2008 R1200RT Shifter Part on Frame Broke Off

[chrisinsc]

So working a bicycle race last weekend I have the gear shift system break and it left me in 1st gear which did the entire day of bike races in 1st, lots of revving high!

Managed to use a big screw driver as a lever and get under the bike and get it into 2nd and rode home in 2nd on mostly country roads.

So for those who want to preempt any possible issues here's what failed. There is frame tube which runs laterally under the gearbox from foot peg to foot peg or a little to the rear of the pegs.

Welded onto this round frame tube is an L shaped tab which has a hole in it that is supposed to capture a rod which then allows the rod to spin and a connection on that rod pushes up or pulls down on the shift shaft. That L shaped tab with the round hole in it for the rod broke off because the weld failed because the part was poorly designed to be an L instead of a three sided box with welds on two sides which would keep it from working back and forth and fail.

Anyway, going to find a mobile welder and lay the bike on its side and have him weld that tab back on and add a reinforcement. Ask your mechanic to check that weld or check it yourself!

 

[bicyclenut]

Been there, done that. Iron Butt ride back from Denver, gas stop 100 miles from home (end) could not get to shift out of second. Managed to get into first using hand. Sloppy all the way home but did shift. Managed to ride it a couple days, sloppy shifting and sometimes could not get to shift, think crack got worse and as I was looking to lube shift linkage saw the crack and all the play due to it that prevented reliable shifting. Was like a lever without the fulcrum. See photos of cracked tab, I assume this is same as your issue. Either needed to be fixed or replace rear sub frame.

Fortunately I found an old acquaintance who had a performance shop and did welding 1/4 mile from house and limped it there. We were able to remove kickplate and some other panels so he could get some access. Terrible location to weld on bike but he managed to get a couple of welds in and welded on a small metal reinforcement plate. The problem was that virtually impossible to access the back of this L shaped tab, but he was confident his weld would hold up (see photo with bare metal weld). This held up fine for over a year. I did lubricate the bushings and the ball and socket joints on the shift linkage as maybe was not moving freely or at some point it was forced too much. Not sure why it failed but seems like initial crack was present for some time as one crack had signs of rust on bare metal.

Fast forward to this fall and I did the clutch and since I had the rear sub frame off I took it back to my friend and he welded the back side of this tab and beefed up the weld as he now had more accessibility to this area. He was pretty confident his original weld would hold but since we had the chance I delayed finishing the clutch a day so he could reinforce his weld.(see photo with part painted) I also replaced the bushing and cleaned up the linkage at this time and shifter feels smoother than before. I think one of the bushings was damaged when the part cracked and force was being placed at wrong angle.

So far all good. I think in doing some research on web I found 1-2 other people who had similar issues. Maybe design flaw, maybe poor weld, maybe age of bike or too much force at some point. Just find a competent welder and you should be able to get it fixed.

 

[chrisinsc]

Been there, done that. Iron Butt ride back from Denver, gas stop 100 miles from home (end) could not get to shift out of second. Managed to get into first using hand. Sloppy all the way home but did shift. Managed to ride it a couple days, sloppy shifting and sometimes could not get to shift, think crack got worse and as I was looking to lube shift linkage saw the crack and all the play due to it that prevented reliable shifting. Was like a lever without the fulcrum. See photos of cracked tab, I assume this is same as your issue. Either needed to be fixed or replace rear sub frame.

Fortunately I found an old acquaintance who had a performance shop and did welding 1/4 mile from house and limped it there. We were able to remove kickplate and some other panels so he could get some access. Terrible location to weld on bike but he managed to get a couple of welds in and welded on a small metal reinforcement plate. The problem was that virtually impossible to access the back of this L shaped tab, but he was confident his weld would hold up (see photo with bare metal weld). This held up fine for over a year. I did lubricate the bushings and the ball and socket joints on the shift linkage as maybe was not moving freely or at some point it was forced too much. Not sure why it failed but seems like initial crack was present for some time as one crack had signs of rust on bare metal.

Fast forward to this fall and I did the clutch and since I had the rear sub frame off I took it back to my friend and he welded the back side of this tab and beefed up the weld as he now had more accessibility to this area. He was pretty confident his original weld would hold but since we had the chance I delayed finishing the clutch a day so he could reinforce his weld.(see photo with part painted) I also replaced the bushing and cleaned up the linkage at this time and shifter feels smoother than before. I think one of the bushings was damaged when the part cracked and force was being placed at wrong angle.

So far all good. I think in doing some research on web I found 1-2 other people who had similar issues. Maybe design flaw, maybe poor weld, maybe age of bike or too much force at some point. Just find a competent welder and you should be able to get it fixed.

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Thats the part! Thanks for responding!

Ben at Ben's Motorcycle Works who has worked on 1000's of these bike says he never saw it happen before. Found a local welder. I am going to get the kickplate off and the entire shifter assembly out. Then I am going to lay it on its side in the grass and prep the area. Can you find out whether it was TIG or MIG welded? The broken part is very rusty at the break. I shift a lot doing the bike races but this is just a poor design and not beefy enough for where it is and maybe also missed getting painted all the way. Nice job you guys did.

Also, does anyone know what kind of steel the frame is?

 

[PoorUB]

I doubt the frame is anything special enough to be concerned about the type of welder to use. I would fire up my MIG and zap it back together and not even worry about it. TIG would be fine too. Depends on your guy doing the welding.

 

[chrisinsc]

I doubt the frame is anything special enough to be concerned about the type of welder to use. I would fire up my MIG and zap it back together and not even worry about it. TIG would be fine too. Depends on your guy doing the welding.

Thanks for that guidance. Someone mentioned it could be chromoly but I found it hard to believe BMW would use that in a mass production motorcycle. I could be wrong.

 

[Omega Man]

When I shortened the center and side stand on the F800 I just mig welded them. The paint was really stinky when it was hot.
OM

 

[chrisinsc]

So, looking out my window doing dishes Thursday afternoon and there was guy across the road welding steel corral fence together! So when they we winding down we had a chat and this morning he brought his farm cart mobile welding rig over. I took everything off and prepped the mating surfaces to clean metal and I wired the piece in place for initial tack welding. Laid the bike on its side on a cargo blanket and used heavy alum foil to isolate the welding area and he welded it back on. I painted it a super rust enamel black spray paint sprayed into a plastic cup and used a small paint brush. Made him take a $100 bill. I meet many more nice people because I ride a motorcycle than I would otherwise.

I was wrong though, it is a U and not an L but the factory only welded two out of thee sides. He welded all three sides. Really tough for him to get his nozzle in there so it looks a bit crude in one place but it is much more robust than it was when it left the factory.

 

[Omega Man]

Well played!

OM

 

[bicyclenut]

Great you got it fixed. Function over form as no one will see it unless they lay down under bike.

 

[chrisinsc]

Great you got it fixed. Function over form as no one will see it unless they lay down under bike.

With a flashlight!

 

[chrisinsc]

Well played!

OM

Thanks. It ended up being a fun adventure all around. Glass half full kind of deal.

 

[chrisinsc]

Post ride all day at a bike race. The bike is noticeably smoother and less vibration into the hand grips and the popo. I think this part has been broken and rattling around since I got the bike. I literally got a new driveshaft from Ted porter when I first got the bike because I thought there was an issue there. I really recommend people inspect this part for of the bike because the failure mode does not seem to be immediate. My shifter now takes much less movement to shift gears than when I got it thee years and 20k miles ago. On the upshift.