1999 r850r Gear change issue

[jason87]

Good afternoon.

I'm having an intermittent gear change issue that seems to be becoming more frequent, the bike runs and rides fine 95% of the time.. 

 

However sometimes when I'm flicking up through the gears whilst accelerating it seems to get stuck between gears or won't engage into the next gear without a few attempts and then finally it goes in.?

 

Any help as to why it's doing this would be much appreciated.

 

Also I'd like to not that the neutral light comes on in first gear.. stays on in neutral and goes off in all other gears, not sure if it has anything to do with the gearchange but thought it may be worth mentioning.

 

Regards, Jason.

[dirtrider]

40 minutes ago, jason87 said:

Good afternoon.

I'm having an intermittent gear change issue that seems to be becoming more frequent, the bike runs and rides fine 95% of the time.. 

 

However sometimes when I'm flicking up through the gears whilst accelerating it seems to get stuck between gears or won't engage into the next gear without a few attempts and then finally it goes in.?

 

Any help as to why it's doing this would be much appreciated.

 

Also I'd like to not that the neutral light comes on in first gear.. stays on in neutral and goes off in all other gears, not sure if it has anything to do with the gearchange but thought it may be worth mentioning.

 

Regards, Jason.

Morning Jason

 

There is something loose or worn in your shifting linkage or internal shifting drum/forks.

 

Start by verifying the link between the shift lever & the transmission stub shaft is tight & not overly worn. 

 

Next, make sure the pinch bolt that holds the little external lever on the transmission stub shaft if tight & that the little short lever is tight on the stub shaft splines.

 

If still a problem, then clean & re-grease the shift lever pivot & clean the re-grease the ball & ball sockets on the link between the shift lever & the transmission short lever. 

 

If still a problem then your problem is internal to the transmission, like worn bearings, worn shift forks, worn shift drum, worn sliders, etc. 

 

There were few service bulletins on the old 1100 5 speed transmission about incorrectly built shift drums, bearing wear,  shift fork issues (all needing to transmission removed & split apart to verify).

 

If a previous owner did a lot or shift lever pre-load upshifting then expect to find worn shift forks.

 

Also, if you see a lot of gold looking partials in the transmission drain oil then also suspect worn shift forks.   

 

If you want you can install magnetic drain plug in your transmission then inspect that after riding for while. It might show metal particles from things like bearings failing, or shift dog teeth wearing (but obviously won't show brass shift fork wear)

 

A good look at the transmission drained gear oil out in bright sunlight can sometimes point to internal transmission issues.  

 

 

[jason87]

Thank you for your reply.

 

I changed the transmission oil a couple of months ago and there were some scurfy particles present on the magnet but nothing too extreme, was silver / grey.

 

I adjusted the gear lever and regressed when I bought the bike an seems to select gears fine without stiffness.

 

I think then it's looking like I may have to pull the transmission an take a peak inside.. gutted.

 

Regards, Jason.

[dirtrider]

53 minutes ago, jason87 said:

Thank you for your reply.

 

I changed the transmission oil a couple of months ago and there were some scurfy particles present on the magnet but nothing too extreme, was silver / grey.

 

I adjusted the gear lever and regressed when I bought the bike an seems to select gears fine without stiffness.

 

I think then it's looking like I may have to pull the transmission an take a peak inside.. gutted.

 

Regards, Jason.

Afternoon Jason

 

New BMW transmission parts are extremely expensive, on the older BMW 5 speed boxes most just find an entire good used transmission on E-Bay. It's getting more difficult to find them but there are still some decent ones out there. 

[jason87]

I have just had a look on Ebay and there's only a couple on their and they look a bit rough to be honest, an not cheap either.

 

Motorworks UK Limited do stock new an used parts, also sell a rebuild kit etc so hopefully once the box is off I can see which part is the culprit and go from there.

 

I just hope she goes on OK for the remainder of the summer and I may very well turn into a winter project.

 

I really like the bike, it's my first bmw and would hate to have to get rid of it so soon. 

[dirtrider]

22 minutes ago, jason87 said:

I have just had a look on Ebay and there's only a couple on their and they look a bit rough to be honest, an not cheap either.

 

Motorworks UK Limited do stock new an used parts, also sell a rebuild kit etc so hopefully once the box is off I can see which part is the culprit and go from there.

 

I just hope she goes on OK for the remainder of the summer and I may very well turn into a winter project.

 

I really like the bike, it's my first bmw and would hate to have to get rid of it so soon. 

Evening  jason87

 

If you go new parts you could easily have over $1000.00 in parts & most likely more than that. The good part is, on that 1999 5 speed you probably won't need to have the gear to slider engagement teeth back-cut. If a rear bearing is bad (for a while) then you could need a gear & new shaft. 

[jason87]

Unless I can source a good second hand transmission I will only replace the bits that have failed.. not a complete rebuild, I will use used parts if I must, but I'm determined not to let the bike go to scrap over a dodgy gear change.

 

I must be cursed because every bike I buy its knackered in a few months time :(

[jason87]

Had many good times on this bike so far. Check out my Tiktok channel 🙂..

 

https://www.tiktok.com/@cali23329?_t=8oFExYTUtrF&_r=1