Clutch-Gearbox: Whirring noise.

Recently noticed a whirring noise from my clutch/gearbox when in NEUTRAL with the clutch engaged. (Lever not pulled in) The noise disappears when I engage the clutch. (pull the lever in) My logic says this can't be the throwout bearing but I'm hoping against hope it's not something deeper in the gearbox. It was re-built only 35000 kms ago. Can anyone offer insight or commiseration, please.

BTW. You really should plan a tour to NZ. The variety and quality of riding within 100kms of any town is remarkable.

First thing to do is drop the oil and see what that looks like then go from there. Big chunks of metal in the oil are normally a bad sign.

Like Vern says, drop the oil. Plug debris witness alone should inform you.

Assuming the correct oil/level, then some noise from the gears meshing is perfectly normal, lots of noise is not. Sometimes a stethoscope or large screwdriver handle held to the ear can bring definition to say where a bearing is failing.

You may find this link, which has some good graphics, helpful............ https://www.bmwsporttouring.com/topic/101230-r1150-rs-gearbox-clutch-noise/

MarkWM said:

Recently noticed a whirring noise from my clutch/gearbox when in NEUTRAL with the clutch engaged. (Lever not pulled in) The noise disappears when I engage the clutch. (pull the lever in) My logic says this can't be the throwout bearing but I'm hoping against hope it's not something deeper in the gearbox. It was re-built only 35000 kms ago. Can anyone offer insight or commiseration, please.

BTW. You really should plan a tour to NZ. The variety and quality of riding within 100kms of any town is remarkable.

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Do you have an 1100 or 1150 ?

I've had this the past few months. Drained the oil which looked okay but the drain-plug had alot of fine shiny swarf. Cleaned it offl, refilled and checked again after 1000miles and the plug looked the same so pulled the box (sounds easy doesn't it?) and had a look inside... my July 96 R1100GS has an older 'DAG' B94 geaerbox with the Taper roller bearings, which like alot of the M94s suffered from being over-shimmed by some BMW tech, probably to reduce the gearbox noise. She's done 73k now so to be fair it has lasted a fair while before getting noisy. So these bearings are worn which has created movement in the shaft and also worn the three selector forks, gears and dogs are all fine though so I've gotten away with it. I need the bike for my daily so i cleaned everything and put it back together, i'll drain and replace the oil every 500 miles until easter break when i'll tear it all down again and replace the bits.

Did the clutch at the same time too and its amazing how light a new clutch can be!

Somehow managed to get 3 mint condition selectors for under £130!!! So thats the hard part done, just need some bearings and i'll be ready to go.

I would certainly recommend an oil change, clean your magnetic drain plug and repeat after 1000 miles to see what your gearbox is doing! Best of luck to you.

- Jack