08 fz6n free coasting in 5th gear underload

[matt black]

So I was hitting some bends pretty hard yesterday in 5th gear when all of a sudden 5th disengaged with a clunk and I free coasted for about 5 seconds. At first id thought the chain snapped. But it reingaged with another more terrifying clunk and behaved as normal. It was a tight road with light traffic...I may have **** a little in my pants. Has anyone had a similar issue?

 

[FinalImpact]

Sounds one off.

Although lazy "not shifting like you mean it" can at times lead to some strange results. I recall a 2 -> 3 shift gone wrong whereby I found No-Mans-Land (N) with all of the strange feelings you talk about. IIRC - the missed shift was under a pretty good load and when it went in it was less the pleasant.
Its gone 10K miles and never repeated :/

Not sure what oil is in the box or how old it is, but I personally AM NOT IMPRESSED with Mobile One and will NEVER put it in the bike again.

 

[DeepBlueRider]

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Not sure what oil is in the box or how old it is, but I personally AM NOT IMPRESSED with Mobile One and will NEVER put it in the bike again.

Good you're mentioning it . I've notice huge difference in 10W40 between brands (in shifting and clutch operation). To not start another oil thread - what is your oil of choice now ?

 

[DeepBlueRider]

So I was hitting some bends pretty hard yesterday in 5th gear when all of a sudden 5th disengaged with a clunk and I free coasted for about 5 seconds. At first id thought the chain snapped. But it reingaged with another more terrifying clunk and behaved as normal. It was a tight road with light traffic...I may have **** a little in my pants. Has anyone had a similar issue?

Are you sure you haven't touched gear lever ? I was able to do something strange with gearbox where it landed in N between 4th and 5th.

Other option is quite possible it jumped out of gear. It's most likely to happen without load as there is only light force keeping gears together. I haven't got that problem on any of my bikes yet, but as far as I understand it requires disassembling gearbox, inspecting gears and replacing ones with missing teeth. But let's hope thats not a case.

 

[FinalImpact]

Amsoil 10-40 motorcycle....

All banging, crunching, hammer time aside, this Gear Box it pretty tough. You're not going to break it easily.....

OP - what oil is in it?



EDIT: what I didn't say was the night and day difference from M1 at 1500 miles of use to Amsoil.
For like 400 miles shifting sucked, engine had strange vibes, I'd never had and the only change was the M1 oil! I DUMPED THE M1 and the engine/trans/shifting returned to baby butt smooth operation in all ways .....

 

[motojoe122]

Sounds one off.

Although lazy "not shifting like you mean it" can at times lead to some strange results. I recall a 2 -> 3 shift gone wrong whereby I found No-Mans-Land (N) with all of the strange feelings you talk about. IIRC - the missed shift was under a pretty good load and when it went in it was less the pleasant.
Its gone 10K miles and never repeated :/

Not sure what oil is in the box or how old it is, but I personally AM NOT IMPRESSED with Mobile One and will NEVER put it in the bike again.

My usual is Rotella T6, but when I used Mobile1 10-40 I was impressed with it. It seemed to shift so smooth I forgot what gear I was in.

 

[Powerman]

Rotella T6 since first change. 25,000 mi. with no problems and no visible wear on cam lobes, also no gearbox issues. I'm sure this can be achieved with any jaso approved oil, just my experience.

 

[Carlos840]

I had a similar experience once, i tried shifting from 1 to 2 while under hard acceleration. I mean, i did close the throttel while shifting, but i did take first close to red line beforehand.
For some reason i ended up stuck in neutral, massive empty rev when i hit the throttle again, realised i was in N, tried clutching in and out again, 2nd would not go in, tried going back to 1st, nothing.
Since i was entering the highway i couldn't really stop, so i just lifed the pedal with a bit more strength, i t went into second with a massive heart braking crunch!

After that i was sure i had broken my gearbox, was so paranoid about it for weeks but it ran just fine.

When i did my oil change i opened the filter expecting to find half my gearbox in there and there wasn't a single metal shaving, not even any dust.

I have read about people breaking their gearbox, bu i think it is pretty hard to do on this bike!

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

So I was hitting some bends pretty hard yesterday in 5th gear when all of a sudden 5th disengaged with a clunk and I free coasted for about 5 seconds. At first id thought the chain snapped. But it reingaged with another more terrifying clunk and behaved as normal. It was a tight road with light traffic...I may have **** a little in my pants. Has anyone had a similar issue?

As noted above, I suspect you weren't fully in gear and it jumped out momentarily, then fell back into a gear.

If it hasn't happened again, I'd probably just check / lube the shifter rod joints, actual lever pivot shaft (just preventive maintainance) and you should be fine.

You may try adjusting the shifter lever further up or down (if you remember just prior to the incident if you shifted up or down-(adjust the lever height just slightly accordingly)

If your DRIVE chain is loose beyond spec's, it can also affect the gear box shift changes as well..:thumbup:

 

[matt black]

I think you fellas are on the money. I hit the same road tonight and had no problems taking 5th shortly before the same corner I **** bricks on the other day. This definitely lends itself to your theories. I spoke to a mechanic yesterday and said I may have to replace 5th gear and to expect to pay up to $2000 AU! I told him i think ill do everything suggested here and keep an eye on it for now. He agreed and said to snatch clutch next time it happens and shift up. He said you wanna avoid that violent clunk as that's what kills the box.

I have been meaning to drop the shift lever for a while, I seem to shift really short on this bike because of the narrow clutch.

Thanks lads

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

I think you fellas are on the money. I hit the same road tonight and had no problems taking 5th shortly before the same corner I **** bricks on the other day. This definitely lends itself to your theories. I spoke to a mechanic yesterday and said I may have to replace 5th gear and to expect to pay up to $2000 AU! I told him i think ill do everything suggested here and keep an eye on it for now. He agreed and said to snatch clutch next time it happens and shift up. He said you wanna avoid that violent clunk as that's what kills the box.

I have been meaning to drop the shift lever for a while, I seem to shift really short on this bike because of the narrow clutch.

Thanks lads

Yep, unless it keeps happening, there's nothing wrong (certainly not bad enough) to replace that gear...

Everyone's had a lazy shift, knock on wood it didn't knock a tooth off a gear, etc..

Adjusting and doing those maintainance tips (a common issue on the FZ) should take care of any ENGINE issues themselves... BTW, on that shifter rod, if adjusting, one nut is reverse threaded. It doesn't take many turns to move the shifter lever.

I'd put the bike on the centerstand, measure EXACTLY the height of the end of the lever, (note it). Then when rotating the adjuster shaft, you'll know if your going up or down and exactly how much... :thumbup:

 

[Carlos840]

I think you fellas are on the money. I hit the same road tonight and had no problems taking 5th shortly before the same corner I **** bricks on the other day. This definitely lends itself to your theories. I spoke to a mechanic yesterday and said I may have to replace 5th gear and to expect to pay up to $2000 AU! I told him i think ill do everything suggested here and keep an eye on it for now. He agreed and said to snatch clutch next time it happens and shift up. He said you wanna avoid that violent clunk as that's what kills the box.

I have been meaning to drop the shift lever for a while, I seem to shift really short on this bike because of the narrow clutch.

Thanks lads

If you are paranoid about having done damage just open your oil filter next time you change it! If it runs fine, and you have no metal bits in there you can just attribute it to a one off lazy shift and stop worrying about it.