2000 R1100R: Transmission Crunches When Upshifting

[jacco]

Dear all,

I'm sorry to bring this up again, but I haven't been able to find a good answer for minimizing "transmission crunches" through google (maybe there isn't any?), although it seems to be a well debated issue. I'm hoping that someone here can give me a bit of advice.

I bought a 2000 R1100R last October. It had almost 8000 miles on it when I bought it, to which I added about 1400 miles so far. I took it to Bob's BMW (Jessup, MD) last December. They inspected it and replaced all the fluids, found nothing wrong with it.

I absolutely love the bike, but keep struggling with the transmission. When it's at operating temperature (after at least 20 miles of riding, say) it crunches on upshifts about half of the time, especially when going from 2nd to 3rd. Sounds to me like it's not exactly synchronized and scrapes by a few teeth before properly getting into gear. Don't get me wrong, it ends up in gear just fine, but it sounds bad. It's never the case with a cold transmission. I tried shifting at higher/lower rpm, wait half a second after pulling in the clutch before upshifting, etc, all with zero effect.

So I have two questions. The first is if this is 'normal behavior' for this model of gearbox. (The answer to that seems to be Yes, based on what google tells me...) Secondly I'd like to know if there's any shifting technique out there that can minimize this. I cannot imagine that this crunching has no effect on the lifespan of the transmission, and in addition it makes me pay more attention to shifting than to traffic.

Sorry for the long post, thanks in advance!
Jacco

[Bruce_C]

Jacco
A lot of people say they all do that.
Try pre-loading the shift lever. Put a little "up" pressure on the shifter just before you pull in the clutch to make a shift.
Also. has it been rough shifting ever since you got it? How many miles from the time it was serviced and now? What type and what weight gearoil was used at the service.
Using Mobil 1 75-90wt. full synthetic gearoil helped smooth out my trans. I also change the gearoil at every other engine oil change.
Bruce C

[jacco]

Thanks Bruce,

I dug out the bill from Bob's. They put in "75W140 synthetic gear oil" (part number 07511469906). It's hard to say how it was before the service. The repair order says that the bike came in with 8152 miles, which is less than 300 miles after I bought it. I rode about 1200 miles since the service. Thanks for your help, and I'll give your suggestion a try!

Best,
Jacco

[kbasa]

The point about preloading is well taken.

Just out of curiosity, at what rpm are you shifting? You know the boxers like to be revved, right?

[dbrick]

Preloading the lever helps, and you should also check to make sure the clutch is correctly adjusted. Adjustment procedure on oilheads is very different from that on other bikes.

[jacco]

I'm afraid that I'm one of these guys that like to pop along at 3000 rpm, unless I'm in a hurry. Which is why I didn't go for the 600 cc 4-banger sports bike I guess... What would you suggest as reasonable shift points?

Best,
Jacco

[bikerfish1100]

shift at or above 5K. i suspect that if you've been trying to shift at 3k all this time, that a lot of your problems are a result of that inclination.

[kbasa]

shift at or above 5K. i suspect that if you've been trying to shift at 3k all this time, that a lot of your problems are a result of that inclination.

:nod

[jacco]

OK, ok, I get it :)
Pretty soon you guys are going to tell me that it was designed this way by those german engineers: It will allow low-rev shifts with cold engine so that you can gently warm it up, but requires you to actually use it once at operating temperature...

Thanks for the advice, will try asap,
Jacco

[jacco]

Just a short message to thank all of you for your help. Preloading did the trick for me.

Thanks!
Jacco