My BMW K1600 GTL-E started making a bad sound while I was out riding it. The sound is coming from the transmission housing, and sounds worse in person than on the video. Glad I heard it before I headed off to some deserted place!
What you're hearing is the gears clacking around in there because the rear tire is off the ground. Therefore, no weight is on the drivetrain. This is completely normal and intentional, as you must have proper gear mesh to compensate for the added weight of the bike for when it's on the ground and under riding conditions. Without this adjustment, the gears would be binding together too tightly when your riding, and would burn up. Which you don't want.
I can hear a similar noise on my K1600GT 2022, but only when I drive at very low speed with high gear and without load. However what I can hear from my bike is pretty inaudible and disappears immediately when I put just a bit of gas. It's absolutely normal and necessary to have gear backlash, but what I can hear in your video is very very loud compared with I can hear usually from my bike.
I have the same noise when on and off the throttle at slower speeds say 45 mph and below most prevalent. It is annoying as I have a Honda ST1100 that is smooth as silk in the drive line. I have found that preloading the shift lever prior to a shift greatly reduces any clunk while shifting. Just a little foot pressure on the shifter prior to an up or down shift.
I'm glad to read those comments...My K16GT 2014 is sounding the same as you. The same noises coming from the gear box even on the road. I was so worried about that! It seems the same for a lot of people.. My bike got 72000kms. (I'm French living in the French Alps). Thank you for your post.
not the same gearbox, with the old and redesigned model, the difference is in the details, but that's why on your newer ones there is a recall for the same ...
Sounds like gear backlash. BMW machined much more "slop" into their gears and drive line since 2010. They did tighten it up in 2014/2015 but still sloppy. My k16 has 88k miles and has always had that sloppy gear and driveline sound
my k1600 now has in excess of 130000km ,always been the same , i love the bike but before i buy my next dream bike i will test drive it and if it goes clunk i will go back to suzuki's i have never had a clunky one from them.maybe bmw should buy pre made suzuki boxes , the would certainly impress future customers
Is normal is drive lash engage in top gears try driving in rain mode and u see a difference on dynamic mode throttle is very sensitive try open very gently
The reason you hear the noise is because you spin the rear wheel without load. The backlash in the various parts of the drivetrain gives you this sound. If you load the rear wheel, the backlash is counteracted and th noise will be less or no longer audible. So this sound has nothing to do with the gearbox recall. Hopefully it is clear what I mean, I used Google Translate to translate.
I don't think that is a valid conclusion, sorry. My transmission is noisy; NBD. I've owned many motorcycles, and this one is far from the most expensive (but it is one of the fastest).
