Shifting problems

[Safire149]

Hey guys. Here's a problem I haven't seen yet. When I'm trying to down shift from 6th gear down to 1st gear, every once in a while I can't shift into the next lower gear. Example, going from freeway speeds to a complete stop and shifting down through all six gears at one time. I'll pull in on the clutch and tap down on the gearshift and nothing...gearshift won't move. In order to go down a gear I have to ease up on the clutch a little for the gear to slip down into the next lower gear. I have about 750 miles on the bike and just got the first service done at the dealer at my 600 miles. The dealer said there wasn't any problems. Any ideas?

 

[thulst]

Sounds like the same problem I had a few weeks ago. It seems the gear shifter has not enough space. You need another extra inch or so. What I did was lubricate the shifter cable and the problem was solved. I drove 2500 km since and the problem did not come back yet. :thumbup:

I hope this helps you a bit.

 

[wolfc70]

Hey guys. Here's a problem I haven't seen yet. When I'm trying to down shift from 6th gear down to 1st gear, every once in a while I can't shift into the next lower gear. Example, going from freeway speeds to a complete stop and shifting down through all six gears at one time. I'll pull in on the clutch and tap down on the gearshift and nothing...gearshift won't move. In order to go down a gear I have to ease up on the clutch a little for the gear to slip down into the next lower gear. I have about 750 miles on the bike and just got the first service done at the dealer at my 600 miles. The dealer said there wasn't any problems. Any ideas?

Are you moving when you are downshifting? You have to be moving in order for the dogs to fully engage in any given gear. Rocking the bike ca help if you forget and come to a stop.

 

[wrightme43]

You also have to totally remove all pressure from the shift lever, allow it to center and reset so it can select the next gear.

 

[Safire149]

Yeah, I'm moving. I also make sure my foot is all the way off the gear shift when this happens, doesn't seem to help though. The only way I can get it to shift is by releasing the clutch a little, and I have to do this for every gear I shift into. Not sure what's going on. I'm hoping that the dealer checked the spacing for everything when I told them about the problem. Still does it though.

 

[Nathanizer]

Have you Figured out what the problem is? I am having the same problem with my bike, i have 5300 miles on it, and this last week of riding it started to have this same problem when trying to downshift.

 

[venom722]

omg are u guys noobs?......jks I probably thought my first bike was messed up when this first happened. There is no problem with your bike, almost any bike will do this. (any yamaha ive ridden) Its because of the way a transmission works on a bike. The only problem there is, is that you guys arent downshifting!!! when u want to start slowing down or before u want to slow down (or when u just feel like it) give the throttle a little flick and go down 1 gear. Just try it, does wonders for your riding! :BLAA:

 

[Nathanizer]

omg are u guys noobs?......jks I probably thought my first bike was messed up when this first happened. There is no problem with your bike, almost any bike will do this. (any yamaha ive ridden) Its because of the way a transmission works on a bike. The only problem there is, is that you guys arent downshifting!!! when u want to start slowing down or before u want to slow down (or when u just feel like it) give the throttle a little flick and go down 1 gear. Just try it, does wonders for your riding! :BLAA:

I will try this, My bike will downshift say from 4th to 3rd, but the problem I have is I cant keep downshifiting to 2nd and then 1st when coming to a stop, the shifter will push down but it wont downshift, it stays in 3rd, so when I come to a stop im still in 3rd, ive tried letting out the clutch a little and that dose not always work, sometimes I have to shift back up before I can shift all the way down into 1st again. Make sense? Can you help with more info on this?

 

[tuningfork]

I have found that you need to release the clutch between each downshift to get 100% correct shifts. Although, I usually do two downshifts between clutch releases and that seems to work ok. Somethign like this, say as you approach a stop sign at 55 mph in 6th gear:

6
clutch in
5-4 blip throttle
clutch out
clutch in
3-2 blip throttle
clutch out
clutch in
2-1 before complete stop but not above 10 mph.

I think everyone on this board with this bike has been burned at least once by the quick stop while still in 6th.

It requires more anticipation but the end result is you are usually in a better gear should you need to re-accelerate and it means you are looking further down the road which is usually a good thing.

 

[kq6up]

I am having the same issues, and it does not seem to be related to shifting correctly. I have tried releasing the clutch every shift, and it still has a problem. I will try to lube the shift cable to make sure it is coming all the way back between shifts like the second poster said.

