[Mike Stockwell]

Gidday from New Zealand.
I'm gonna have an early old chesnut 2023 ***** about the 310R gearbox. I'm now on my 2nd 310R, done about 2,500k since purchase in Oct 2022. It's not a great gearbox is it!! My main gripe is same as appears a lot on this forum, ie difficulty finding neutral when cruising down thru the gears to a standstill at the lights.....how often do you go thru neutral into 1st when wanting to just stop at neutral. In my experience about 33% of the time. I note there are gearboxes that find neutral automatically in this (down thru the gears) shift, how nice that would be. Then when at a standstill attempting to flick up into neutral only to have it click up past neutral into 2nd......ring a bell?? I suppose given it's a budget bike one cannot expect too much but nevertheless it's a constant irritation. Take note BMW. Happy neutral finding yáll. Cheers, Mike

 

[ARBOLMANO]

So at a stop sign you stand in neutral? I used to always leave bikes in neutral when parked as it facilitated kick starting. Then with the boxer dry clutch leaving in gear greatly facilitated pushing the things about, like a brake and parking brake. I’ve found the 310 wet clutch very easily releases like my 1150GSA did much easier than my Van Van wet clutch. I once started having bad shifts on my Suzuki SP 370. Was fixing to pull the motor and rebuild it when my mentor stopped me and asked if i had tested whilst wear the same boots I had on. Dang me. I had been wearing irrigation boots! Duh. Yes I was a dumb white boy. Still white. Have not had any transmission issues and love the clutch system on my 22 310GS

 

[Sibesrule]

I have found that if you shift down to neutral while still moving it is much easier to find verses trying to find neutral from a stop. Just another BMW quirk,, like the r1100rt tranny, pressure up on the shifter before pulling in on the clutch and winding it up to 4,000 and up.

 

[jUST kRUSEN]

The only time my bikes are in neutral is when they are parked in the garage. Overall I find the 310 gearbox outstanding. Yes neutral is occasionally hard to find while stopped but it’s a non issue for me.

 

[Johnny Woods]

Finding neutral is tricky, but it's better to look at it as a minor challenge rather than a major annoyance.

 

[Cyrille]

It may be solved by adjusting the clutch lever free play.

 

[Mike Stockwell]

Good point Johnny, I like it!

 

[dlaker]

I've had my G310R for three years now and have always found the gear-change 'notchy' and not very helpful at all when an unexpected rapid stop leaves me in, for instance, 6th gear and at a standstill, the amount of 'rocking' backwards and forwards to get to 2nd gear say to easily get underway is very embarrassing. Another irritating thing is when the green neutral light is on at a stop and suddenly the bike 'jumps' into either 1st or 2nd gear unexpectedly, more embarrassment, thankfully it's only happened approximately 3/4 times. The reported clutch problem of 'stalling' has been of no consequence to me possibly because of 50+ years of riding experience. Overall I'm well pleased with the bike but the cost of genuine BMW oil I find difficult to take as I've no doubt that it's rebranded regularly available 'over-the-counter' semi-synth stuff from a variety of sources. All the best for 2023 for all forum members.

 

[rooot16]

Hello, I have a 310r a month ago, it already has 1000km, actually I had the same feeling with the gearbox, I felt that the changes were hard and finding neutral was a problem.
Finally I think I have solved the problem by changing the brand of oil to a more premium one (ipone katana) which has significantly improved the gearbox and the general smoothness of the engine.

It is not to despise the BMW brand, but I consider that the supplies such as oil and coolant are of low quality, I leave this to your consideration since when doing this oil change, the 3-year warranty may be lost.

Ipone Katana 5w40 MA2/SN
full synthetic

 

[Cyrille]

If you have difficulties finding neutral... Start by checking the chain's tension (40-50 mm - bike with no weight applied, supported on its side stand). Then check both the clutch lever freeplay (1-2 mm, on the manual controls, handlebars in straight-ahead position, with cold engine) and the condition of the clutch cable (replace it if necessary).

 

[hasselman]

Hello, I have a 310r a month ago, it already has 1000km, actually I had the same feeling with the gearbox, I felt that the changes were hard and finding neutral was a problem.
Finally I think I have solved the problem by changing the brand of oil to a more premium one (ipone katana) which has significantly improved the gearbox and the general smoothness of the engine.

It is not to despise the BMW brand, but I consider that the supplies such as oil and coolant are of low quality, I leave this to your consideration since when doing this oil change, the 3-year warranty may be lost.

Ipone Katana 5w40 MA2/SN
full synthetic

Please define "quality".
In my opinion, using an expensive synthetic oil intended for racing in an engine made for a mineral oil is not using a high quality oil, on the contrary.
Let me give an example: I have a vehicle built 1962 that requires oil change every 3000 km. This due to the fact the engine has no oil filter. The engine demands a mineral oil of viscosity SAE 20. I use a mineral oil labeled 15W-50. Using a synthetic oil of "high quality" would kill that engine. With a fully synthetic oil most of the sealings in the engine would disintegrate and the gaps between metallic parts would not be filled with oil, resulting in excessive wear of bearing surfaces. Tolerances in this engine is based on the lubrication technology of the 60's. Would using a fully synthetic racing class premium oil be using a "high quality" oil?

 

[rooot16]

Please define "quality".
In my opinion, using an expensive synthetic oil intended for racing in an engine made for a mineral oil is not using a high quality oil, on the contrary.
Let me give an example: I have a vehicle built 1962 that requires oil change every 3000 km. This due to the fact the engine has no oil filter. The engine demands a mineral oil of viscosity SAE 20. I use a mineral oil labeled 15W-50. Using a synthetic oil of "high quality" would kill that engine. With a fully synthetic oil most of the sealings in the engine would disintegrate and the gaps between metallic parts would not be filled with oil, resulting in excessive wear of bearing surfaces. Tolerances in this engine is based on the lubrication technology of the 60's. Would using a fully synthetic racing class premium oil be using a "high quality" oil?

You can look up the definition of "quality" in google

Regarding your example, very good, yes, but we are talking about an engine that meets a (recent) Euro 5 standard, not an old junk from 60 years ago. I leave you some information about the categories of oil, and clarify that obviously an oil with technology from this era will not cost the same as one from years ago.

API OIL CATEGORIES:

Oil Categories

The American Petroleum Institute (API) is the only national trade association that represents all aspects of America’s oil and natural gas industry. Our more than 600 corporate members, from the largest major oil company to the smallest of independents, come from all segments of the industry.

www.api.org

 

[hasselman]

You can look up the definition of "quality" in google

I've done that. Google says: 1.) the standard of something as measured against other things of a similar kind; the degree of excellence of something. and 2.) a distinctive attribute or characteristic possessed by someone or something.
You haven't given any reference to how you grade the BMW range of oils and coolants to be of "low quality" compared to what you call "premium" oil. These are just attributes without meaning.
You call a vehicle from the 60's junk. Google defines "junk" as: old or discarded articles that are considered useless or of little value. My vehicle from 60's (a Citroën 2CV) is definitely not discarded or useless, I use it weekly as my means of transport, therefore definitely useful and in use. It's also not without value, it actually has a much higher sales value than my G310GS.
My point with the example of the 2CV is to show that using words like quality, discard, junk, expensive, cheap, best, worst etc. has little value if they are not referenced to something that is possible to measure them against.

 

[Mike Stockwell]

In any case I don't find it credible that the ""notchyness"" or difficulty on occasion (ie not always) getting into neutral has anything whatsoever due to with using so called ""poor quality"" BMW recommended oil. Nor do I believe that there is anything about BMW oil that is low quality, that is simply not believable, it's misinformation.