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ME 109 wrote:

Souljer wrote:

There is no easier way to do this?

Yes.

Don't do it. Just ride it.

You fixed your clutch cable, and found that a little 'blip' of the throttle on down shift sorted your shifting issues.
I never downshift without 'blipin' it.

Ride that thing.

Yes, the blip is necessary. It turns "CLANK" into "crunch," maybe into "snick" if you hit it right.

Well, looking back at your VBMWMO string, you did buy a 20yr-old bike with 120K on it, bud. These bikes will go a long way, but you need to figure on semi-regular cash transfusions to freshen up a number of systems. Don't fall to pieces and assume that a trans rebuild is necessary right now. Unless you're getting some noisy sounds from the box when it's running (bearings or worn gears) or doing weird stuff like jumping out of gear, I wouldn't do a rebuild. While you have the trans out for the spline lube, your wrench should look the clutch over for wear, and it probably makes sense to replace the engine's rear main and oil pump seals---they're pretty cheap, and add very little to the labor costs.

If you've kept a TR6 operating, you're familiar with the drill---"cool" costs.

ME 109 wrote:
Don't do it. Just ride it.

You fixed your clutch cable, and found that a little 'blip' of the throttle on down shift sorted your shifting issues.
I never downshift without 'blipin' it.

Ride that thing.

I like that advice. I'm thinking you need some seat time to know what to think. That and hanging out here.

Ken

khittner1 wrote:Well, looking back at your VBMWMO string, you did buy a 20yr-old bike with 120K on it, bud. These bikes will go a long way, but you need to figure on semi-regular cash transfusions to freshen up a number of systems. Don't fall to pieces and assume that a trans rebuild is necessary right now. Unless you're getting some noisy sounds from the box when it's running (bearings or worn gears) or doing weird stuff like jumping out of gear, I wouldn't do a rebuild. While you have the trans out for the spline lube, your wrench should look the clutch over for wear, and it probably makes sense to replace the engine's rear main and oil pump seals---they're pretty cheap, and add very little to the labor costs.

If you've kept a TR6 operating, you're familiar with the drill---"cool" costs.

.
This advice is good. You NEVER mentioned noise, only down shift snags. That sometimes points to the need for input shaft lube. Really no big deal. I do it every time I get another BMW. Almost NO cost, just time. Then you get peace of mind. I knew when I mentioned spline lube it could result in sleepless nights. Not to worry. Just something to consider. Ride that bike. Be aware. Read up on the spline lube process and if you ever feel the need you can do it. It always makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

Hi,

Well I went for a 3 hour drive this morning and paid close attention to gear changes and sounds. This is the first long ride I've had with the bike since replacing the clutch cable.
Everything was sounding fine I think. I could downshift without a little rev and it went smoothly. I could even get into 1st from say 3rd, at a stop. From there I could find neutral. Only once did I notice that it was in neutral but the light was not on. I still think that a little rev helps but now I can really see a big improvement over how it was with the old cable, which was probably in the process of failing so the results were always shifting as things got a little worse by the next weekend.

Shifts did not sound crunchy or rough. And this was street driving so I was shifting up and down at lights and stops, etc. There were also some long stretches where I got it up to about 50 mph.

But the best news is that I looked through my Haynes manual to start reading up and seeing exactly what might be involved and I could find no mention of an input spline. So luckily it looks like I don't have one or Haynes doesn't seem to think I need to worry about it.



Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Souljer wrote:. . . Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

You might need to hope harder for our friends in Oz. It seems they've been sweating their nads off, and now they're running out of sweat.

P.S. Congratulations.

Ken

melville wrote: turns "CLANK" into "crunch," maybe into "snick" if you hit it right.

snicks on Airheads are like the chicks in Playboy. They don't really exist, at least not for me. They are just something to aspire to.

Souljer wrote:
Shifts did not sound crunchy or rough.

The new ear plugs must be working well.

daz wrote: the need for input shaft lube. Really no big deal. ........... It always makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

On my introduction to airheads, I was blown away that anyone could think that pulling the swing arm and dropping the transmission could be considered "Maintenance". It still seems stupid to me, but having done it a few times it is no longer scary.

Get a long handled, thin walled 10mm box end wrench (a ground down Craftsman works great).
Grind down whatever size socket fits the swing arm bolt.

When some part of the motorcycle gets in your way (battery, fender, tail pipe whatever), just remove it. It takes much less time than working around it.

The hardest part of the whole job is getting the rubber boot back where the transmission joins the drive shaft.
Nothing super technical and when you tell people you are dropping your transmission, they think you must be really good and chicks are all impressed. and it makes you feel warm and fuzzy

I'm glad that your bike is shifting well. It really is difficult to sort fact from fiction when dealing with basically anonymous folks on the internet, and you're absolutely right that the Haynes manual is completely silent on "transmission input spline lubrication" in either its "routine maintenance" or "Gearbox" sections. Apparently, "lube your transmission input splines" is one of those easily-debunked internet myths that a quick perusal of Haynes lays waste to. And "Staburags" is the German word for "fairy dust". . .

khittner1 wrote:I'm glad that your bike is shifting well. It really is difficult to sort fact from fiction when dealing with basically anonymous folks on the internet, and you're absolutely right that the Haynes manual is completely silent on "transmission input spline lubrication" in either its "routine maintenance" or "Gearbox" sections. Apparently, "lube your transmission input splines" is one of those easily-debunked internet myths that a quick perusal of Haynes lays waste to. And "Staburags" is the German word for "fairy dust". . .

Somebody here will know, but I'm betting that the BMW factory maintenance manual doesn't mention lubing the splines and how to go about it. And I reckon that the factory manual is the very one that the other publishers (Clymer, Haynes, etc.) copied.

If I'm right we can lay most of the blame on BMW. (That and a dollar will buy you a cup of coffee--in many places.)

Ken

Ken in Oklahoma wrote: Somebody here will know, but I'm betting that the BMW factory maintenance manual doesn't mention lubing the splines and how to go about it. And I reckon that the factory manual is the very one that the other publishers (Clymer, Haynes, etc.) copied.

If I'm right we can lay most of the blame on BMW. (That and a dollar will buy you a cup of coffee--in many places.)

Ken

I have a 1978 R45/R65 BMW manual and there is nothing about this as a maintenance item. The only reference I can find is in the clutch section where we are advised when replacing the clutch to lightly coat the internal splines with molykote. That's the very thing most advise against when doing a spline lube but at least it got a mention somewhere.

I think the thing about other publishers copying the BMW manual is dead on. Another example is the absence of a torque value for the bolts that clamp the halves on dual piston type ATE calipers. It isn't in the BMW manual and because of that it isn't any where else either.