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Cold Start First Gear

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RHX

RHX

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BMW R18 First Edition '20
You may have experienced that when you cold start the engine, it does not shift into 1st gear even though you press the gearshift pedal. This was a situation I often experienced. I just realized that when I push the engine forward very slightly, I see the tft screen 1st gear indicator and the engine shifts to 1st gear with a comfortable grip. I just wanted to mention it, maybe it will help.
 
By the way, maybe we can create a technical archive for the forum. Everyone can share their experiences and solutions and we can index them and make a technical solution document. I am just offering it as a suggestion. Of course, it is already possible to reach many solutions by searching within the topics in the forum. But I thought it could be more systematic this way. I'd be happy to help with that.
 
RHX said:
You may have experienced that when you cold start the engine, it does not shift into 1st gear even though you press the gearshift pedal. This was a situation I often experienced. I just realized that when I push the engine forward very slightly, I see the tft screen 1st gear indicator and the engine shifts to 1st gear with a comfortable grip. I just wanted to mention it, maybe it will help.
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Do you mean you are ready to go, so you start the engine from cold and it won’t shift into 1st gear?
I never noticed that on mine but then again, I walk into my garage, switch the engine on and then put my jacket, helmet and gloves. By the 2 minutes or so have passed and the engine has warmed up a bit before hitting the road. I do this on purpose by the way but not because the 1st gear thing.
 
Ditto, I leave mine tick over for a couple of minutes while I faff about getting my gear on, it’s a throwback to having Guzzi’s that like/need a bit of warmth through them because 1-2nd on the V7 can be very difficult when cold.
 
Mine has never failed to shift into first - but it sometimes makes a strange noise when shifting into 1st for the first time. Hard to describe it - I wouldn't characterize it as a grinding noise. Almost a low frequency squeak... or maybe a high frequency groan.
 
Now then…rborder, you describe exactly what I noticed on my bike. Never did it before but after this winters lay up randomly it occurred and then I decided I needed to give it some more thought/attention. Bike ran fine btw just this weird noise.

Rather than repeating it all check out the ‘what did you do to your R18 today’ thread, page 140. Been running the bike since, no weird noise, no warning lights on the dash, bike runs great, I do think a touch louder at lower speeds which is nice. I would recommend it to you.
 
Rufus said:
Now then…rborder, you describe exactly what I noticed on my bike. Never did it before but after this winters lay up randomly it occurred and then I decided I needed to give it some more thought/attention. Bike ran fine btw just this weird noise.

Rather than repeating it all check out the ‘what did you do to your R18 today’ thread, page 140. Been running the bike since, no weird noise, no warning lights on the dash, bike runs great, I do think a touch louder at lower speeds which is nice. I would recommend it to you.
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Are you talking about the exhaust servo eliminators? Hard to see how that would affect shifting...
 
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rborder said:
Are you talking about the exhaust servo eliminators? Hard to see how that would affect shifting...
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Yes. Exactly. My bike started making that weird, screech/groan/squeak/chirp you also described. I thought it had to be the exhaust servo unit so I took it off and the noise was gone. It doesn’t effect shifting but the bike ECU rotates the exhaust flappers when you turn the ignition on, select first gear and of course when you are riding. You could of course try to fix the exhaust servo unit or take it to your dealer to be looked at (under warranty maybe) but I was happy to remove the damn thing anyway. So I did. If you look for my posts on Page 140 you can see what I did, it’s all on there easy to find.
 
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Anibal said:
Do you mean you are ready to go, so you start the engine from cold and it won’t shift into 1st gear?
I never noticed that on mine but then again, I walk into my garage, switch the engine on and then put my jacket, helmet and gloves. By the 2 minutes or so have passed and the engine has warmed up a bit before hitting the road. I do this on purpose by the way but not because the 1st gear thing.
Click to expand...
Yes, at first I was putting it back in neutral and shifting it to 1, but when I shifted it slightly forward, I saw that it gripped on its own.
 
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