Lower 1st gear? ‘95 R1100GS

Does anyone here know if it’s possible to lower the gears in an r1100gs? Most of my riding is back-country on dirt, and sometimes quite rutted, sloppy roads in the eastern Cascades of Washington. It’s would be very nice to be able to slow WAY down without having to ride the clutch. I have no real need for higher speeds on this bike and I’m willing to sacrifice the fuel efficiency that I’d lose.
I’m assuming that it would take a deep dive into the transmission to make changes, if it’s even feasible. Any experience with this? I couldn’t find anything already in the Forum.

Why not look for a final drive with a different gear ratio instead? Much easier to change out and you could always return to the original if you don't like it. Someone else will have to tell you which FD ratio to look for.

m_stock10506 said:

Why not look for a final drive with a different gear ratio instead? Much easier to change out and you could always return to the original if you don't like it. Someone else will have to tell you which FD ratio to look for.

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This would be easy. The R1100GS has a 33-11 final drive or a ratio of 3.00 to 1. But an R850R final drive has a 37-11 final drive or a ratio of 3.36 to 1. Find a final drive off an R850 and it should bolt right on. Or replace the crownwheel in the GS with the 37 tooth one from an R850 and motor on with a 12% decrease in speed in any gear at any RPM.

But are the bevel gears the same on both bikes? I couldn't tell from the MAX fiche.
If they're not, then unmatched gears would cause accelerated uneven wear.

Pauls1150 said:

But are the bevel gears the same on both bikes? I couldn't tell from the MAX fiche.
If they're not, then unmatched gears would cause accelerated uneven wear.

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It appears BMW only sells the ring gear and pinion gear as a set. So a final drive of a wrecked R850 might be the way to go. There is probably not a lot of them out there, but also probably not a lot of demand for the units.

PGlaves said:

It appears BMW only sells the ring gear and pinion gear as a set. So a final drive of a wrecked R850 might be the way to go. There is probably not a lot of them out there, but also probably not a lot of demand for the units.

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Hard to find as the sidecar folks love that drive. I did locate one about four years ago after much searching