2001 R1100RT-Clunky Shifting Improved!

Experienced rider, trader, wrench and bike owner here.

For a summer change this year, and I bought a super low mile R1100RTL a few weeks ago with only 8K on the clock, and was pretty impressed with all aspects of the bike-except the wretched shifting. It was very clunky and felt like I was always grinding third on up-shifts. Based on recommendations found on this forum I started pre-loading my shift lever and resisted lower RPM shifts below 3500-4000 RPM. That notably improved things, but didn't necessarily solve them altogether. Next, I changed my trans fluid (it looked like new when drained, with almost no metallic residue on the magnetic plug) and switched to Redline Shockproof Heavy, after, once again, reading many positive reviews on this site. That also make a notable improvement. Before the shifting technique and replacement fluid guidance received on this site, it was debatable whether I would even consider keeping this bike, as it shifted so poorly it irritated the hell out of me. It is now tolerable and I really enjoyed the last 250 miles this weekend. Getting her ready for a Canada tour this summer now. Thanks guys.

PS: I am going to practice/perfect my valve adjusting technique with the tupperware on, as taking it off every time is ridiculous and unnecessary from what I have also learned here. Thanks BMWSportTourng Forum!

Welcome to the forum.

If you are happy with the shifting now you may find yourself ecstatic after taking apart the whole shift mechanism and cleaning then properly lubing all pivot points.

Welcome

My seat of the pants analysis of the heavy vs factory recommended lube for the tranny is that the heavier stuff makes it easier to shift without it feeling clunky, but the lighter stuff will actually allow a smoother shift with a "good" technique.

As for the valves, you can certainly do them with the plastics on but you can't really sync the throttle bodies that way, and I always do both at the same time, so...

Taking the side panels off, after some practice is a simple affair of just a few minutes - literally - each. Be careful lining up and not forcing the screws on top of the tank and you'll be golden.

josh

PS- fill out your profile so we know where you are and someone might offer to come help out with the Tupperware

Afternoon eburr

You will probably find that after you ride that bike another couple of thousand miles that switching the gear oil to another brand or viscosity will again improve shifting.

It seems that on the old BMW boxers it isn't so much the gear oil used as it is NEW (un-sheared) gear oil.

They almost always shift better right after a gear oil change (that is why you read all the positive things said about this gear oil or that gear oil improved my shifting)

Put 2,000 miles on that gear oil then rate it for shiftability.

Also found that tapping the shift lever once without clutch before shifting into 2nd or third makes a quiet shift. The first tap must "wake the transmission up" and align things prior to shifting, and the 2nd tap with clutch lever pulled is almost always quiet.

Strange transmission in these here bikes.

....had similar clunky changes and discovered that the gear linkage attachment to the spline'd gear shaft was loose allowing the gear lever to move a bit before actually turning the splined shaft. A quick quarter tune to snug it up and gear changing was much better.

I will double check the shift linkage, but the bike is essentially a "new" 2001 with only 8500 on her. Loose is still possible I suppose. The "double tap" process outlined above works well, but I still don't think I should have to work so hard to get clean shifts.

I bought a sweet old ST100 with 30K on her as as back up, and it is smoother in all respects than the beemer. Of course it is a lot heavier and handles like pig in comparison, but the contrast is interesting switching between these legendary mile munchers. I like the BMW steering, suspension, weight and egos better, but the ST is flat out smooth and quiet.

I will double check the shift linkage, but the bike is essentially a "new" 2001 with only 8500 on her. Loose is still possible I suppose. The "double tap" process outlined above works well, but I still don't think I should have to work so hard to get clean shifts.

At 8500 miles, wear shouldn't be an issue, but the shifter pivots on a plastic bushing. At ~100,000 miles, mine was pretty sloppy. After I used a very thin piece of feeler gauge to shim it to a tight fit, there was a night and day difference in shifting precision. If you can move the tip of the shift lever by a noticeable amount, consider replacing/shimming that bushing (part #4, $5.49 each)

In my experience, the Getrag transmission requires more skill/technique than any Japanese bike I have ever ridden. Timing is critical. Practice, practice, practice, and 99% of your shifts should be almost silent.

You might try shifting WITHOUT the clutch. It takes a little getting used to, to coordinate throttle and shifter. Sometimes I'll just lightly squeeze the clutch lever, just enough to take up a little slack. This seems to help ME coordinate. With a blip of the throttle and a flick of the toe, most bikes I've ridden shift beautifully. Now this is for UP shifting only. Down shifting is still a clutch shift - for me.

I'd like to know what DR has to say about this, including wear and tear on the transgression and engine.

You might try shifting WITHOUT the clutch. It takes a little getting used to, to coordinate throttle and shifter. Sometimes I'll just lightly squeeze the clutch lever, just enough to take up a little slack. This seems to help ME coordinate. With a blip of the throttle and a flick of the toe, most bikes I've ridden shift beautifully. Now this is for UP shifting only. Down shifting is still a clutch shift - for me.

 

I'd like to know what DR has to say about this, including wear and tear on the transgression and engine.

 

Morning Lowndes

If you can always match the engine RPM to start-of-shift so drive load comes off the shift dogs & shift forks as the dogs disengage, then again match the engine RPM's to the end of shift so the shift dogs re-engage the next gear at matching RPM's then no harm no foul.

If you miss the RPM match then you are placing more load on the shift forks & chance rounding off the shift dog leading edges.

So, 7 months of ownership and about 4K miles later, this is what I have learned: shockproof trans fluid helped somewhat. Double foot tap up, once with clutch out and once when pulled works good for clean second and third gear up-shifting. Pulling clutch lever in only 10-15% max also produces clean and quick up-shifts. Almost more of "thinking of using the clutch" than pulling it to any significant degree.

Down shifts- well hell. I still goof up and get caught in garbage disposal/grinder mode (E-between gears)about once a day during an active day of riding. Ugh.

So, 7 months of ownership and about 4K miles later, this is what I have learned: shockproof trans fluid helped somewhat. Double foot tap up, once with clutch out and once when pulled works good for clean second and third gear up-shifting. Pulling clutch lever in only 10-15% max also produces clean and quick up-shifts. Almost more of "thinking of using the clutch" than pulling it to any significant degree.

 

Down shifts- well hell. I still goof up and get caught in garbage disposal/grinder mode (E-between gears)about once a day during an active day of riding. Ugh.

Morning eburr

You might try blipping the throttle slightly during the down shift. Also play with downshift timing of de-clutching to trans lever movement.

If nothing improves the downshift then you might have a trans internal issue coming on (usually shows up first in 2-1 downshift (or in the lower gears anyhow).

You can also try different gear oil viscosities-- I know you thought that the RedLine was the cats-ass but to me that gear oil hindered shifting after a 1000 miles or so on it.

It seems about every old BMW boxer trans was different in the gear oil that allowed good upshifting/downshifting with some liking heavy thick oil & other liking thinner multi-weight oil.

The one gear oil that always seemed to work the best in the largest number of old BMW's was Mobil-1 75w140 (it doesn't work best in all of them but seemed to work better in a great number of them)-- Royal Purple 75w140 also worked pretty good but only seemed to shift good for a short time so I imagine it sheared pretty easily.

I agree with the blip on downshifts, but am sometimes too lazy or intolerant to do it. There is really no excuse for a gear box to behave this way. I can ride it error free now most the time, but no one should have to be quite this careful. The bike only has 12K on it now. It is still very tight and fresh.