. I've stoically refused to peer worriedly through the starter orifice and get paranoid about this through the first 31k miles (so far) -even though a mate's bike had the problem shortly after I'd bought mine 4 years ago. I've decided to have a positive mental attitude, and that as a result my Rockster is a good un, and that's that !

FYI my mate's bike was a 2001 R1150R with 17k Miles - again very low miles I'd have thought for such a failure, but I think the bike had done all it's miles in the city with lots of stop/start and traffic running. So (esp. if the guy wasn't very good with slow-speed clutch control and was constantly lashing the transmission on and off the throttle) this 17k failure might equate to several times the mileage on an 'open country' ridden bike.

I don't like transmission lash anyway (or chain lash) and have a thing that you're not riding properly if it is happening. So, on all my bikes have always tended to roll the throttle on and off and feather the clutch to prevent lurching and transmission lash in slow traffic running anyway - hopefully this means I'm putting less 'impact' on the drivetrain and the splines and that technique can minimise wear and tear. But I'd settle just as well for being lucky . I suppose only time will tell!

I'm sticking with Positive Thinking - all you're going to need is a lever pivot clean/oil.

G.

[riceburner]

The gear shifting problem was the first sign of the impending Clutch Spline failure on my 04 Rockster. Hopefully that is not the case with your bike.

nah - I've had this sensation before - it's rusted up ball joints.

[Raven]

GRW you are preaching to the converted! I am sure that the actual occurence of the dreaded clutch spline failure is actually less prevalent than the man in the pub/internet forums would have you believe. However this one of the main reasons my biking buddies steer well clear of the brand.
After taking the bike for a spin they are usually glowing with praise for it - great torque, comfy, no need to rev the nuts off it etc etc. Its BMW labour costs that is the big frightener and the need to practically split the bike in two for any work on clutch/gearbox. Also this type of work is usually well beyond the skills of the average home mechanic - myself included.
Whilst changing the starter motor a while back I attempted to catch a glimpse of the pesky bugger with the aid of a torch and a mirror. Impossible to say what condition it was in or if it was well lubed.
Like you I try to be sympathetic to the transmission and match engine speeds to road speed but having said that my bike leads an easy life with mostly touring and leisure use and spends little of its time in town so am sure it will return me years of trouble free service....

[grwrockster]

Its BMW labour costs that is the big frightener and the need to practically split the bike in two for any work on clutch/gearbox. Also this type of work is usually well beyond the skills of the average home mechanic - myself included

I did a clutch plate change on an R1150R earlier this year (and I consider myself to be a basic home mechanic - definitely amateur status with limited tools and resources) - my first attempt. My friend's bike had the clutch plate go and the cost and the wait at the time to get the job done made us decide - what the hell, have Haynes manual, will tackle.

Splitting the bike is a daunting prospect, but once you actually get stuck in and do it then it's actually pretty straightforward (there's a thread on R1150R where this very thing was covered recently). Once you take the plunge, you realise that it's simple tech - think of it as a rear wheel drive manual transmission car with only one wheel at the back - it's the same arrangement that's been around forever(e.g engine - flywheel - single plate dry clutch - pressure plate - gearbox - driveshaft - bevel box - wheel).

Don't get me wrong - I don't actually want to do this sort of thing - but I think people worry far too much about how hard it is and that changing a clutch on one of these bikes is beyond the home mechanic - I can vouch for the fact that it isn't.