2013 - 1200 GSW - Going from N to 1st question

henzilla said:

The Wedge K's have this same behavior, especially cold. They got better when the recommended oil viscosity was changed by BMW. Shifting into first often gets looks from other folks wondering what the heck that noise is.

Hopefully after many miles things will smooth out for y'all

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I just sold a Wedge K1200 this year. A 2008 GT. You're right the transmissions behave similarly, including gear change klunks 2nd-4th.
Personally, I didn't/don't much care for for either transmission.

One way that they were different is that, with the K1200 GT Wedge, when in neutral at a long traffic light, If I pulled in the clutch and held it in for ~10 seconds, the transmission would silently drop in to first gear (as one would hope it would). Not so with the Wethead, or at least not with the 2 I've owned. You can hold the clutch in 'till the cows come home, and it'll still bash and jolt into gear.

Don't think I'll own the Wethead for many miles (not my cup of tea/already sold my '14 RT)... in fact, I just bought a 2010 Camhead which will probably replace it.

dmilan said:

I just sold a Wedge K1200 this year. A 2008 GT. You're right the transmissions behave similarly, including gear change klunks 2nd-4th.
Personally, I didn't/don't much care for for either transmission.

One way that they were different is that, with the K1200 GT Wedge, when in neutral at a long traffic light, If I pulled in the clutch and held it in for ~10 seconds, the transmission would silently drop in to first gear (as one would hope it would). Not so with the Wethead, or at least not with the 2 I've owned. You can hold the clutch in 'till the cows come home, and it'll still bash and jolt into gear.

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Exactly! You do, however, know that it is in gear.

noob75 said:

So I took the bike out again last night, so what I found to work for me was as I approached the stop light / stop sign and bike got below about 5 mph I would shift from N to 1st and 80% of the time it would go into gear with no issues, but when at a complete stop and try to shift into 1st just couldn't get it to get into 1st clean. Tried to let out the clutch, roll the bike forward and backward nothing seemed to work, so figure shift into 1st and I get the bike speed down under 5 mph and worked well. I am very new to the BMW bike and don't claim to be an expert so if what I am suggestion can cause any issue please chim in.

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I have yet to find a way to get a quiet N to 1 shift at a full stop. As you said, do it under 10mph and get a decent shift.

Jim

Basic Rider Course training says go to first as you approach a stop, so you are ready to launch if someone coming up behind you does not stop. I think it will drop into first easier that way. You will just have to clunk it for the first clutch release of the day, or after shut down/start up.

At least BMWs clunk vs. HDs PLOCK.

I've been able to reduce the CLUNK by shifting from nuturel to second then back down to first, works some of the time!!

dogs and cogs

PGlaves said:

You are sliding pieces to make square pegs ("dogs") slip into square holes. When stopped, clutch pulled, neither the pieces with the dogs nor the pieces with the holes are turning. It is pure happenstance whether the dogs and the holes line up. If they don't forcing things may bend shift forks but still won't make the dogs pierce new holes where holes aren't.

That is why light pressure on the shifter while slightly letting out the clutch to get parts turning allows the dogs and holes to line up so it can slide into gear. The alternative is to allow/cause the bike to slightly roll forward to align dogs and holes, but using the clutch to do it is usually easier.

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Very well explained Paul. It's not like hitting the nail on the head, but rather cogs and dogs. Well done !

My 2014 GS clunks and grinds real bad when going from neutral to 1st. My 2011GS and 2012 RT were fine, shifting was near perfect on both bikes. The one thing that I don't like about my 2014 GS is the clunky shifting. I don't think that I should have to do tricks to minimize this problem. It's a $20,000 plus motorcycle and with today's technology I find this unacceptable. The dealer did an ECU upgrade to help but I swear that it made shifting worse. It's something that I'm willing to live with but not happy about it. By the way, I have a 2014 KLR650 (1980's technology) and shifting on that is perfect.

I think the last thing I'd do at a stop is turn my bike off. Sounds like too much of a safety hazard. I want to be ready to take off in a hurry if I have too. In fact, I never put it in neutral at a red light; I always leave it in first, with the clutch lever in (ready to roll).

marcopolo said:

I think the last thing I'd do at a stop is turn my bike off. Sounds like too much of a safety hazard. I want to be ready to take off in a hurry if I have too. In fact, I never put it in neutral at a red light; I always leave it in first, with the clutch lever in (ready to roll).

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Yes, using basic guidelines, we all know that you should be in first gear and ready to go at traffic lights.
Thing is, if you're familiar with you surroundings, and paying attention, and use your noggin, there are many times when it can be done safely.
Situational Awareness.

The reason I often do it now is because my 2015 GS sounds so not good when putting it back into first from Neutral. I am drawn to not punish the machine in that manner. Truth be told, it's sort of embarrassing if anyone next to you is listeneing.

For a number of reasons my '15 is for sale, my '14 RT has been sold, I just bought a 2010 Camhead GS.
With my new 2010 Camhead, in those situations when I feel it is okay to drop it into neutral at a traffic light stop, it's refreshing to be able to drop it back into first when it's time to go without suffering the response of my LC '15.

noob75 said:

So I took the bike out again last night, so what I found to work for me was as I approached the stop light / stop sign and bike got below about 5 mph I would shift from N to 1st and 80% of the time it would go into gear with no issues, but when at a complete stop and try to shift into 1st just couldn't get it to get into 1st clean. Tried to let out the clutch, roll the bike forward and backward nothing seemed to work, so figure shift into 1st and I get the bike speed down under 5 mph and worked well. I am very new to the BMW bike and don't claim to be an expert so if what I am suggestion can cause any issue please chim in.

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Basically that is the norm!

Jim

dmilan said:

Yes, using basic guidelines, we all know that you should be in first gear and ready to go at traffic lights.
Thing is, if you're familiar with you surroundings, and paying attention, and use your noggin, there are many times when it can be done safely.
Situational Awareness.

The reason I often do it now is because my 2015 GS sounds so not good when putting it back into first from Neutral. I am drawn to not punish the machine in that manner. Truth be told, it's sort of embarrassing if anyone next to you is listeneing.

For a number of reasons my '15 is for sale, my '14 RT has been sold, I just bought a 2010 Camhead GS.
With my new 2010 Camhead, in those situations when I feel it is okay to drop it into neutral at a traffic light stop, it's refreshing to be able to drop it back into first when it's time to go without suffering the response of my LC '15.

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I just took delivery of a 2015 GSA last week. While I've only got 500 miles on it to this point, I understand what you're talking about. Have to say, though, that the "clunk" doesn't really bother me, but it doesn't happen much as I'm keeping it in first gear at stops. A bit of background, in 2007 I rode out to Los Angeles. My FD had to be replaced during the trip, and when I got to LA I had to have the FD fluid changed. I went to Brown's BMW to have that done and while I was there I discovered that a lot of CHP officers took their RTP's to that dealer to have them serviced. I ended up talking to two of them for some time and, among other things, we discussed riding safety etc. Based on their riding experience, and what they'd seen on the job, the thing that was near, or at the top of their list of things not to do on a bike was putting it in neutral at a stop (no matter how long). That, and always coming to a stop with the bike in a position to allow an escape path. That advice has stuck with me. Even easier to do on my new GSA, given how light the clutch is (I came from an '06 RT).

My $.02 - lots of good advice, but also make sure your dealer performs the shift software upgrade, this smoothed out my shifting experience quite a bit, now my clunks are solely my own... YMMV