6th gear dramas

[frothin hard]

R12 2011 every now and then when i select 6th gear it drops out and falls back to 5th along with a not so pleasant clunk. I spoke to BMW Melbourne and the response I got was and I quote " try moving your foot away from the gear selector after changing into 6th".. hmmmmmm for me this did not sit well as like most of us there is a long history of riding motorcycles and by now we understand the concept of changing gears..anyone have same issue with 6th or 5th???

[GSPiglet]

I have had similar experiences with my 08 R1200GS. Have also had it happen from first to second. However, I have put it down to vigorous changing combined with some laziness on my part. I have found when I am more crisp on the upchange and release of the gear lever it does not happen.

I will say though, that it has not happened on any other bikes I have owned including my current Harley - which we all know have lazy and clunky boxes.

Not a pleasant noise when it happens.

Hope this helps and that it is not a recurring problem for you.

[frothin hard]

thanks for your post GSPiglet, maybe I just have to used to it and be a little more positive in the way I change gears. If this pouring rain would stop I would love to give it a go.. cheers

[pdxrmccgs]

Kind of a normal problem for new folks that disappears as experience
increases. Here is an animation that helps some folks:

http://www.gadgetjq.com/transmission.htm

Getrag is the transmission builder... they know their stuff.

[frothin hard]

thx for your reply pdxrmccgs, its hard to imagine that I could be at fault (joking here) as pride is a strong emotion, BUT I will try to be more understanding to the Getrag Engineers and appreciate that the , Suzuki GSXR1000 and the Husky 610 TE (and I believe BMW just bought Husky) that reside in my toybox (garage) just don't require the finesse that this new machine does. Am I expecting to much?? I am figuring at this stage, by the positive responses (thank you) that I should swallow some pride and change gears correctly to avoide damaging the box.

[pdxrmccgs]

"Am I expecting to much??"

No you are not. Every single person new to the BMW transmission
has asked this question. The general form of the question is:
How come my brand new BMW transmission _____________ (fill in
the blank) while my old____________(fill in the blank) was silky
smooth. The consternation is usually in the 1) going into neutral
category, the "clunky" sound category, or as in your situation...kick out
of gear issues.

Don't worry With just a little saddle time your shifting foot and
toe and clutch hand get educated and life is good. Part of the
art form is best described as looking for the "snick" sound. Hard to
put into words but when you get there it is a beautiful sound.

BMW goes round and round with Getrag (whose factory is apparently
80km up the road from BMW) on some of this stuff. The last web
interview I read with a BMW executive was about a "O" ring
BMW wanted Getrag to use and they said no.

Please realize I am no expert but I hope this helps.

[frothin hard]

Well pdx, again thank you for taking the time to explain.
There is a bright side and I will go with this.... If all things were the same, then life would get a little boring. I bought the GS because it is very different from any other bikes that I have owned and different it is in more ways than I would have guessed. I do find a great amount of enthusiasm for the GS and look forward to mastering the gearbox that Getrag has given us. I am sure I will find joy when I have the 'snick' sound just right. Thanks again for your time and advice.

[AdamWebber]

I've got a similar problem sometimes when I shift from 4th to 5th. It's like the bike is in neutral but it doesn't read which gear I am in on the display. It usually happens when I ride the bike when it's 20-30 degrees outside and I just started it up. But mainly it happens when I don't pick my foot up high enough to lock it into 5th gear.
Every so often I will have a similar problem as you describe. I will be riding along in 5th gear for about 4-5 seconds when it just clunks back into 4th. It's probably just a worn shifting roll or something like that from years of abuse but I heard once that '05 models earlier than October had tranny problems. I hope that they didn't pick up another problem on the newer models.