Here we go again: the 6th Gear!

[dwayne]

Okay, not to beat this up and I have been reading old posts. When I bought my bike (new...a week ago) the sales paper says that it has "Overdrive Transmission 64.8 (64.8 is the item number, or part or whatever). Anyway, at 4000RPM I am doing about 115 Km/Hr in 6th. That does not seem right to me. Is it possible I have the wrong 6th gear, did I read the sales contract wrong, can I look at the VIN and decode what 6th gear is in there??? If it is not the overdrive, how hard will it be for the dealer to put in the right gear? My main worry is that most of my riding is highway, and I'd also like to do some touring, but average highway speeds are 120 ~ 140 at at those speeds this bike is really going to pushing some hard revs, and I don't see the gas lasting long nor the motor...well not such a motor issue, but certainly the gas.

...Actually, I just went through the German paperwork that came from Germany and does not say anything about overdrive...everything else, but not overdrive. Well, it says it on one of the bills but not the actual sales contract...they got me. I now have a bike that I intended for all highway, that is not really suited for long haul highway running.

[ProductUser]

From what I recall from past posts, the bikes sold in Canada had the overdrive 6th gear. My bike, US model, runs at 3800 rpms at 80 mph (indicated).

Now, you are not going to harm this engine, tranny, drive train...etc., running at excessive RPMs.

How long do you plan on being on the bike at a stretch? My cruising range (80 mph), without the overdrive 6th gear, is 200 miles. Truthfully, I'm ready to get off the bike at that point. If you want to cruise longer distances, perhaps the R bike is not suited for your needs.

The net-net is that this bike does VERY well at cruising the highway. I've done several 600+ mile days as well as a 800+ mile day followed by a 750+ mile day. No worries!

ProductUser

[DJ Downunder]

I have the overdrive 6th gear and at 100kph my rev's are 3,000rpm (a wisker under)..later today I'll check what I'm doing at 4,000rpm.

DJ

[P_Jensen]

I have a 04 w/ the overdrive trasmission, at 75 mph (120 kph) mine is running 3750 rpm and at 80 mph (130 kph) it is running about 4000 rpm. I also notice that is does not like 6th gear below 62 mph (100 kph). The only other question would are you sure the speedometer is correct and that you are in 6th? When I fist got mine (upgrade from a F650) I would find myself running in 5th gear on the highway because I was use to the RPM's the 650 ran at (about 4500 rpms at 75 mph).

[LonestaRR]

I am experiencing the same thing with my bike......70 mph = 4000 rpms. I rode today with a GPS mounted on the bike and discovered my speedometer is off about 3-4 mph. So, I guess I'm doing 73-74 at 4000 rpms. Still not much better. I thought the bike would be doing 80 at 4000 rpms.

[Sit]

I too have an 04 six speed R. I only use 6th gear once I am above 75. It really does not like to cruise in 6th at anything less. At proper freeway speeds of 55-60mph, I am usually in 4th, or in 5th if cruising easily, as there is more power if I stay in 4th. Once I get into 6th, it cruises at 75-80mph right around 4000rpm. When I first got the bike a year ago, once it got to 4000 rpm, especially during break in, it sounded like it was reving very high and working hard. Now it purrs at 4000 and doesnt ask to be shifted until 5000 or 5500. It may just be an issue of the bike breaking in. To see if your 6 is different than your 5th, just count your gears and get an even speed in 5th and note how the bike reponds to blips of the throttle. Then shift to 6, see if your rpms drop. If you do this at 55mph, the engine will lug pretty bad and you wont have power if your 6th is like mine, yet 5th will have some, especially on a new motor. My two cents.

[paroyboy]

...Actually, I just went through the German paperwork that came from Germany and does not say anything about overdrive...

On the original German shipping papers I got, it says "overdrivegetrieb". Heres a pic...




"Sitzbank Niedrig" means "low bench" so I guess I do have the low seat. Not sure what Heizgriffe means.

[ranmar850]

My Rockster has the sport 6th gear, 4000rpm 118km/hr. Don't worry about the revs, motor will be happier, not lugging, overtakes are blistering with no need to drop back to 5th, hills are despatched with absolute ease--my normal back-road cruising speed is 130km'hr, highway is 120(because our limit is 110). All this gives good fuel consumption and zero oil use. 4000-5000 rpm is f*ck -all for these motors. You are better off without an overdrive top, unless, I suppose ,you have only boring, interstate-type roads to travel on. Who needs a yawning gap between 5th and 6th?

[dwayne]

...
"Sitzbank Niedrig" means "low bench" so I guess I do have the low seat. Not sure what Heizgriffe means.

Heizgriffe = Heated Grips


oh, and looking through my paperwork I discovered that the white turn indicators is - BLINKER WEISS.

I find the funny.

[chris]

My standard 6th gear gets me to 70mph at 4000rpm.

[P_Jensen]

I find the most interesting thing is the color, Piedmont Red? I have the same bike as you and when I logged on to the BMW web site it listed mine as Piedmont Red as well, last time I looked it was not even close to a red.

[klrstix]

I have an 04 r1150r and my speedo reads 80mph when the tach is on 4k. I suspect my speedo is off...

[jm1515]

I have an 04 r1150r and my speedo reads 80mph when the tach is on 4k. I suspect my speedo is off...

Well...yer speedo IS off. Everyone's is , by 4~5mph, I've heard.
I think most moto speedos read a bit on the 'optimistic' side on purpose...
BTW...your benchmark means you have the over-overdrive, just like mine...
I'm at just about 79mph @4k rpm...

[vinman]

I have a 2002. 80 mph in sixth gear and I'm at about 4,000 rpm.

[dwayne]

My standard 6th gear gets me to 70mph at 4000rpm.

yup about the same here.

[Kazushi]

checked this morning, 100 km at 4000 rpm on 6th.

[dwayne]

Kazushi, I think you are rounding up there, at 100Km/Hr I am turning about 3400 RPM, though you are close enough in the ballpark to have the high torque 6th gear.

[rockster.ch]

6-month-old Rockster: 4000rpm is near enough bang-on the money 120kph...

[Paul Mihalka]

Last fall my '02 R1150R failed at the clutch splines. As the bike barely had 30K miles, a defective gearbox alignment was suspected. So the bike was getting a new gearbox and I had a choice. Originally the bike came with the long 6th gear. I had a hard time deciding. The shorter gear would be nice in every day riding. In the end I decided for the original long 6th. It sure is nice when crossing Kansas or Nebraska . I just have to keep on staying in 5th a bit longer.

[drevil]

i can check mine tonite, but isn't the original point of dwayne's post thathe wanted the taller OD 6th? if so maybe the guy who had his gearbox replaced or someone more techy than myself would know how much of a job it would be to replace the 6th gear with the desired one....