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Shift Linkage Fell Off Mid Ride!!

4K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  kentforrest 
#1 · (Edited)
So I'm commuting home and as I take a turn and down shift from 3rd to 1st gear I click down for 2nd, then click down for 1st but my foot finds only air, I try again, still air. I look down and what do I see but my shifter peg and linkage dangling under me......
After 45 mins of searching the street I find the missing bolt, but WTF!? How does this even happen, this is a disastrous failure.
I reattached my shifter but the peg bends sideways when I try to downshift now and gives a false neutral...it actually cant downshift via footcontrol. I put it in 3rd gear and rode home like that. Needless to say I'll be calling my BMW dealer tomorrow to come get this and fix it because that's ridiculous, I mean luckily I was on a side road, it would've been **** if I was on a hill or the highway.

I've got to say I've had a horrible experience with the BMW roadside assistance prior too- their contracted tow truck canceling my ticket, then BMW customer service not notifying me or ordering me another tow, and not being able to explain why any of that happened besides an apology.

Did I mention my bike was delivered with a dead battery and it wouldn't even start when I got on it for the first ride?
 

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#2 ·
what year is your bike and where are you located? it could theoretically happen that the bolt attaching the gear lever got loose. if the peg bends in the wrong way, you can bend it back with your hand to the right place; it is steel so no problem. i had some accidents with my crf250L where the gear lever was cracked, and always carry spare gear level in my tool box.

a bit digressing - from all the comments I guess that BMW made a very unreliable bike. I got mine at the end of the last year, and I wonder if not too soon, as these idiots are very slow to fix that relatively simple bike. however, there also common issues with all bikes that I would not blame a particular company. this may be one of the cases. even if the gear lever fell off when you ride on a highway, this should not result in disastrous consequences; you just stop the bike with clutch lever pressed. in fact, even if you did not find the bolt, you could just push the gear lever back and hold it with your left foot so it does not fall off and somehow get back home.
 
#3 ·
When I adjusted my rear brake travel/free play last week I noticed how that linkage too is relying solely on one bolt to keep it all together and I wondered whether it might come loose too easily. Now it turns out that does happen (on the gear shifter side at least).

Not sure about your idea Kris, that one could hold the lever against the block temporarily to get home without the bolt: from the photo, it seems that the bolt is also the pivot point, and without it the lever has nothing to 'sit' on.
 
#4 ·
It's not a bad idea to check your bikes nuts and bolts periodically because vibration will make them loosen. When I'm washing my bike I will give little tugs and pulls on pivot points, any rack or engine guards, etc just to be sure. If I find something loose I will apply locktite before putting the bolt or nut back on. I've found loose things on every bike I've owned, it isn't a specific manufacturer problem! A little due diligence is required on all machines. They are put together by humans after all........
 
#5 · (Edited)
So I'm commuting home and as I take a turn and down shift from 3rd to 1st gear I click down for 2nd, then click down for 1st but my foot finds only air, I try again, still air. I look down and what do I see but my shifter peg and linkage dangling under me......
After 45 mins of searching the street I find the missing bolt, but WTF!? How does this even happen, this is a disastrous failure.
I reattached my shifter but the peg bends sideways when I try to downshift now and gives a false neutral...it actually cant downshift via footcontrol. I put it in 3rd gear and rode home like that. Needless to say I'll be calling my BMW dealer tomorrow to come get this and fix it because that's ridiculous, I mean luckily I was on a side road, it would've been **** if I was on a hill or the highway.

I've got to say I've had a horrible experience with the BMW roadside assistance prior too- their contracted tow truck canceling my ticket, then BMW customer service not notifying me or ordering me another tow, and not being able to explain why any of that happened besides an apology.

Did I mention my bike was delivered with a dead battery and it wouldn't even start when I got on it for the first ride?
what year is your bike and where are you located? it could theoretically happen that the bolt attaching the gear lever got loose. if the peg bends in the wrong way, you can bend it back with your hand to the right place; it is steel so no problem. i had some accidents with my crf250L where the gear lever was cracked, and always carry spare gear level in my tool box.

a bit digressing - from all the comments I guess that BMW made a very unreliable bike. I got mine at the end of the last year, and I wonder if not too soon, as these idiots are very slow to fix that relatively simple bike. however, there also common issues with all bikes that I would not blame a particular company. this may be one of the cases. even if the gear lever fell off when you ride on a highway, this should not result in disastrous consequences; you just stop the bike with clutch lever pressed. in fact, even if you did not find the bolt, you could just push the gear lever back and hold it with your left foot so it does not fall off and somehow get back home.
So my bike is a 2018 and I'm located in San Diego. I mean this shouldn't happen, this should be locktighted in.

Also I do a preride check tyvm, it does not include checking over the bolts that's far to anal. I DO check that the bike shifts, brakes, and indicators. I felt no play in the peg during my check so....
 
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