read about using an ounce by volume of moly powder in trans & fd to help with lubrication.
possibly helping with stubborn down shifts & false nuetrals.

where do i get the stuff? is the moly powder on ebay the same?

The splines were just lubed & found in good condition.

TIA,

Troy

I use Guard Dog Moly gear oil additive - but he went out of business last year. (retired) It does make shifting smoother once it's worn in after 500-1000 miles. 

Not sure how much powder to use though so I'll have to figure that out when my Guard Dog runs out.

If you're experiencing downshifting false neutrals then you're either not shifting assertively enough or it is a symptom that the clutch splines are getting dry.

I have been using 1.5 micron Molybdenum disulfide powder for a couple years now.  Has made a noticeable difference in shifting in all three of my bricks.  One thing I have noticed is that if the bike sits for a week or two it may take as much as 5 miles to get the smooth shifting back.  I think that is because the transmission oil drains out of the shift drum and is takes a bit to get it back up there. 

I get mine on eBay and use about 3 heaping tablespoons in the transmission and one in the final drive. 

Add it after the oil and then take the bike out for a long ride(20 miles or more) to mix it in.  Some users put the oil in a can and mix the powder in with a paint mixer on a drill motor.  Whichever way you do it, it seems to take a couple hundred miles to get all the parts coated. 

Whatever you do, DON'T put any in the engine!!!  It will make your sprag clutch slip.  You don't need to know how I found that out.

I have a tin of the powder, it was left over from a job that I did on an aircraft many years ago. I have used about a teaspoon in my gearbox, and in the gearboxes of Olaf and Will on this forum. I have also put the same in a visitors R1200GS. I can feel the difference and so can the GS rider who is down here again at the moment. The gearbox is transformed. 
I'll let Will and Olaf post their own thoughts.

Thanks everyone for your replies.
Will order some of the 1.5 micron powder from ebay.

I just came back from a ride around town doing errands.
And it is me more than anything, I concentrated on my shifts.
And even when short shifting if I was assertive all was well.

My boxer is the same. I guess I had lofty expectations of the brick.

Will be adding moly pwdr to the  trans & fd as soon as it arrives.

Thanks again for the replies.

Troy

Since I recently ran out of gear oil I was doing some poking around yesterday and discovered that Royal Purple brand gear oil (full synth) already has a decent amount of moly in it as an additive so adding moly to that probably isn't necessary.

Guess what I bought.

BobT wrote:I have a tin of the powder, it was left over from a job that I did on an aircraft many years ago. I have used about a teaspoon in my gearbox, and in the gearboxes of Olaf and Will on this forum. I have also put the same in a visitors R1200GS. I can feel the difference and so can the GS rider who is down here again at the moment. The gearbox is transformed. 
I'll let Will and Olaf post their own thoughts.

My final drive has been apart in the interim and had quite a few oil changes since it was put in.

Time for a renewal I should think.......!! And the final drive needs a T-cut clean.

Bjorn joined us with Bill for lunch on Monday and looks like he might be coming down to BobT to get his done too.

I threw the Royal Purple in over the weekend since my tranny was not as smooth as I thought it should be.  First two rides were terrible as the the whole works stiffened up and I was blowing more shifts than previously.  Third ride, and all the ones since, waaaay smoother.  It works and has got the bike to where it should be.

Woodie wrote:I threw the Royal Purple in over the weekend since my tranny was not as smooth as I thought it should be.  First two rides were terrible as the the whole works stiffened up and I was blowing more shifts than previously.  Third ride, and all the ones since, waaaay smoother.  It works and has got the bike to where it should be.

Unfortunately you post means nothing as Royal Purple is neither an oil viscosity nor is at an oil specification.

Sorry BobT, 75W90 which is, I believe, what is specced for the transmission on my '85.

Woodie wrote:Sorry BobT, 75W90 which is, I believe, what is specced for the transmission on my '85.

Yep, 75-90 is the spec and you can't go wrong with that.  Also Royal Purple is a high-end well-respected brand.

