Newb with weird problem

Not new to riding, new to BMW. Bought a 2002 R1150RT with 28K for $3K in May. It is a daily driver, freeway commute of 70 miles each way. Changed all fluids upon purchase. Put 1,500 miles on it in a week this summer. So far, not a single problem.

Going to work today, the drive train "lost" power, in 6th gear, 85mph, suddenly no drive. Throttle was responsive. Eased over to shoulder and was downshifting. Once on shoulder, in 5th gear, the drive train "reengaged". Nursed things along to see if it was a one off or not, after 10 minutes, resumed travel at 85mph and no problems there or back.

Any ideas? I have never owned a shaft drive bike before and am not sure what, if anything to check.

Thanks for any help or guidance.

Not new to riding, new to BMW. Bought a 2002 R1150RT with 28K for $3K in May. It is a daily driver, freeway commute of 70 miles each way. Changed all fluids upon purchase. Put 1,500 miles on it in a week this summer. So far, not a single problem.

 

Going to work today, the drive train "lost" power, in 6th gear, 85mph, suddenly no drive. Throttle was responsive. Eased over to shoulder and was downshifting. Once on shoulder, in 5th gear, the drive train "reengaged". Nursed things along to see if it was a one off or not, after 10 minutes, resumed travel at 85mph and no problems there or back.

 

Any ideas? I have never owned a shaft drive bike before and am not sure what, if anything to check.

 

Thanks for any help or guidance.

Evening Walstib

Can you be more specific on the disengagement (tell us everything).

Your problem sort of sounds like the dreaded stripped input shaft/clutch hub spline failure.

Hope not as it is real expensive to repair.

Google BMW 1150 spline failure to see if the symptoms match up to what you experienced.

Not new to riding, new to BMW. Bought a 2002 R1150RT.................

Sounds just like me 3 years ago.

And later I found the 02 1150RT is the first year of that transmission, and engine, and servo brakes..... the model/year that experienced BMW riders avoid (hence the good price).

Transmission input shaft splines (and associated clutch splines) known to wear and strip out, and the servo brakes known to have expensicve problems.

Mine stripped out on the 5th day. Repair estimate from the dealer was about 3500 bucks.

Some 02 RT have long life with no problem, some fail before 50K, some at 30K. Has been some very indepth discussion on this.

What you described seems like the spline stripp out. Did is sound like zirrrrzirrrrzzirrrr ?

But I have a hard time thinking that could happen, then catch and yhou can go again.

Seems like I can be away from the forum for a few weeks, then logg on and see the same story posted recently.

.

The disengagement was noise free, no grinding, etc. After reading about spline problems, this does not seem to be what happened.

Going 85mph in 6th gear, the drive function was disconnected from the engine. The engine revved up with no load on it. I rode to the shoulder, downshifted to 5th and power was restored to the drive train. Very momentary, no noise of any kind associated with the loss of drive.

I have had bikes lose the transmission, gearbox, etc. There is always some hellacious clunking and grinding. Not so this time.

The only other thing that appears unusual is that on occasion, the gear indicator is wrong. Usually it will show 6th gear and I am in 2nd or 3rd. This always self corrects when shifting to another gear.

Any ideas? All help is appreciated.

Clutch slippage, high speed, high rpm's !!!!!!

The disengagement was noise free, no grinding, etc. After reading about spline problems, this does not seem to be what happened.

 

Going 85mph in 6th gear, the drive function was disconnected from the engine. The engine revved up with no load on it. I rode to the shoulder, downshifted to 5th and power was restored to the drive train. Very momentary, no noise of any kind associated with the loss of drive.

 

I have had bikes lose the transmission, gearbox, etc. There is always some hellacious clunking and grinding. Not so this time.

 

The only other thing that appears unusual is that on occasion, the gear indicator is wrong. Usually it will show 6th gear and I am in 2nd or 3rd. This always self corrects when shifting to another gear.

 

Any ideas? All help is appreciated.

Morning Walstib

A little more detail does help. If a quick downshift to 5th restored forward pull then possibly you somehow knocked it out of gear while riding.

Or possibly you didn't have it fully shifted into 6th.

Or possibly you have a worn shift drum or worn shift forks.

You might check the little stub shaft on the transmission for the lever (bolt) being loose.

Check the shift linkage, shifter pedal pivot, & side plate clearance.

You might have to wait to see if it happens again (if it keeps happening & it isn't your foot knocking it out of gear then you definitely have transmission/shifter problem)

The disengagement was noise free, no grinding, etc. After reading about spline problems, this does not seem to be what happened.

 

Going 85mph in 6th gear, the drive function was disconnected from the engine. The engine revved up with no load on it. I rode to the shoulder, downshifted to 5th and power was restored to the drive train. Very momentary, no noise of any kind associated with the loss of drive.

................

Any ideas? All help is appreciated.

Sounds like the gear box slipped into a "false neutral". If you are new to BMW R bike transmissions, you may not be engaging your shifts deliberately enough. These gearboxes don't snik/snik/snik through the gears - they SHIFT/CLUNK through the gears. You have to be deliberate in all of your shifts.

Thanks for all the feedback and ideas. I will keep an eye on things mentioned.

It's a bit of a pain but I would suggest two things.

First is to pull the starter and check the play in the clutch disc. This will tell you if a clutch/modified clutch/spline replacement is in your future.

Second would be to pull the side plate where the shift pivots and take everything apart to clean and lube. It probably has never been done and makes a world of difference to shifting.

This gets my vote, also.

sounds like it just slipped out of gear, you may have had your foot on the shifter lever with just enough pressure to put in between gears

sounds like it just slipped out of gear, you may have had your foot on the shifter lever with just enough pressure to put in between gears

I have done this on my '99 R1100RT (accidentally pushed it out of gear) while riding. The last time was when I just stood up for a bridge bump, my toe nudged the shift lever into a false neutral. A surprisingly little effort is needed if you cut/blip the throttle.