Re: your mail

[John Cooper <Jacques.Noir>]

At 03:45 08/01/96 +0000, you wrote:
>On our K1000RS shifting is very notchy and it is often hard to get it in
>gear when the bike is stopped.  SHifting into first while moving is always
>followed by a noticable clunk.  Kind of concerns me sometimes!
>
>Brendan Rudack			rudack@ucsub.Colorado.EDU
>88' 90Q
>Boulder, Colorado 
>
>On Wed, 31 Jul 1996, Nicholas Pinto wrote:
>

>> There was a writeup in BMWMOA magazine about them which described in
>> great detail the lengths they had gone to to actually _increase_ the
>> clunky feel. In particular, they were describing the downshift into
>> first gear and their wanting to make it more _positive_. They described
>> how the gear slid on the various shaft, etc. Somewhat dry, but certainly
>> humorous.
>> 
>> The trannys do work and you can really jam them into gear. After all,
>> you have to.
>> 
>> the tranny in the Stealth isn't sequential, is it?
>> 
>> - -- 
>> steve powers                         stratos product development group
>> spowers@spdg.com                     seattle, washington
>> 
>> Hey:
>> 
>> I have a BMW K1100LT and the tranny is awesome, that is when you remember
to keep pressure on the peg when you let the clutch out.  Otherwise you wind
up going nowhere with some serious revs.  It's not like a rice burner....
click and go, you need to stay awake.
>> 
>> - Nick Pinto
>> 
>> 

BMW Motorcycle transmissions have always been "clunky" IF you don't know how
to shift a motorcycle.  This doesn't refer to shifting from a stop.
Further, you must realize that a "rice burner" or any other non inline
engined motorcycle has first a primary reduction gear ratio of around 2:1.
This reduces the input shaft RPMs to the transmission by a factor of 2,
naturally.  Now the transmission only has half the gear ratio reduction
responsiblity of the BMW's straight primary drive.  Now doesn't that follow
that "rice burner" transmissions are going to be a bit more civilized?  I
hate to cast aspersions on the BMWMOA article, but to me the reporter must
have had a slow news day to write what he did about an intentional "Clunky"
gear changing.  BMW has always has to overcome this chunky part of its
behavior as a result of comparisons with bikes that have primary drive
reduction systems by bike mag critics.
Just my 2 cents.
Coop, ex BMW dealer,
in Boulder