BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

David. wrote: From the Rider's Manual.

"When braking and downshifting (throttle valve closed), engine speed is adjusted by blipping the throttle."

Have you ever rode a BMW (boxer) bike with shit assist?... Some times quoting the 'Rider's Manual' just doesn't compare to 'actually' riding the bike.

simbo wrote:Have you ever rode a BMW (boxer) bike with shit assist?

Yes, thank you!

David. wrote: Yes, thank you!

And what's your opinion on it? I'm guessing it was an extended test ride of a few weeks or months to form a reliable 'actual' opinion on it? Not just something that you've read in the Rider's Manual.

More from the riders' manual



"Shifting gear

with shift assistant Pro OE

Shift assistant Pro

Requirement

The shift assistant assists upshifts and downshifts without the rider having to pull the clutch or close the throttle."


Page 109 of my 2018 RT manual.

David, your quote from the manual is in the list of "advantages" for using shift assist, NOT a requirement.

We was discussing the shit assist on Sunday's ride out. I've got a 16 GS with it and the other two lads have 19 RT's, two of us felt it worked better if it was preloaded before the actual shift, ie slightly pressing the gear lever until a resistance is felt and holding it there till the shift. Maybe worth a try?

simbo wrote: We was discussing the shit assist on Sunday's ride out. I've got a 16 GS with it and the other two lads have 19 RT's, two of us felt it worked better if it was preloaded before the actual shift, ie slightly pressing the gear lever until a resistance is felt and holding it there till the shift. Maybe worth a try?

Will give it a go. Bike is going in anyways because the side stand microswitch has packed up (or apparently the microswitch on the shifter?) Bahnstormers in Maidenhead and Lind in Welwyn don’t have any slots until August. So will have lots of time to try [emoji23]


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David. wrote: From the Rider's Manual.

"When braking and downshifting (throttle valve closed), engine speed is adjusted by blipping the throttle."

So how does one blip the throttle and keep the throttle valve closed at the same time? Surely one or the other?

NLC wrote: Will give it a go. Bike is going in anyways because the side stand microswitch has packed up (or apparently the microswitch on the shifter?) Bahnstormers in Maidenhead and Lind in Welwyn don’t have any slots until August. So will have lots of time to try


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I'm taking my bike to Reiten on Friday to have it serviced. A long way from Enfield but hopefully the weather will be OK.

beemerboy9 wrote:So how does one blip the throttle and keep the throttle valve closed at the same time? Surely one or the other?

As far as I know, the Wetheads have a "Fly-By-Wire" throttle. This means that you turn the throttle control on the right handle bar and the computer controls how far to open the TB butterfly (valve). Persumably, with the throttle control closed, the computer controls the TB butterfly when "blipping" during quick shifter downshift.

Perhaps BMW have got the terminology between throttle valve and throttle the wrong way around in the Rider's Manual.

Why not strip the module down and clean it (someone posted on here I think on how to do it), then get the bike to re learn. My mate stripped his module down and it fixed his quick shift, although his wasn't working at all.


Got to say as others though, its massively improved on my 1250 from the 2014 bike I had.

I've found that for upshifts, preloading the gear pedal and very slightly feathering the throttle, just enough to take the load off the drivetrain, gives me a smoother shift. However, this only seems to work for 2-3-4-5-6. I can't get a smooth 1-2 upchange no matter what I try.


Downshifts work smoothly with a bit of pedal preload too, with the twistgrip fully closed. The bike does seem to add a few revs itself, but probably not as many as I would myself with a 'manual' throttle blip. The gear I'm going down into needs to be a suitable gear for the road speed. If I try to change down too early, it doesn't give a smooth shift. But again, I can only get smooth changes 6-5-4-3-2. The 2-1 downshift is still clunky most of the time, no matter what I do, but sometimes it's very smooth and I don't know what I've done differently to achieve that! Almost pot luck, it seems.


This is a 2018 bike with the later gearbox. My previous 2014 LC didn't have gear shift assist, so I've nothing to compare it against.

beemerboy9 wrote:
So how does one blip the throttle and keep the throttle valve closed at the same time? Surely one or the other?

I believe that a better way of saying this would be [size=3px]"When braking and downshifting with the throttle valve closed, the throttle will be blipped by the engine control computer as needed to assist the downshift."[/size]

[size=2px]We was discussing the shit assist on Sunday's ride out. I've got a 16 GS with it and the other two lads have 19 RT's, two of us felt it worked better if it was preloaded before the actual shift, ie slightly pressing the gear lever until a resistance is felt and holding it there till the shift. Maybe worth a try?[/size]
[size=2px]
[/size]
[size=2px]Simbo hate to admit your right but tried it today and much improved gear shifts.[/size]

BMW are right too!

"In order for the system to identify a request for a gearshift, the rider has to move the shift lever from its idle position in the desired direction against the force of the spring (preload) through a certain "overtravel" at ordinary speed or rapidly and keep the shift lever in this position (holding it) until the gearshift is completed."

Shift assist down is fine and works well.  I change up by pulling clutch a tiny bit and changing up. Never liked the upshift assist.