Chris

 

[Capo79]

This problem relates to dirt and not enough grease in the pivoting point on the shifter. I had the exact same problem last year. Before I realized that the problem wasn't really a problem after all, I had more or less dismanteled the whole shifter assembly just to find out that it was the shifter pedal itself that wouldn't move back up from the down position due to dirt.

One way of knowing that this is the problem, is to give the pedal a slight nudge upward before you shift down. If that works, then the pivot is bone dry.

 

[kq6up]

I found another post that detailed this problem. I went ahead and used white Lithium grease on the shift linkages. However, just like the other poster, this seems to be a temperature issue. It only happens after riding all day long. Once it cools off the problem goes away. I had noticed my setting on the clutch cable had drifted a little bit, so maybe the change in temperature effected tolerances in the clutch. I hope the setting change and white grease will solve the problem -- really annoying. The first time it happened, just letting the bike sit over night cured the problem. I am not sure if it is fixed without riding it all day long because it had time to cool off by the time I put the grease on and went for a test run.

I have never had the problem before on other trips, so I a wondering if my change to a Mobil 1 oil filter is causing issues. I did not want to use a $20 OEM filter if I was going to have to change it a week later (2800mile trip). I have heard that the Mobil One and the Pure One are better than the OEM, but I am wondering if an increase in back pressure could cause this. Another post I had read was complaining about this problem occurring after not changing the oil after 5k. It seems that if sufficient sludge has built up in the filter some problems can occur. However, my filter is brand new, so I would imagine if it is an oil issue, then there is a problem using non OEM filters.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[92fz08]

Im no expert on anything like this, but from personal exp it has to do with the speed you are going, anytime i would try to shift down six gears in a row at a dead stop i would have to work the clutch "Alot" but if i shift the first three at around 30 then the other three at a 20-10 they all go perfectly into gear, the fz1 is also like this it might just be a yamaha thing not really sure hope this helps.

 

[kq6up]

This problem happens at speed. It is not related to trying to run down all the gears at once when approaching stop. I am aware that this is normal for the fz6. It always behaves this way. This is a separate issue that occurs when the bike has been ridden for several hours or is really warm.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[Delk]

I was just wondering if anyone has any more info on the topic. I too have been experiencing the same problem. I don’t think it’s the actual shifting that’s the problem. It’s when I’m in second or almost any gear, when I want to shift down the shift pedal is not back into position. I have to pull up on the pedal a little bit to put it back into position then shift down otherwise it doesn’t engage. It never used to have this problem until recently. Any input would be helpful because I will admit I am still a noob.

 

[kq6up]

I greased all the pivot points and linkages for the gear shift, and that solved the problem.

Chris

 

[MrMogensen]

I have found that you need to release the clutch between each downshift to get 100% correct shifts. Although, I usually do two downshifts between clutch releases and that seems to work ok. Somethign like this, say as you approach a stop sign at 55 mph in 6th gear:

6
clutch in
5-4 blip throttle
clutch out
clutch in
3-2 blip throttle
clutch out
clutch in
2-1 before complete stop but not above 10 mph.

I think everyone on this board with this bike has been burned at least once by the quick stop while still in 6th.

It requires more anticipation but the end result is you are usually in a better gear should you need to re-accelerate and it means you are looking further down the road which is usually a good thing.

Just get out there on long lonely straight and practice.
Practice exactly what TUNINGFORK mentions except release clutch + blip throttle between every single downshift (5 in total from 6th to 1st). By "blipping the throttle" means you kind of catch the gear at the right revs to make the downshifts nice and smooth. It's a little hard to explain but try to pull clutch => shift down => start to release clutch and just before that's completely done then give it a little throttle to smooth it up. Quickly release throttle again and your ready for next downshift... Done right it takes a few tenths of a second. Making smooth downshifts accompanied by the engine constantly increasing/decreasing revs feels great
I attended a couple of bike courses last season (mentioned in another thread) and got pretty good at this. After around 50 laps of riding around lap after lap ONLY being allowed to brake using downshifts it's become a part of my riding style.

 

[Delk]

Ok I will give it a try. Thanks for the input
Any recommendation on what I should use for lubricant?

 

[Delk]

I just used WD-40 and it works fine now. Thanks for the help! :thumbup: