02 R1150R "pre-loading" the shifter technique

[ultracyclist]

This is a follow up request on the subject of shifting into first gear from a stop, without rocking the bike back and forth as pertaining to the "R" bikes.

Please, would one of you experienced riders please share the correct technique from start to finish on how to do this procedure. Leave nothing out.

Thank you,
Ultra

[John Brase]

Well, here's my routine. This assumes you are in neutral with the clutch engaged (lever out).
1) pull clutch lever in
2) push down on shifter
if it does not go into 1st gear,
3) release pressure from the shifter
4) let clutch lever out (this gets the gears spinning)
5) return to instruction (1) above.

John

[PUDGYPAINTGUY]

Well, here's my routine. This assumes you are in neutral with the clutch engaged (lever out).
1) pull clutch lever in
2) push down on shifter
if it does not go into 1st gear,
3) release pressure from the shifter
4) let clutch lever out (this gets the gears spinning)
5) return to instruction (1) above.

John


Same here...I will lightly feed the clutch out just until I feel the clunk and pull the lever back in all the way

[Mr. Frank]

The secret is to push the shift lever down almost simultaneously with pulling the clutch lever in. As the poster above noted, if it fails, you have to let the lever out and try again.

[Xaque]

I will lightly feed the clutch out just until I feel the clunk and pull the lever back in all the way

+1

When I'm in, say, neutral, and trying to get into first:

If she doesn't go into gear from just pushing down on the pedal...

Apply pressure to the shift pedal while slowly releasing the clutch. At a certain point the transmission will "clunk" (poor choice of words) into gear. I then immediatly pull clutch back in.

It is much easier than rocking the bike back and forth. (Plus it looks alot slicker infront of your friends instead of humping the tank to get the bike to roll forwards and backwards)

-Xaque-

[PUDGYPAINTGUY]

+1

When I'm in, say, neutral, and trying to get into first:

If she doesn't go into gear from just pushing down on the pedal...

Apply pressure to the shift pedal while slowly releasing the clutch. At a certain point the transmission will "clunk" (poor choice of words) into gear. I then immediatly pull clutch back in.

It is much easier than rocking the bike back and forth. (Plus it looks alot slicker infront of your friends instead of humping the tank to get the bike to roll forwards and backwards)

-Xaque-

Didn't I just say that? And who rocks the bike? LOL Read it again perhaps...lol

[jacco]

... instead of humping the tank ...

Poor choice of words for a monday morning Xaque, now I'm stuck with this dreadful mental image... :)

[ultracyclist]

You guys are alot of fun....

Now, if you do not mind me asking...is not BMW aware of this idiosycrasy of the bikes? Surely there must be a modification available to correct this? Does this happen to Ducati's, or rice burners?

Thank you and have a great week!

[The_Veg]

I'm with Xaque and PudgyPaintGuy on this one. And in the short few years I've been riding BMW it seems that 'clunk' is the commonly accepted word for the aural results of our transmissions idiosyncrasies. I don't have enough Oilhead experience to comment, but my R100R goes into first while stopped without any clutch-trickery about 999 of 1000 times.

[jacco]

Surely there must be a modification available to correct this?

Sure. The BMW replacement part number is R1200xx, where xx is either R, RT, GS, ST or S, depending on the model of your current bike. The 'R' is currently out of stock it seems :)

Seriously, people have been debating this for years, but there seems to be no real fix for it. On the other hand, it doesn't seem to be a major source of failures either, so I guess we'll just have to live with it. The first-gear clunk doesn't bother me that much, I'm more scared by the occasional crunch I get when upshifting from 2nd to 3rd.

[BubbaZanetti]

I'm with Xaque and PudgyPaintGuy on this one. And in the short few years I've been riding BMW it seems that 'clunk' is the commonly accepted word for the aural results of our transmissions idiosyncrasies. I don't have enough Oilhead experience to comment, but my R100R goes into first while stopped without any clutch-trickery about 999 of 1000 times.


yeah, used to have this problem 1 out of 10 times on my airhead, now its 1 out of 1000 times with the oilhead. can't remember having to pre load it except maybe once or twice in really really cold weather just after i'd started the bike.


and clunk is a great word, we have clunky transmissions

[Xaque]

Didn't I just say that? And who rocks the bike? LOL Read it again perhaps...lol

I know! Hence the "+1" in response to your post.

I just wanted to type it all again so I could talk about "humping the tank" to roll it back and forth. :D

No hard feelings. :buds

-Xaque-

[iRene]

As for the Boxer clunk, it sure beats the heartbreak of 5 speeds of neutral you get on a K75S at almost exactly 70k miles despite annual spline lubes!

[PUDGYPAINTGUY]

I know! Hence the "+1" in response to your post.

I just wanted to type it all again so I could talk about "humping the tank" to roll it back and forth. :D

No hard feelings. :buds

-Xaque-


Hi Xaque absolutely no hard feelings at all...in fact I was laughing my a** off as I was typing my response...lol. It was just the smart a** in me that just could not resist the reply...hehehehee

[PacWestGS]

Well, here's my routine. This assumes you are in neutral with the clutch engaged (lever out).
1) pull clutch lever in
2) push down on shifter
if it does not go into 1st gear,
3) release pressure from the shifter
4) let clutch lever out (this gets the gears spinning)
5) return to instruction (1) above.

John

Yep, that's how I do it 98% of the time, also.

When performing steps 4 and 5 and before step 1: DO NOT BLIP THE THROTTLE, this only speeds up the (primary) gears and does immeasurable damage.

Now, to try and answer your original question: Pre-Loading the shifter?
If all of the above steps fail to get the bike to shift into gear, try this:

1) Apply the front brake,
2) Pull in the clutch wait about two to three seconds, (for moving parts to stop moving, this is not critical. If the bike moves into gear in the next step you are done)
3) Push down on the shift lever, and hold
4) SLOWLY, release the clutch lever until you feel the lugs (Shift Drum) lining up through your foot, but before they actually engage,
5) Pull the clutch lever back in (disengage) the bike should drop right into gear. (If not, repeat step 4 until successful)

You are feeding movement into the transmission from the motor, not the rear wheel (rocking the bike) to the selector drum, while applying tension to the selector drum with the gear shift lever.

NOTE: If you release the clutch in step #4 you will kill the engine or lurch forward, both of which are undesirable actions.

It's better than humping your gas tank, what ever that does?

HTH

[The_Veg]

Is humping the tank anything like a monkey trying to %$@* a football? :bolt

[CustomSarge]

I'm reminded of the holy men, in the river, who didn't tell the newby where the rocks are...

> Onto task: put a "soft" foot on the shifter for the gear you want.

> Back out on the clutch until your foot feels the engagement/torque loading, snap the clutch back in...

> IMHO: BMWs have synchro trannys, just not "static" synchro type (arguably lame "rolling" as well). The "preload" philosophy is valid, just archane(sp?) excepting for those makes even less precise.

My R11HR can be a Real !@#$%, on a hill, in traffic, if I forgot to preset/preload the downshift into 1st.

But They're worth it! <<<)))

[PUDGYPAINTGUY]

You guys are alot of fun....

Now, if you do not mind me asking...is not BMW aware of this idiosycrasy of the bikes? Surely there must be a modification available to correct this? Does this happen to Ducati's, or rice burners?

Thank you and have a great week!


hehehehe...I think the modification is to either buy Veg's R100R or buy protection for humping the tank...hehehehehe

[The_Veg]

Not for sale! What kind of protection did you have in mind???

[pmdave]

The reason BMW transmissions are sometimes reluctant to shift is that the shift dogs are slightly keystone shaped. That ensures that once the dogs are engaged they aren't jolly likely to slip "out of gear".

The oriental gearbox dogs are typically straight-sided, either round or square. After a few thousand miles of bad shifting, the dogs get rounded off, and that's why they may "jump out of gear". I always grimace when I see some rider stomping on the shift lever to get it into first.

