GETRAGInterview-RubberChickenRacingGarage.docVIP

R1100 transmissions - Getrag factory visit What every owner needs to know about these gearboxes; also applies to airhead transmissions (lubricants, shifting). Courtesy of Kari Prager, Service Manager and BMW Guru at Cal BMW Triumph (hosts one of the nicest BMW dealer web sites). Kari translated it from the original German by Jochen Soppa in MO, Feb 1996, top German motorcycle magazine. MO retains full commercial copyright. design background o-rings issue how to shift a BMW transmission - preload etc. interview with Getrag engineers - oil recommendations, thoughts on additives etc. Boxer concept: + and - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BMW Transmissions - The MO factory visit with BMW supplier Getrag sheds some light upon the darkness of this perpetual irritation. CHATTERING TEETH ...A splendid new boxer. But still criticized for shifting. How come? MO has a look at the builder of BMWs gearboxes. Bitter reproaches for the new BMW R 850 R in MO 11/95. Tester Guenter Wimme addressed the issue of shifting behavior unequivocally: In the old BMW tradition the great weakness remains: the gearbox. Difficult shifting, long shift lever travel, graunchy shifts between first and second, and still the old tale of woe in finding first at stoplights. In that articles conclusion, our (MOs) journalist Wimme recommended that the BMW factory seek out a new transmission manufacturer. As we now find out, shortly after the introduction of the R 1100 RS, BMW was actually in the process of looking... The Bavarians had already contacted gearbox builders in Japan, Italy and Austria. But after ongoing testing of the prototype proposals the source will remain where it has been since 1978: at Getrag in Ludwigsburg, or more precisely, at the Getrag subsidiary, ZWN in Neuenstein/Hohenloh. Understandably, the people at Getrag dont like hearing the reproach that they cant build a decent transmission for the prestigious BMW bike, all the moreso s