Tranny/Clutch question from a newbie.

[gspd]

A good hint for an older bike is to suspect everything that is rubber. It degrades over time.

Not to contradict, but a BETTER hint is to suspect everything that is rubber, glass, plastic, vinyl or metal.
It ALL degrades over time.

[Duane Ausherman]

You have received some good advice, but not in a way that I think is helpfull.

First off, I suspect that you haven't yet learned to shift the bike. They are "odd" and many riders new to BMW have the same symptoms as you describe. You will find a myriad of tips and hints on the various forums and websites. Mine has a few tips too.

A person who knows the BMW and its odd shifting may not also know to explain the oddities and solutions. Since your mechanic didn't make any mention of any shifting troubles, it most likely feels normal to your mechanic.

[Airbear]

A good hint for an older bike is to suspect everything that is rubber. It degrades over time.

Not to contradict, but a BETTER hint is to suspect everything that is rubber, glass, plastic, vinyl or metal.
It ALL degrades over time.

And of course, the precious fluids. Replace them all and keep records.

[Jean]

Oldsoul, you didn't say where you were. By now you must have realized we have forum members from all over the world!
So...to get to the real point: I paid $3200 in 1982 for my late 1978 (1979?) R100s, complete with it's original German plates, In Atlanta, more or less. It was running when it stopped and the rider got off and boarded a plane back to Munich. I still ride it. NO tranny problems, but I've replaced the clutch...about 3 years ago.

For a bike that has been stored for 10 years and makes disturbing noises inside the transmission, I think $3200 is a LOT of money. Just that it's been sitting for so long is suspicious that maybe it made those noises 10 years ago and that's why it sat.
Shifting from N to first...normal to feather the clutch before it wants to go into first if you are sitting still.
I'm a little surprized Rob didn't make some other comment about the tranny...as in, "Yo SURE it had adequate OIL in it?"

On the older bikes (mine) the throwout bearing is something that seems to be prone to fail if it's not kept clean and lubed...the newer ones (the one you are interested in) are not supposed to have this problem.

[Deleted User 61]

Here you go, oldsoul, in case you are wondering to what Jean was inferring...

http://boxerworks.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=314

[Deleted User 61]

Airbear, Would rust on the input shaft be something that would clear up with some use or something to address right away?

Yes, oldsoul, the rust would clear up and not be a problem, providing the spline teeth are not too worn.

From Duane Ausherman's site: http://w6rec.com/duane/bmw/trans/index.htm

The BMW motorcycle transmission input shaft spline wear is a major issue. It is well known that the splines must be lubricated at regular intervals with a high quality grease. I do not deal with how often and which grease is best. That is up to you. Here you can observe the spline wear. I took several photos attempting to show the wear pattern. All failed. By eye, one can see where the clutch hub internal splines wore against this shaft. None of the photos show it. In reality it doesn't matter except as a display on this page. This spline shows almost no wear at all. The odometer shows 82 k miles (about 130,000 km) and has evidence of tampering. The rest of the bike shows that it has a lot of miles on it, but has been in a good maintenance program. I can't believe that this shaft is the original one. I suspect that it has been replaced and doesn't have many miles on it.



My personal favorite grease for this and the rear wheel splines is Honda Moly 60, readily available at any Honda MC dealer.
My local dealer usually only has one tube hanging on their display. And it is dusty.

[Ridercam]

Wait till November... Numerous airheads will become more available. Buy the bike you want. If you live on the west coast, a 3000 bike in summer comes to 1800 in the fall. Transmission work though daunting can be done still at a reasonable price. This past spring, I had mine done replacing 2nd and 4th plus reconditioning the bearings for under 850.

Like most here, they won't trade their 80's airhead after the love affair begins. once the bike is organized enough to ride across country, chances of dealing with the big stuff it again are virtually nil.

[oldsoul70]

Gosh. Thanks for all of your input! I'll have some very specific things to key in on upon giving the bike a second look over. I'm bringing some tools. There are quite a few for sale in my area (CDA Idaho USA) so I can afford to be a little choosy.
It's always a gamble buying anything used. I do spin my own wrenches (Airbear and Dougie) and am super excited about the little I've seen as far as bmw engineering. Sure, everything has tricks but it seems they are user friendly and well thought out. Can’t wait to have an over the road bike.

Anybody know of an underground bmw gooroo or good bmw shop in the northwest for parts or machine work in the future?

[Duane Ausherman]

Good question. Once you find this guru, ask him to appraise the prospective purchase first, before you buy it.

[oldsoul70]

Ha! I thought GOOROO looked a little funny but I quess you knew what I was talking about!