Transmission issue

D

dwendell

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Riding along on my R18 FE without a care in the world 2 days ago. Just accelerated away leisurely from an intersection. Hit 50 mph and went to shift from 4th to 5th. My ears were suddenly beset with a terrible grinding noise and rattling from the uplifted shift pedal. Let off on the shifter. The gear indicator said I was still in 4th. Tried once again to upshift. The indicator said I was in 5th, but it immediately dropped back to 4th by itself. Tried once again to upshift to 5th. Suddenly I had no power to the rear wheel. The indicator said I was in 5th, but there was no power and no matter what I did with the shifter it wouldn't change gears. Had it towed to the dealership. Still awaiting news from them, but the initial diagnosis, after a quick inspection by a mechanic, was that the transmission was blown.
 
Oh, I will definitely keep this list informed, as that's why I posted it -- just in case anyone else had/has something similar happen. The bike is currently sitting at South Sound Motorcycles in Fife, WA. When I hear something I will post updates.

And for enzo5000, who accused me of trolling with my post on this subject, this was NOT my first post to this forum, and you're more than welcome to call SSM and verify that they have the bike and what the problem is.
 
My guess is the shifter shaft has screwed up. The ratchet spring is broken.

Perhaps a bent fork when it jumped out of 4th.

Internet diagnosis.... Useless :)

David
 
Update on the "blown" transmission: Really isn't much to say at this point beyond this -- my local dealership (South Sound Motorcycles, Fife, WA) was hosting an Adventure bike symposium this past Saturday. The BMW regional rep showed up for that, and while there was shown my R18 FE, including starting it up so that he could hear the nasty grinding noise that occurs whenever the clutch lever is out. (Transmission is locked in 5th gear according to the display, but won't shift to any other gear, and no power is being transferred to the drive shaft.) He was also shown the fact that the sidecar interior is still covered in plastic wrap. In other words, no one has ever been in the sidecar. He was informed that this transmission issue occurred with less than 1000 miles on the bike after the sidecar had been attached, and it was pointed out to him that the bike is rated to carry almost 100 pounds more than the sidecar weighs. His response was to tell the dealership to drain the transmission and look for metal particles then report back to him. The dealership expects that he will authorize the ordering of a new transmission at that point since individual transmission parts are not available from BMW. The transmission was drained yesterday and a significant amount of metal particles was included in the drained fluid. Still waiting on someone above the dealership to make a decision as to what's next.

Further update (7/15/21) The dealer called yesterday and said that they've been authorized to order a new transmission.
 
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Only Big Poodles said:
Thanks for the update. How awful for you! Did the dealer offer to give you a loaner/demo. I'd ask for one.
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No, they didn't offer a loaner; but it wouldn't have done any good anyway. They can't exactly provide me with a sidecar rig and it's not like I could simply attach my custom sidecar to a loaner bike anyway. (And I do own 6 other motorcycles -- so it's not like I don't have anything to ride at the moment.) Not that I'm bitching. I love this dealership and have known many of the employees, including the GM, for years due to our many years of business collaboration. Until December 2019 I owned one of the largest motorcycle safety training schools in the state, and the dealership was always generous in supporting us in any way they could.
 
Most recent status: As of this morning, the dealership has a new transmission. Unfortunately replacing the trans requires some special tools they don't have, so those tools are now ordered, and we wait. No word yet on whether or not BMW corporate is going to warranty this, but since they authorized the dealership to order a transmission, I'm hopeful.
 
Just got off the phone with the GM at South Sound Motorcycles. The new transmission is installed and works perfectly, and yes, BMW authorized the replacement under warranty. There are also some accessories I ordered that finally came in, and they will be installed before I pick up the bike. Hopefully I should have it back in my garage by Saturday morning.
 
dwendell said:
Just got off the phone with the GM at South Sound Motorcycles. The new transmission is installed and works perfectly, and yes, BMW authorized the replacement under warranty. There are also some accessories I ordered that finally came in, and they will be installed before I pick up the bike. Hopefully I should have it back in my garage by Saturday morning.
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Most excellent. +1 to soso.

So what might be these cool accessories of which you speak?
 
Gr8adv said:
Most excellent. +1 to soso.

So what might be these cool accessories of which you speak?
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I acquired the bike as a stock R18 FE, and having looked at the BMW accessory catalog I assumed I could modify as needed. That was when I discovered that most of the accessories weren't yet available despite being shown in the catalog. And as if that wasn't bad enough, then they come out with the transcontinental version that essentially had everything I wanted in the first place. So to answer your question, the accessories that have been acquired are: floorboards, heel-toe shifter, new brake pedal, and windshield with the aux. driving lights. Unfortunately, the windshield requires different front turn signals, which now have to be ordered, and the aux. driving lights require the turn signal switch housing to be replaced with a different switch that also includes the driving light switch, as well as a new wiring harness for all of that. Unbeknownst to all of us (dealership included) none of those extras (switch, harness, replacement signal lamps) come with the windshield and all have to be ordered separately. So now we wait on those parts. BUT, I should be able to pick up the bike on Saturday. It's been nearly 2 months and I can't wait to get this rig back on the road.
 
dwendell said:
I acquired the bike as a stock R18 FE, and having looked at the BMW accessory catalog I assumed I could modify as needed. That was when I discovered that most of the accessories weren't yet available despite being shown in the catalog. And as if that wasn't bad enough, then they come out with the transcontinental version that essentially had everything I wanted in the first place. So to answer your question, the accessories that have been acquired are: floorboards, heel-toe shifter, new brake pedal, and windshield with the aux. driving lights. Unfortunately, the windshield requires different front turn signals, which now have to be ordered, and the aux. driving lights require the turn signal switch housing to be replaced with a different switch that also includes the driving light switch, as well as a new wiring harness for all of that. Unbeknownst to all of us (dealership included) none of those extras (switch, harness, replacement signal lamps) come with the windshield and all have to be ordered separately. So now we wait on those parts. BUT, I should be able to pick up the bike on Saturday. It's been nearly 2 months and I can't wait to get this rig back on the road.
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Back up to mikes for reassembly ?
 
So, the saga of the blown R18 transmission continues. Picked up the repaired (new transmission) from the dealership on Aug. 20th. Trailered it (because of the LL front end it really can't be ridden solo) back to LBS-USA for reinstall of the sidecar. Got the sidecar reinstalled, but didn't even make it home (28 miles) before the transmission locked itself into 4th gear and wouldn't move up or down. Had it towed back to the dealership the next day. As of Sept. 12th (latest status) they drained the transmission and once again found several large chunks of metal in the fluid. They've ordered another transmission from Berlin, and I wait. At this point I have what is, essentially, a $67k paperweight, with less than 1600 miles on it, sitting at the dealership (again) for a transmission replacement.

I can't help but wonder -- no one else on this forum or anywhere else I've looked, is reporting transmission problems with the R18, and I know I'm not the only one who has attached a sidecar to an R18. Is anyone else out there having or even hearing anything about a tranny problem with the R18? I can't believe I'm the only one who has gone through two of them.
 
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