96 R11RT 5th gear hiccup

[Fajah]

Occasionally my bike will "hiccup" in 5th gear, I can only describe it as a miss, it feels like a spark plug did not fire , a hesitation during acceleration after shifting into 5, sometimes it happens when I first shift, within the first few seconds and other time I notice it when I decelerate then re accelerate without changing gears. But it only happens in 5th gear.

 

It has been going on a while, first maybe once a day on a long trip, but know I would say I might feel it twice a day on an all day ride.

 

Any ideas what this might be?

[Anton Largiader]

Wow. That sounds like the classic R11 tranny problem, but I have never seen it happen in fifth gear. Usually it's second or third.

 

Some details here: www.largiader.com/tech/oiltrans/

 

What tranny version do you have?

[mshuell]

Here's what happened on my 1996 RT. I'd be riding along fat, dumb, and happy, then the bike would feel like it missed a fire. Imagine hitting the kill switch for one revolution of the engine. This went on for about 3 months. Turned out the ignition coil was on its way out. $62 worth of ignition coil later and the problem was solved.

 

Best Wishes, Mark Shuell.

[smiller]

Your description sounds exactly like a problem common in the pre-M97 transmissions (and you probably have an M94 in a '96 RT) which is described well on Anton's web page. Like Anton this is the first time I've ever heard of it happening in fifth gear (much more common in second or third) but the symptoms you mentioned are such an exact description of the typical symptoms of the shift fork wear problem I fear that is what's going on, unfortunately. If so you're probably not in any imminent danger of being stranded as this problem can go on a long time and be nothing more than annoying, although it will start to happen more and more frequently and you're probably going to have to fix it someday as I doubt you could sell the bike without doing so. And yeah, it sucks, I know, been there.

 

If the problem happens in all gears then maybe it is an ignition-related problem, but if it only happens in fifth, happens soon after you shift, and then doesn't happen again until you change gears then it sure sounds like a worn shift fork.

[Fajah]

Looking at Mark's response, I think I will take a shot at the coil.....I could be displaying the 5th gear thing as that is the gear I am in most of my running time. Although I have spent days in the twisties where I was seldom in 5th, but did not notice the hiccup.

 

$50 sounds like a good starting point for elimination anyway.

[hk6428]

This has also happened on my 96 R1100RT only in 5th gear between 55 & 65 bmwmph. My Texas dealer could not fine the problem. It has been doing it for the last 15,000 miles with no change in frequency or speed. I have 56,000 on the clock. I have come to live with it.

[Fajah]

I have about 45k on her, I will pay more attention to the speed to see if there is a correlation.

[outpost22]

$50 sounds like a good starting point for elimination anyway.

 

You better check the price on that coil first! I don't think they're $50.00 anymore. More like $290.00. (complete rip-off) Check it with a tester before you buy one! Also, watch ebay as you can find RT's that are parted out from time to time. Hope it is the coil or something simple, as tranny woes are much less fun.

[Fajah]

Got it from Beemer Boneyard...used...they have never sold me anything bad

 

It will be a while in getting here and from what I saw at the dealers it was about $170 or so.

[bobanddianne]

I delt with this problem before I learned of Beemer Bone Yard.

On my '94 R1100RS the culprit was third gear.

My solution was to install a new M97 transmission. The price tag was high, but the results were spot on. This was at around 120,000.

It is at 142,000 now and is a good reliable bike that I would take anywhere/anytime.

At this time in her life, the selling price doesn't justify parting with such a fun to ride reliable bike.