Shifting a BMW transmission requires a bit of talent. Brains over brawn, if you will.

Easing out the clutch as you press down on the lever allows the gears in the transmission to start turning. Just a slight movement allows the dogs to slip into the keystone slots. The clutch will slip to prevent the bike moving, if you've only eased out the lever part way. It's all easier if you snick into first as you bring the bike to a stop.

At speed, I've found the oilheads and bricks shift best if you don't close the throttle much. Preload the lever, roll off just a little, snick the clutch lever halfway in-out, and you're in the next gear without much fuss or noise. If you roll off the gas all the way and squeeze the clutch lever to the grip, the transmission gears stop turning, the engine spools down to idle, and there will be a big "clank, lurch" as all the parts try to get back up to speed.

It seems to work better if you only squeeze the clutch halfway--just enough to allow the plates to slip. We're not talking full throttle shifts here, just a nice easy upshift.

Try it and see if it works for you.

pmdave

[screwtop]

The reason BMW transmissions are sometimes reluctant to shift is that the shift dogs are slightly keystone shaped. That ensures that once the dogs are engaged they aren't jolly likely to slip "out of gear".

The oriental gearbox dogs are typically straight-sided, either round or square. After a few thousand miles of bad shifting, the dogs get rounded off, and that's why they may "jump out of gear". I always grimace when I see some rider stomping on the shift lever to get it into first.

Shifting a BMW transmission requires a bit of talent. Brains over brawn, if you will.

Easing out the clutch as you press down on the lever allows the gears in the transmission to start turning. Just a slight movement allows the dogs to slip into the keystone slots. The clutch will slip to prevent the bike moving, if you've only eased out the lever part way. It's all easier if you snick into first as you bring the bike to a stop.

At speed, I've found the oilheads and bricks shift best if you don't close the throttle much. Preload the lever, roll off just a little, snick the clutch lever halfway in-out, and you're in the next gear without much fuss or noise. If you roll off the gas all the way and squeeze the clutch lever to the grip, the transmission gears stop turning, the engine spools down to idle, and there will be a big "clank, lurch" as all the parts try to get back up to speed.

It seems to work better if you only squeeze the clutch halfway--just enough to allow the plates to slip. We're not talking full throttle shifts here, just a nice easy upshift.

Try it and see if it works for you.

pmdave

I've pretty much mastered the getting into 1st routine on my GS, but I'm more interested in this pre-loading the shift lever, blipping the throttle, etc., at speed. I was out for a ride this evening, and was practicing the technique of just backing off the thottle slightly and pulling the clutch in about 1/2 way on my upshifts from 2-3-4-5, etc. (all done of course, while keeping upward tension on the shift pedal) It seems to make for smoother shifts, but takes some practice. It doesn't really seem to make that big of a difference to me. That being said, does anyone think you are actually being unnecessarily "hard" on the trasmission if you pull the clutch in all the way and close the throttle completely as you shift up through the gears. Looking at the tach, it seems to only drop about 300-400 RPM by the time I've completed the process. Another thing to obsess about I guess.....

[lorazepam]

I've pretty much mastered the getting into 1st routine on my GS, but I'm more interested in this pre-loading the shift lever, blipping the throttle, etc., at speed. I was out for a ride this evening, and was practicing the technique of just backing off the thottle slightly and pulling the clutch in about 1/2 way on my upshifts from 2-3-4-5, etc. (all done of course, while keeping upward tension on the shift pedal) It seems to make for smoother shifts, but takes some practice. It doesn't really seem to make that big of a difference to me. That being said, does anyone think you are actually being unnecessarily "hard" on the trasmission if you pull the clutch in all the way and close the throttle completely as you shift up through the gears. Looking at the tach, it seems to only drop about 300-400 RPM by the time I've completed the process. Another thing to obsess about I guess.....

Tension the shifter and just lower your rpms a bit, and depending on how many miles you have it should just go into the next gear.