hard 1st 2nd shift

I just bought a FZ6 a week ago and have some questions. I like the bike, much nicer than my ninja 250, but the shifting doesnt seem right. I adjusted the clutch lever spin nut thingy to my liking, but the gears seem to clunk/crash when i shift from 1st to 2nd. Sometimes the neutral light will stay on when I'm in first gear. The bike is an 06 and only had 450 miles when I bought it. The chain seems a little loose, but I'm not for sure. Any suggestions? The guy I bought it from didnt give me the manual, so I'm kinda in the dark searching for answers.

I've noticed the same think. Mine's an '06. This is the clunkiest transmission I've experienced (I've owned 3 other bikes). The shift from 1 to 2 is the worst.

Maybe it gets better with different oil.

Shifting from 1st to 2nd can be clunky, it's normal. Depending on the situation, try shifting earlier if your taking it easy or let the rpm's build up a little more before shifting if your gunning it.

There's definitely an area where the 1 to 2 shift will clunk (seems like around 20mph).

Jake

it gets clunkier the more you need an oil change, or at least mine does.


Also, the manuals are on here as a download too.


http://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-technical/320-2004-through-2007-manuals-download-here.html

Below 5,000rpm on the upshift side it can be a bit clunky but above say 7,000 rpm it's beautiful. On mine, much of the low rpm clunkiness was eliminated when I made the switch to syn...... Bottom line, this bike loves RPM.....

The 1st > 2nd shift clunkiness doesn't bother me as much as simply trying to sync engine speed with cycle speed as I'm releasing clutch, and the 1st to 2nd transition is the worse. Either get whiplash from too much engine speed or too little and get a braking effect.

One thing I've learned is to slightly preload my foot on the shift lever just before the gear change. While accelerating or under load, the transmission will hold the shifter in place. When I pull in clutch, shift lever pops quickly into 2nd. I've found this shift method is quicker and helps smooth all shifting, including 1st > 2nd change.

I guess I'm going to have to find the sweet spot for shifting on this bike. The other gears are great, just the 1st to 2nd transition. Sometime I can get it to shift fine, sometimes I get the clunk. I just changed the oil since the bike had 600 miles on it. The oil was very sparkly, but no metal chunks, so i think this might be a characteristic of the tranny. My ninja 250 was smooth in almost every situation, so I guess its a big change. My buddy who races bikes said not to put synthetic oil in it until I hit over 1000 miles on it. Are there any oils that are better to use for this tranny? I was thinking Mobil 1 full synthetic, but I'm not for sure. Thanks for the manuals!

i figured out that preloading the shifter like you where going to do a clutchless shift makes the clunk go away.