First gear problem

[bigoltool]

Ok so I have searched on here and didn’t find any real answers to the problem. My bike has about 3800miles on it and just in the last week it has started shifting like crap poorly. False neutral between 5th and sixth the other day getting on the freeway. Only did it once so not too concerned about that. But all of a sudden she has gotten nearly impossible to get back into first gear when you roll up to an intersection. It drops into neutral and if you really stand on it will go into first. The only easy way I have found is to shift back into second and then back down to first. Why that works I have no idea. Chain is adjusted and lubed, clutch has plenty of fluid, the clutch cylinder mount isn’t broken, just changed oil and filter with Mobil 1 MX4T less than 800 miles ago. I read of other people on here with similar problems but no answers. So if anybody has an answer please advise me. And please before anyone answers with “ya just need to put the boot to herâ€￾ I do not consider that an adequate response.

 

[LadyHawk]

I have the same problem. It's not every time, but I've been at a few lights trying to kick it into first and it just won't go. I've got 1500 miles on him, and had the dealer do the 600 mile service.

The 5th to 6th I've had before, but was told "Shift it like ya mean it" and now I do, andI've not had a problem ,with that since.

I'll be watching this thread to see if any one else responds.

 

[Don Hardcastle]

That happens to me every once in a while. Almost 7000 on her. I don't know why, but I do know the fix that works for me. Let out the clutch just a little and it will drop into gear.

Don

 

[fsusux]

That happens to me every once in a while.    I don't know why, but I do know the fix that works for me.  Let out the clutch just a little and it will drop into gear.

Don

+1



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[Revlis]

That happens to me every once in a while. I don't know why, but I do know the fix that works for me. Let out the clutch just a little and it will drop into gear.

Don

+1

+2 Pretty Much like many other manual Tranny's I have ridden and driven.

 

[BusaWhipped]

That happens to me every once in a while.    I don't know why, but I do know the fix that works for me.  Let out the clutch just a little and it will drop into gear.

Don

+1

+2 Pretty Much like many other manual Tranny's I have ridden and driven.

+3. The transmission is designed to change gears while it is spinning.

 

[bigoltool]

Sorry man but this isn't like any other motorcycle I have ever ridden and I have ridden a lot of them. No amount of rpm matching seems to help. If it was just clunking going into first I would be fine but this thing just refuses to go into gear. No grinding or nothing. I am getting pretty frustrated with it. Riding in traffic is a crap shoot whether you can get it back into first so I wind up jamming it in second and slipping the clutch a bit. The thing hasn't been raced or abused or I would suspect a bent shift fork or something. I was even starting to suspect my oil. I may drain it this weekend just to take a look see at what falls out.

Sorry folks just a bit frustrated right now.

 

[Don Hardcastle]

Sorry man but this isn't like any other motorcycle I have ever ridden and I have ridden a lot of them. No amount of rpm matching seems to help. If it was just clunking going into first I would be fine but this thing just refuses to go into gear. No grinding or nothing. I am getting pretty frustrated with it. Riding in traffic is a crap shoot whether you can get it back into first so I wind up jamming it in second and slipping the clutch a bit. The thing hasn't been raced or abused or I would suspect a bent shift fork or something. I was even starting to suspect my oil. I may drain it this weekend just to take a look see at what falls out.

Sorry folks just a bit frustrated right now.

I am not talking about rpm matching. I am talking about just letting the clutch out just a little and the bike will drop into gear. Don't rev it at all, leave it at idle.

Don

 

[TALYN]

I have had the same issue a few times, I just let the clutch out while in Nuetral, pull it in, rev the engine a little, and VIOLA it goes right in like it used KY...

 

[monster]

Sorry man but this isn't like any other motorcycle I have ever ridden and I have ridden a lot of them. No amount of rpm matching seems to help. If it was just clunking going into first I would be fine but this thing just refuses to go into gear. No grinding or nothing. I am getting pretty frustrated with it. Riding in traffic is a crap shoot whether you can get it back into first so I wind up jamming it in second and slipping the clutch a bit. The thing hasn't been raced or abused or I would suspect a bent shift fork or something. I was even starting to suspect my oil. I may drain it this weekend just to take a look see at what falls out.

