R65LS ... broken pawl spring in the transmission

[R65LS]

the pawl spring inside the transmission broke, which prevents shifting from gear to gear, and keeps one stuck in the same gear.

Any technical info on why this spring would break ??

Cheers and Thanks,

Carl

[nhmaf]

Somewhere , on one of my computers I had a printout of a service bulletin on this, I think..   This failure is not uncommon, and unfortunately, requires some significant disassembly to fix.   I think that a new shift plate is part of the fix - will look.
Sorry to hear of this very aggravating breakdown!

[R65LS]

Thanks for the info .... something I don't have the ability to fix.  In the shop now at Brown Motor Works in Pomona, CA getting repaired.

Other than that major aggravation, the bike has been perfect.

Cheers,

Carl

[montmil]

You are fortunate to find a BMW dealer that will even consider working on Airheads. Hope ypur mechanic is at least twice the age of your R65.

Monte

[RSMike]

From their site, looks like they have old airheads and K's going through, so look like a safe bet

There is a lovely K75 there at the moment, I would be seriously tempted if Pomona was a bit closer,  



nice airhead RS also
http://used.brownmotorworks.net/

[nhmaf]

The K75s are another under-appreciated, VERY capable bike.

[R65LS]

Brown Motors has been there "forever" and Jerry The Mechanic has been there many years, very airhead qualified.

I am going to chat with The Owner about trading my R65LS for this one:
 Â  http://used.brownmotorworks.net/88_R100RS.asp

It is in great shape, low mileage, bags, fairing ..... I gave the bike a close look last week when I took my R65LS in for repair.

Cheers,

Carl

[nhmaf]

It won't turn as quickly, but it will be a smooth ride.   Be sure that the RS fairing is your cup of tea before deciding to trade!

By 1988, BMW did have the valve seat issues figured out, so it should be no worries there as far as valve/head issues go.   I had a 1988 R100RT and, while it didn't have as much peak HP as the R100 from the earlier 80s, it did have a bit more torque and seemed to run smoother.   The monolever frame doesn't seem to have the issues with the swingarm driveshaft joint failures that the paralever GS bikes had in the 90s either.   I still wish that I hadn't sold mine.
The VIN of that bike should be a 17-digit number beginning with "WB" on a foil sticker on the right frame tube down near the rear brake pedal - the "VIN" mentioned on the website is just the engine/frame serial number (check to see that they match if you can)

[tvrla]

Brown's has been around forever. They're the 'brown's' in Brown's side stand.

As for the original question - it could have been age or who knows, but some of the early transmissions didn't leave enough clearance and the spring would bind under tension - bending it. The solution was to provide more clearance - the factory did just that eventually.

The newer RSs didn't get the greatest gas mileage, but they're stable and stop well. Make sure the ergos work for you. Take it for a fifty mile ride through town and on the freeway. Maybe take it up Angeles Crest to get an idea what it's like in the twisties.

[R65LS]

wirespokes,

thanks much for that bit of technical insight, no one at Brown knows why the spring breaks.  Which surprises me with all their years in the biz.

The Real Horror Story:  this is the 4th time the spring has broken !!  The spring had been installed 5-1/2 years ago, only 20,000 miles.  
  The bike has been 100% perfect except for that one major nightmare:  broken pawl spring.  Brown Motors has fixed it each time, but does not know the "root cause" of the problem.

Yesterday the spring replacement was completed and I went and got the bike.  Runs perfect, as it always has.  Now the waiting begins until it breaks again .....

Cheers,

Carl

p.s.  funny story as I was getting the bill paid.  Both Bob Brown and his son Dave walked past.  I said HI and we chatted a bit.  I told Dave I would be back in a couple of weeks, I want to mount a campaign to get some "good faith" money from BMW Corp. to cover my expenses for the costs to have this spring replaced 4 times, an obvious design flaw.  He said he would help but wasn't optimistic.  Dave and his dad then left for lunch.
 Â   
I decided to test ride that RS they have listed ..... and it wouldn't start, battery was too low to spin the starter.  So I'll give it another try when I go back to talk to Dave.

[nhmaf]

I'd recommend that the Brown guys read the section of Snowbum's transmission webpage, beginning about 1/2 way down (just search on the word "pawl", once or twice)
http://bmwmotorcycletech.info/transmission.htm

[R65LS]

WOW, great info !!

well, as the saying goes:  too late.  The repair has been completed and the I picked up the bike yesterday.

BUT ..... when the bike was repaired last time, Dave The Owner recommended installing a "shift kit" which he said would solve the problem, namely, even if the spring broke, it would still shift.  Well, that is certainly not true and I told him so the day I took the bike in.  He reviewed the service histories and couldn't say anything about that, so I reckon he and his shop staff are aware of the shift kit.

And this will be great info to help me understand the problem better so I can argue more effectively with the BMW Corp people.

Cheers,

Carl

[Barry]

The Owner recommended installing a "shift kit" which he said would solve the problem

The shift kit used to be available from BMW and I think it was aimed mainly at the 81- 82 gearboxes but could be fitted to earlier. It used to be a very reasonable price something like 60$. The parts are no longer available as a kit (unless your dealer has old stock) and to buy the parts now costs many hundreds of dollars.  

Lots more knowledge and info about how the shift kit relates to the spring in nhmaf's link to snowbums page above.