Went to upshift to 4th, and ...nothing

[NC Steve]

Yesterday was a nice sunny day, so I took the '82 out for a little ride thru the countryside. Everything was fine as I ran thru the gears several times, the bike ran great, no problems or strange noises at all. Then, after I slowed and turned onto a side street and began to accelerate, as I went to catch 4th there was nothing, no gear change, grinding noises, the pedal moved as usual, it just wouldn't shift. My very 1st thought was that the clutch cable had broken, but I quickly realized it was working fine, with the same tension and feel as always, and I could pull it in to disengage and roll in neutral. I slowed and tried to downshift to 2nd, but again, no gear engagement at all. There was no lockup at the shifter pedal, just no catching of the gears. I took a good quick look and didn't see anything obvious, so since I was riding in a fairly flat area, and luckily stuck in 3rd gear, I managed to feather the clutch and get the 10 miles home.

Today, I was able to check things out a little more thoroughly. Again, the clutch cable seems fine, and engages thru the linkages to the back of the trans. The shifter is attached and tight at its' pivot point, with nothing obvious seeming to be loose or rattly there. It still has tension at the pedal, but there's no gear engagement. I can pull in the clutch and start the bike, and it rolls fine with the lever in, but letting out the clutch causes the usual lurch and killing the engine. So, it's 3rd gear or nothing.  

Does anyone have a suggestion as to what's up, and where to look next? I'm really hoping I won't have to go into the transmission: after the summer & fall I've had I really need to catch a break!
Thanks for your help!

[Bob_Roller]

With the bike on the center stand and rotating the rear wheel slowly, can you shift through all 5 gears ??

[donbmw]

Spring in transmission is broken. Had the same thing happen a few years ago.

[NC Steve]

With the bike on the center stand and rotating the rear wheel slowly, can you shift through all 5 gears ??
 

I haven't tried that yet, but will do, and report back here. Thanks

Spring in transmission is broken. Had the same thing happen a few years ago.  

That's kind of the fear I've had.  Is it a shift lever spring? What's involved in the fix, do you recall?  :-?

[k_enn]

Sounds like the pawl spring went.

See Snowbum's article at section 9A:

http://bmwmotorcycletech.info/transmission.htm

Not sure what is involved in replacing the spring.

k_enn

[Bob_Roller]

The transmission needs to be opened and then replace a $5 spring !!!!!

[Tony Smith]

Not sure what is involved in replacing the spring.

A full day's work in the average home workshop, split over two days. Day one get the trans out and strip to find what is broke. Order bits to fix gearbox, other bits like clutch plate, rear main seal, set of seals for gear box.
 
When "bits" arrive - day two to re-assemble gearbox, bit other new "bits" and put bike back together.
 
None of it is particularly difficult or complex work, although having a trained eye to run over the gearbox bearings and bushes would be a good idea given how much it costs in time or money to get the box in and out.
 
If you are not fully confident in your own ability to both delve into the gearbox internals and replace rear main engine seal -STOP and deliver the bike to a shop that does have that expertise.
 
Given the age of the bike there are going to be quite a few things (like seals, clutch plate, oil pump etc) which should be closely looked at, if not replaced while the gearbox is out. It is also an opportunity to replace seals, bushes and bearings in the gearbox itself before they give trouble.
 
Alternatively
Buy a known good gearbox and fit that - Depending on your "2nd hand lottery results" that may work out much cheaper (but still do the seals).

[NC Steve]

Wow, this is very depressing  

There is a member here, inactive I believe, that sells a lot of BMW and Guzzi parts on Ebay. He currently has an R65 transmission that looks and sounds like it's very clean up for bid. Guess the simplest and least expensive route to take is replacing the tranny, which is still beyond my mechanical skills. I'll keep an eye on that one for a possible bid, and start looking for other good ones as well. From what I've read it seems that any box from 1981-95 will do the job, so at least I'm not limited to just an R65 trans. I need to check out IBMWR and see what's over there as well.

Thanks a lot folks, I'll  keep an eye out for the parts and see what I can find, and keep my progress (or lack thereof) posted here. If anyone stumbles across what seems to be a good working tranny at a reasonable price, please let me know.
Thanks again.

[georgesgiralt]

Hello !
Instead of buying an unknown transmission (which could fail as yours has soon) I would place my money on a rebuild of mine. The cost of the bearings and seals and, of course, the failed springs is not that bad. And you'll go for thousands of miles in confidence. These boxes are quite indestructible once rebuild so you're good for a very loong time.
Of course, if you get the second hand tranny very very cheap, things will be different, but invest the money left in the rebuild of your tranny...

[Luca]

I wouldn't worry too much about the rear main engine seal or the clutch plate unless your bike has a lot of miles or is leaking oil into the bell housing.  While there are some little things that you can (some would say "should") do with the gearbox out, they're not a problem if they're not a problem.  The trade-off is that if you do none of the labor, it could cost you in the future to have somebody pull it all out again for one of those little seals, etc.

+1 on what Georges said about rebuilding rather than replacing.  Keep in mind that if parts aren't worn out they don't need to be replaced.

There isn't a whole lot holding the transmission into the bike, and there are some good writeups online showing you through the procedure.  If you're willing to try removing the gearbox or have a local airhead who might help you get it out, you could mail it yourself to a rebuilder and spend way less than bringing the whole kit and kaboodle to a shop.  A case of high-falootin beer (for the helper) is about 1/2 hour of dealership labor.

[Ed Miller]

That spring is less than 3 bucks from Ted Porter's Beemershop.  Mine broke January of this year.  Ted had rebuilt the gearbox only a few years (20,000 miles) before that.  I also have a spare spring now.  I took my gearbox up to Wirespokes place 'cause he has the tools to pull the rear cover off.  That was what promped me to get my machinist friend here at work to make the tools for me.  

Don't try turning the  bike upside down and shifting.   It won't work.  I tried shifting my gearbox after I got it off the bike and it wouldn't shift an any position.  But if you do turn your bike upside down, I want to watch.  

[NC Steve]

Ed, if I decide to turn the bike upside down I'll be sure to let you know, so you can come watch. I'll need someone to call 911 when it falls on me

I'm in a bit of a quandary here, so I think I'll step back for a bit and consider the options. A good used transmission would be less expensive, and $$ is a factor here, but it would be taking more of a gamble. Rebuilding the existing trans would be more costly, much more labor involved, but less likely to fail in the future. Of course, either way I'll need to find someone to do the work, that knows what they're doing. Our local BMW shop's labor rates are sky high, and they aren't particularly Airhead friendly. There's an older guy at the local Honda shop that will work on anything and does a good job, and is much less expensive, but I'm not sure he's up for a transmission. Guess I need to go talk to him, and also see if I can find an independent shop or two, although they're few and far between.
Decisions, decisions... :-/