Hi All:

Last night, I take my wife out for a quick spin and some drinks. While stopped at a light and with some pretty heavy traffic, I went from first into neutral by mistake. I try to shift into second and I hear some crashing, like two gears that are trying to mate but cannot. No matter what I did, I could not get into second.

So I quickly pulled over and slowed to the point where I could shift into first (around 10 MPH). But not without a crash as well.

What is up with this? Do I need a new first and second gear? Is this a common problem?

Last time this happened, I raised the revs and jammed it into first. But that resulted in a huge, dramatic crash that I thought surely sent bits of gears everywhere.

Third through 6 work wonderfully. First and second are horrible. Any ideas?

--Thanks, Chris

Pure guess, but maybe the gear selector forks?
I've never had one go on me, but I think they work in pairs?

Only guessing though.

All the best

Ali

Does the clutch disengage totally??

could be a clutch problem!

Tks

Firstly Im a bit confused what happened, did it do this whilst stationary at the lights, or after yo'd pulled away going from first to second?

If its the latter then I guess the main thing is try to fine tune tour technique to ensure it doesnt happen, but either way next time it does it, try bringing the clutch up, then put it back down again whilst in neutral before trying to re-select the gear. Bringing the clutch up / down spins the gearbox back up and it may well select the gear easier. You certainly have to do this quite often when in neutral whilst stationary and wanting to select first, both on the blade and the R1.

Also as TKS has mentioned, check the clutch is fully disengaging when hot

cheers

Chris

Mine did that but in 3rd gear. It turned out to be the selector drum being chipped and not pulling across the forks that engage the gear. I have heard of others with the same thing happening. A new drum from Honda is approx £110.. I got a new engine instead. I'm not saying that that is defo the reason but could be. If you suspect this you will be able to see by dropping the sump.
Rescued attachment Harrydog 012.jpg

Thanks guys. Of course, I'll try not to do this again

This happened when pulling away from the light and trying to shift from first to second. If this happens again, I should press the clutch in a out twice, then shift into gear?

TKS: The clutch cable did need to be slightly tightened, but I still think there is more to it because it worked fine in the other gears...

If it keeps happening, I'll drop the sump and have a look. If not, I'll have a look next time I change the oil. Will I be able to see all the gears in there as well?

If I'm able to find a complete gearset, will I have to split the cases to install it?

--Thanks, Chris

Hi Chris

quote:

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Originally posted by chrisf
This happened when pulling away from the light and trying to shift from first to second. If this happens again, I should press the clutch in a out twice, then shift into gear?

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quote:

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Will I be able to see all the gears in there as well?

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quote:

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If I'm able to find a complete gearset, will I have to split the cases to install it?

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If the clutch cable needed tensioning.

You can almost say that is the cure,

saying that travel is as most important as tension.

The bike only need a couple of mm to clear each plate 0,1mm..

Tks

OK, it happened again last night. What may be happening is that the aluminum splined section that actually does the shifting may not be working well: there is quite a bit of play between pushing the shifter forward and the gear actually engaging. I'm using the clutch when going from first to second, but it is easier (and smoother) to not use the clutch for 3-6th.

A while ago, someone posted steel splined clamps that go on the shifter. I think it was from the UK eBay site. Does anyone remember who that was or if they are still selling?

I tightened the clutch cable and it still happened...

--Chris

Not sure, I know Westfield do one but probably not the cheapest solution. If there's any slack / play in your gear shift linkage as you've alluded to though, then thats a good bet to be causing your problems.

in fact its bad because it can wear/bend your fingers right??

you are kissing the first gear! you need to pull it in not to kiss it in!

i bet its the linkage! infact its a cheap! solution compared to gearbox overhaul.

Tks

Well, I found a couple places that sell the splined shaft blank. Of course, they're both in the UK So I should see the new one arrive shortly.

Anyone know the shaft diameter? Is it 12mm?

--Thanks, Chris

PS Kissing it into gear? To go from first to second, I press the clutch and push it into the nest gear...

Get your linkage sorted asap though - I've just had to fit a new 2nd gear to my '72 XS650 flat tracker due to a clumsy previous owners cack-footed gear changing! It doesn't take much to knock the edges off the dogs.....

My fear it that's exactly what happened...

But in fact you wheren't!!

you where trying to mate 2 toothed wheels without lateral pressure!!

the bike engine doesn't like this because albeit you wear some dogs or what ever

the material comes overall!!

it can even knockout a bearing!!

and when reving to 11.000rpm... the damage will be huge..

Tks

No, it wasn't a mis-shift. That would be very bad...