General topics » 2016 v 2018

But apart from the obnoxious non-lupinny colours, do BMW say the bike has actually changed?

2017 bike supposedly had quite a significant upgrade to the gearbox. I rode a 2016 demo, which, coming from another brand, I thought had an atrocious gearshift, but was persuaded to buy the 2017, which I did. To me, the 2017 is acceptable: it is a little variable into first, sometimes clunks badly and sometimes goes in so smoothly I actually look at the gear indicator to be sure it happened. Other than that, mine shifts fine with or without shifter pro. The other major change is Euro 4, which appears to have emasculated the mid range. Once again, coming from another brand I am not impressed by the roll on in sixth gear below 4000 rpm and I end up using the gearbox a lot more than I am used to on the open road.
Other than that it appears, but it may simply be the dead Euro 4 mid range, that the dynamic throttle map has been tamed. There were reports, including road tests, in which the Dynamic throttle map on the 2015 / 2016 bikes was considered way too abrupt. This is not the case on a 2017: Dynamic is pretty tame, doesn't differ noticeably from Road.
In our market, Gear Shift Pro and the Dynamic Brake Light were added as standard in 2017.
If I had a 2016 and was living with the gearshift, I would not change it for a 2017, and as I understand it, 2018 was just cosmetic changes.

Kind of makes you wonder what Euro 5 is going to do for motorcycle engines? It would appear that the cleaner they have to be, the less power they make, especially in the mid-range where most of us ride most of the time. The manufacturers are dealing with this problem by making engine displacements larger, trying out things like VVT and doing their best to sell their customers on the low-speed "high torque" experience. But where will it all end? To me it looks like the end will be all electric drive.

I have been told the tranny improvements on the RT and RS didn't start until late December 2017. Don't you love when they change things in the middle of a production year ? Also, I would have intermittent throttle surge on my 2016. It would happen more in dynamic mode and usually when entering a turn, (probably Murphy's fault). My mechanic straightened that out with a gs911. "Zeroing out the throttle" is what he called it. Come to find out, the tech at the dealership I used to go to didn't think it was necessary, so he never did it.

Which would mean that my 10 day old RS should havce the new tranny then.
Christ if this is the new and improved one I'd hate to have an older RS

When cold, first gear goes in silently and shifts to 2nd and 3rd are stiffer but silent, once want it cclanks into 1st and the shift to 2nd and 3rd are not great, they always go in, up and down but sound and feel sloppy. Third upwards is snickety snick.

Zitat von Tom im Beitrag #8

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I have been told the tranny improvements on the RT and RS didn't start until late December 2017. Don't you love when they change things in the middle of a production year ?

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Shorter starter motor = revised gearbox. I’ve had both and done 12,000 miles with each. I wouldn’t go back to the 2016 one.

Zitat von Gaucho im Beitrag #10

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Zitat von Tom im Beitrag #8

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I have been told the tranny improvements on the RT and RS didn't start until late December 2017. Don't you love when they change things in the middle of a production year ?

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That's a strange speculation; all articles and tests for RS and other R models talk about about the improved gearbox from end of 2016 onward.

The only way to verify is to have access to the BMW spare parts catalog, because the new gearbox has a new part number. The old and new gearboxes are not interchangeable or up-gradable, I've read a story about that on a Dutch forum but cannot find the source now...

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I have a August 2015 build. I don't mind the gearbox at all. I preferred the clean engagement / disengagement of the dry clutch on the R1100S. On the other hand, as I do a lot of city work, I like the oil bath clutch for comparative longevity and comparative ease of replacement.
The RS does clunk going into first. That has to be the result of slight dragging of the clutch, especially when the motor is hot. A dry clutch releases cleanly. However, the RS clunk is nothing compared to the CanAm Spyder clunk. That thing clunks so loudly I have been sitting beside a cement truck at the lights and when I engaged first, he heard me over the racket of his diesel and poked his head out of the window to see what had happened. The CanAm clunk is way louder than the standard exhaust.
Since the Can Am uses the Rotax motor, I guess that the V2 Aprillias will all have the same deal as well.
Overall, the RS gearbox is better than the older model because it is driven by reduction gears, so its internal speeds are slower. When you match the revs, throttle and gear (even manually) it is lovely. It is not foolproof.