Shifting woes

[Cano]

Hi all.  I purchased an '82 r65ls over winter that had been sitting for 20+ years, and finally got in on the road last weekend.  However, I've only put about 15 miles on it due to an inability to downshift.

If I am starting in neutral, I can shift into 1st and have little problem upshifting, although out of the 3 times I went all the way to 5th, twice the tranny did not engage fifth and instead I had to try to upshift again to finally engage fifth.  Have not had a problem popping out of any gear.

But the real problem is I can only downshift one gear, if at all.  I've tried not releasing the clutch all the way, keeping a little down pressure on the shifter, etc. but nothing seems to help.  I'll come to a stop with the clutch in, and try to find a lower gear.  Trying to tap the shifter down gets no results, like you are already in first. If I screw around with it enough (by actually upshifting, then trying to downshift again) I can usually get 2nd after several attempts and have to slip the clutch to get moving.  IF I'm real lucky, every once in a while I can get neutral, at which time I can shift into 1st easily.  

I did clean and lube the tranny input shaft splines before putting it on the road.  I also lubed the throwout bearing and clutch seems to be fine -- fully releases, no slipping with clutch in, etc.

I read that there is a spring that breaks and causes problems shifting, but I am having a hard time getting more info on this, including how hard of a job it is to repair.  Has anyone experienced anything like this?  Does it sound like a broken spring or another problem?  Has anyone tackled this repair?  I did successful rebuild my 5 sp 914 tranny and I'd like to try to repair this as well, but would like to get an idea of what I'm getting into.  Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

[Bob_Roller]

I had a shifting problem after a transmission overhaul .

The oil seal that the shifter shaft goes through, was installed crooked and was binding up the shifter shaft .

I believe that if a shift pawl spring breaks, you will be stuck in one gear and wouldn't be able to select any other gear .

[Cano]

Thanks for the tip, Bob.  That would be great if the tranny did not need to be opened . . . my fingers are crossed.

[montmil]

 I believe that if a shift pawl spring breaks, you will be stuck in one gear and wouldn't be able to select any other gear.

Bob is correct. The pawl spring, if broken, will keep you stuck in one gear. I have heard that it is possible to invert the bike and shift the trans into a gear that might get you home. Now that's a sight I'd like to see.

When you drained and refilled the trans, did you check the gear lube for any metallic bits? It may be necessary to open up the box as it sounds like perhaps a shift fork issue.

http://store.bobsbmw.com/microfiche/BrowseParts.aspx?GroupName=Manual+Transmission&MBike=R65&GroupID=23

Monte

[Olliepup]

Sounds like a rust problem to me. My 1975 Guzzi 850T sat 20 years when I got it. Drained at least a cup of water out of the trans. Seems to shift OK, but maybe you're not so lucky.
Wavy

[Cano]

Monte:  There was nothing on the plug other than fuzz -- no  metal pieces seen nor felt.  I'm going to exhaust all options before opening the tranny -- I'm going to double check the shift seal, exterior linkage, and I've already removed and cleaned the shift lever to foot peg bushing, which was binding pretty good.  Hopefully the problem its a combo of these exterior issues.

Dave:  Luckily its not a rust problem.  Speedo seal was packed good with grease and bike was stored inside or under a cover.  The old gear oil looked great, as did as much of the interior of the tranny as I could see from lubing the throwout bearing, replacing input shaft seal, etc.

I'll report back once I've had the time to investigate further.  Thanks for the responses.

[Cano]

I think I have identified the problem, but won't be sure until I can take it on the road.  And it was my fault . . .

Long story short, I had to drill out the shift lever and shift rod to switch from the "coathanger" to the adjustable linkage sold by a member here.  While drilling the rod, I recall the bit binding near the end which caused the shaft to spin out of my hands and caused a nick in the area where the seal mounts.  Did not notice at the time or when reinstalling the rod, but did notice last night when I felt the rod bind as i tried to rotate it by hand.  I then removed it and used a file to carefully take down the raised area.  Reinstalled the rod, and there is no more binding.

I tried to only take down the high spots and not cause a new leakage problem.  So far so good, but I won't know for sure until I can test ride.

Thanks to all for the responses.

[montmil]

CANO's BMW Mod-Shop...

Where our motto is, "We won't make it any worse than it already is" [smiley=ROTFLMAO.gif] [smiley=ROTFLMAO.gif] [smiley=ROTFLMAO.gif]

Glad it was something simple. Be careful wit dem der power tools. [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

Monte