BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

One trick that I do and I think have posted before is when coming to a halt say at traffic lights, at a slow speed about 5 mph, go from 2rd gear to 1st gear while still moving. The shift into first this way is nice and smooth and quiet. I then hold the bike in 1st gear which I know is not ideal but it saves me from hearing that mechanical crunch into 1st that I hate.


One advantage of the older model with dry clutch is there is no crunch into 1st gear. Most wet clutches crunch to some degree.

You should always be in first gear as you come to a halt and then select neutral if the stop is going to be protracted. You could always hold 1st gear, however this isn't considered very sympathetic to the clutch components.

My (Volkswagen) car has "stop/start" technology.  This means that every time I stop the engine stops and starts again when I press the accelerator.
On the bike, I often stop in first gear and kill the engine, then start and pull away when ready.  I first used this technique on bikes which tended to overheat while idling (GPZ900R, FJR1300) to try to keep them (and me) cool, but it also avoids the crunch into first when the engine / gearbox on the RT is hot.

Pickaxe wrote: It's not just BMs that clunk when you select 1st gear when the oil gets hotter and from an engineering point of view, motorcycle gearboxes are totally different to cars.

Could you explain how a motorcycle transmission and a car transmission are different?

LAF wrote:
Could you explain how a motorcycle transmission and a car transmission are different?

I suggest you google it and find an explanation that suits you as it's a complicated subject. A motorcycle transmission is sequential and each individual gear is selected in turn, whereas the gears in a cars gearbox can be selected individually.

Earplugs help too   It is a shame that engaging first sounds like chucking a brick into a cement mixer, but for once the dealer's stock answer of "They all do that sir" seems to be true.  Getting used to it now but feel I should warn pedestrians first.

Sprintgull wrote: Earplugs help too   It is a shame that engaging first sounds like chucking a brick into a cement mixer, but for once the dealer's stock answer of "They all do that sir" seems to be true.  Getting used to it now but feel I should warn pedestrians first.

If I just come to a stop, I leave it in first with the clutch in (which does no harm). If it is traffic lights (or the likes), It is stop in first gear and hit the kill switch. Then when the lights go green, clutch in and hit the start button ad dump the clutch. Simples. Also saves petrol as well as embarrassment.