Sorry folks just a bit frustrated right now.

I am not talking about rpm matching.  I am talking about just letting the clutch out just a little and the bike will drop into gear.  Don't rev it at all, leave it at idle.  

Don

What he's saying works. And it also works in my Saturn as well

 

[bigern_05Busa]

Sorry man but this isn't like any other motorcycle I have ever ridden and I have ridden a lot of them. No amount of rpm matching seems to help. If it was just clunking going into first I would be fine but this thing just refuses to go into gear. No grinding or nothing. I am getting pretty frustrated with it. Riding in traffic is a crap shoot whether you can get it back into first so I wind up jamming it in second and slipping the clutch a bit. The thing hasn't been raced or abused or I would suspect a bent shift fork or something. I was even starting to suspect my oil. I may drain it this weekend just to take a look see at what falls out.

Sorry folks just a bit frustrated right now.

I am not talking about rpm matching.  I am talking about just letting the clutch out just a little and the bike will drop into gear.  Don't rev it at all, leave it at idle.  

Don

What he's saying works.  And it also works in my Saturn as well  

+1

 

[rc51ny]

I've gotten into the habit of slipping her into 1st before I come to a full stop. Therefore, I never have a 1st gear problem. I do have the false neutral between 5 & 6 quite often. I guess I'm just getting use to it-doesn't seem to harm the bike at all.

 

[bigoltool]

I was thinking of taking apart the linkage and see if there is some form of impedement there. I'm running Buell pegs and have the shifter dropped accordingly was just wondering if that was binding or? I was reading the manual and it looks like you can access the shift shaft and cam assy from the outside. might have to check that out as well.

God I dont want to tear my engine down to fix this. Looks like you have to split the cases to to get to the forks or anything major.



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[Dakkine2]

Make sure the piece I've circled in red is pointing straight up when looking at the bike from the side. If it's off by just one spline, you will not have enough leverage to get it into first. I'm also running the Buell pegs and adjusted my lever way down. So much that I had no more adjustment in the linkage and I moved the pivot one spline back. Shifting into first was almost impossible. Got a new shift rod that's about 1/4" longer on each end. Problem solved.

 

[Don Hardcastle]

Dakkine2,
  You mean if it is off one spline clockwise right?  I rotated mine one spline counter clockwise because of the new boots, needed the shifter higher, then did the fine adj with the adj bar.  No probs what so ever.

Don



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[rlachermeier]

That happens to me every once in a while. I don't know why, but I do know the fix that works for me. Let out the clutch just a little and it will drop into gear.

Don

+1

+2 Pretty Much like many other manual Tranny's I have ridden and driven.

+3. The transmission is designed to change gears while it is spinning.

+4

 

[bigoltool]

Make sure the piece I've circled in red is pointing straight up when looking at the bike from the side. If it's off by just one spline, you will not have enough leverage to get it into first. I'm also running the Buell pegs and adjusted my lever way down. So much that I had no more adjustment in the linkage and I moved the pivot one spline back. Shifting into first was almost impossible. Got a new shift rod that's about 1/4" longer on each end. Problem solved.

Well Dakkine2 I think you nailed it on the head. I went out and checked out my linkage and the first issue was that the aft locknut had walked itself loose. I am 6'4" and have the lever lowered appropriately with the Buell pegs. Apparently I am at the fringe of adjustment with the stock linkage. The loose locknut had allowed it to loosen further creating the problem. I raised the lever a bit and voila it would shift again. I also took the opportunity to make a wrench for that aft bolt. I took an old 12 point 10mm box end and ground a slot in the front of it just wide enough to let the rod pass. Still pretty tight but I can now snug that thing down without pulling the snap ring on the shifter and pulling the whole thing off to tighten it. Thats going in my tool kit.