I bought 75-140 for use in my bikes as I've used Mobil 1 75-140 in all of my K bike for years without any issues. So do many others.

I use 75-140 based on some posts at the BMWMOA forum by Paul Glaves who is an ex-BMW wrench who got something like 375,000 miles out of a K75 until some old lady driver took the bike out in an accident at an intersection.

Watch out about additives in oil. It may give extra sweetness but will never overhaul a used bearing.
Micronized graphite was popular, and it is an excellent dry lubricant : but I had many problems with it because it was the cause of many leaks at the seals, and tends to create a pasta, a gel with the oil that sticks to the case instead of illing the bottom of it.
Molybdene avoids this colloidal problem, but like the graphite is very aggressive to the parts containing brass or bronze, corroding them.
I'm not sure if there are in K transmission (I've only seen a broken gearbox once!) I can't remember, but many gearboxs do.

I've used Guard Dog spline lube in my K100naked GB just to experiment and it did make a noticeable difference.
Not used it in the 1100 but I do find that once you get moving and out of first, gear changing becomes a hell of a lot smoother with higher revs.

75/140 is what I have in mine and you really feel the improvement as soon as you change to it. 
If 75/140 had been available in the '80s and '90s then I am sure that it would have been the specified oil by BMW.

So will 75/140 make the transmission smoother operating than 75/90?  I have a lot of km's before my next oil change but switching to 75/140 would be something to keep in mind (or I could pick up another K and run my own comparison I guess).

Not really, 140 is a viscosity index that's very high, and living in Canada you should not have to cope with high temperatures.
I noticed that many K were had an harder gear change in winter when using this 75W140 grade (it was a unique grade for administrative vehicles, including police and customs K75 and K1100). It needed half an hour before it becomes softer, the time for the oil to gain temperature.

tagaz wrote:
. . . possibly helping with stubborn down shifts & false nuetrals. . . .

I think you have just described a K-bike that needs a transmission input spline lube. In your first post you asserted that you purchased a 40K bike and its maintenance was "up to schedule." That's a seller statement difficult to verify. 40k is a point in neglect where stubborn downshifts would indicate those splines need lubrication. I suggest you investigate that possibility first.

Woodie wrote:(or I could pick up another K and run my own comparison I guess).

I like the way you're thinking.

jbt wrote:Not really, 140 is a viscosity index that's very high, and living in Canada you should not have to cope with high temperatures.
I noticed that many K were had an harder gear change in winter when using this 75W140 grade (it was a unique grade for administrative vehicles, including police and customs K75 and K1100). It needed half an hour before it becomes softer, the time for the oil to gain temperature.

In your opinion. But many of us have used it and find it makes a big improvement.

Hello!

Here I must agree BobT.
75W140 Grade is what BMW would have used if had existed in that time. 75W90 is old and not as good but useable.

In the german forums old K rider swear on Motul and say it can make gearbox easier to shift.
Besides that is the color different and you can realize a leak coming from the gearbox or from drive at the end.
Often you find oil in the drive shaft and don't know where it's coming from!

Cheers

But in the end both are useable 

Chocolate wrote:don't know where it's coming from!

Stick your finger in it and smell it.

Gear oil reeks of sulfur.

Allowing for age and the wear and tear of miles, is the K transmission just prone to false neutrals and sometimes stiffer shifting all on its own, or, if it is doing these things, is that a sign that something might not be quite right?

The gearbox is pretty solid, but I've seen a broken shaft this year for the first time on a 1984 k100.
Even on police models, the gearboxes were never opened until they were out of service, after at least 120 000 km of a (very) hard use.

That^^^^is good to know  

I have one here I am going to use for a K75GS at sometime and it has 300000km on it and you would barely pick it from a near new. The only thing they don't like is clutchless shifting. To get good shifts you need to be assertive. You cant be casual about shifts as you can be on the Jap bikes they will tend to find false neutrals which can damage the selector forks. The gearbox is made by Getrag and as such are good quality and strong but as with any machinery they need to be treated with care and will then give good service.