Where did you get the longer shift rod?

Like to thank everyone who replied to my plea for help, you are what make this site what it is! Kudos.

If you are having similar problms check your linkage folks!



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[Dakkine2]

Dakkine2,
  You mean if it is off one spline clockwise right?  I rotated mine one spline counter clockwise because of the new boots, needed the shifter higher, then did the fine adj with the adj bar.  No probs what so ever.

Don

Exactly. Either way I would want mine to be straight, but moving it counterclockwise would logically give more of a problem with upshifting if any at all.

 

[Dakkine2]

Make sure the piece I've circled in red is pointing straight up when looking at the bike from the side. If it's off by just one spline, you will not have enough leverage to get it into first. I'm also running the Buell pegs and adjusted my lever way down. So much that I had no more adjustment in the linkage and I moved the pivot one spline back. Shifting into first was almost impossible. Got a new shift rod that's about 1/4" longer on each end. Problem solved.

Well Dakkine2 I think you nailed it on the head. I went out and checked out my linkage and the first issue was that the aft locknut had walked itself loose. I am 6'4" and have the lever lowered appropriately with the Buell pegs. Apparently I am at the fringe of adjustment with the stock linkage. The loose locknut had allowed it to loosen further creating the problem. I raised the lever a bit and voila it would shift again. I also took the opportunity to make a wrench for that aft bolt. I took an old 12 point 10mm box end and ground a slot in the front of it just wide enough to let the rod pass. Still pretty tight but I can now snug that thing down without pulling the snap ring on the shifter and pulling the whole thing off to tighten it. Thats going in my tool kit.

Where did you get the longer shift rod?  

Like to thank everyone who replied to my plea for help, you are what make this site what it is! Kudos.

If you are having similar problms check your linkage folks!

I'm not sure where the longer shiftrod came from. My buddy just had one in his toolbox and has no idea where it came from. I believe you can contact Attack racing and order a long and stronger shift rod. Just remove your stock one, measure, and order like 1/2" longer. The one I used had like 1/4" more thread on each end.

 

[bigoltool]

Make sure the piece I've circled in red is pointing straight up when looking at the bike from the side. If it's off by just one spline, you will not have enough leverage to get it into first. I'm also running the Buell pegs and adjusted my lever way down. So much that I had no more adjustment in the linkage and I moved the pivot one spline back. Shifting into first was almost impossible. Got a new shift rod that's about 1/4" longer on each end. Problem solved.

Well Dakkine2 I think you nailed it on the head. I went out and checked out my linkage and the first issue was that the aft locknut had walked itself loose. I am 6'4" and have the lever lowered appropriately with the Buell pegs. Apparently I am at the fringe of adjustment with the stock linkage. The loose locknut had allowed it to loosen further creating the problem. I raised the lever a bit and voila it would shift again. I also took the opportunity to make a wrench for that aft bolt. I took an old 12 point 10mm box end and ground a slot in the front of it just wide enough to let the rod pass. Still pretty tight but I can now snug that thing down without pulling the snap ring on the shifter and pulling the whole thing off to tighten it. Thats going in my tool kit.

Where did you get the longer shift rod?  

Like to thank everyone who replied to my plea for help, you are what make this site what it is! Kudos.

If you are having similar problms check your linkage folks!

I'm not sure where the longer shiftrod came from. My buddy just had one in his toolbox and has no idea where it came from. I believe you can contact Attack racing and order a long and stronger shift rod. Just remove your stock one, measure, and order like 1/2" longer. The one I used had like 1/4" more thread on each end.

This is interesting. I did some searching today and on the Pro-bolts website they list a 150mm ((~5.5") #LGRODSUZ20) shift rod for the Hayabusa. And a 174mm((6.85" )#LGRODSUZ10)for the K3 gsxr1000. Ironically Rumble Imports lists the 174mm one for the Hayabusa as well? I am wondering if you could cut the longer one down to make it work? Anyone got an 03 GSXR1000 they can measure?