1st gear problems

[Mattberkshire]

Hi all

My first gear has always been lightly less than crisp. In the past I have had to tap it a couple of times to find it. Today though it disappeared altogether!

This happened twice so I stopped and adjusted the clutch cable at the bars. I thought this had resolved it but nope, happened again. Happened about 50% of the time I went for 1st, usually after a fairly quick stop and down the gears. When I took it slower (eg when approaching the scary right turn onto the main road near my house) it was OK.

Any thoughts?? More fine tuning of clutch required or something more serious??

 

[penguinbiker8]

it might have something to do with the way you downshift. when i first got my bike i couldnt find first coming up to a light if i downshifted a couple gears. if you let the clutch out slightly to where it pulls you and then you pull it back in you should be able to find it. hope it makes sense to you.

 

[Mattberkshire]

I'll try the clutch thing but it just wasn't there.

 

[4fun]

Happened to me a couple of times after downshifting through a few gears to a stop. It seemed forever to get it into first. I thought i was crazy and doing something wrong. i was stuck at a light for what seemed an eternity, but finally got it into first after playing with the clutch and rocking the bike back and forth.

 

[wrightme43]

Do you completly remove your foot from the shifter between each change. If there is just a little pressure it doesnt seem to shift right for me.
It could always be messed up. If it keeps doing it take it in.

 

[hunterfz6]

Hey guy, this is my thought. If you are at a dead stop with your feet on the ground and you engage to 1st gear, do you have any problems? Honestly, when you are moving at any speed, and especially so when you are moving and coming to a turn, you should never drop to 1st gear. 2nd gear is low enough for going slow around a turn. You know, if you are leaning and you go into 1st gear you can cause over torquing which will cause your rear tire to spin and cause you to high side. You dont want that to happen, so unless you are having problems starting off from a dead stop, ie traffic light, stop sige etc keep it in 2nd and above. My advice if you are still having problems, take your bike to the place where you bought it and have it looked at, it might cost a few bucks, but i would guess if you have to ask here, it might be a job with a bit more difficulty than you are used too. Better safe than sorry, especially when you are only on 2 wheels. Good luck and I hope my comment was helpful. Also, if you are moving at any speed, over 10 mph i'm sure, its going to be very difficult to get into 1st gear, did you try blipping the throttle as that helps smooth the transition when gearing up/down.

 

[wrightme43]

I just match rpm with a throttle blip like you said, and it goes right in. Cant lock the rear because the engine is matched as the clutch comes out and the rpms drop. Just the way I do it though.

 

[4fun]

Can't remember the details leading up to getting stuck going into gear, i do Know one time i was down shifting to a stop going up a hill, so i needed ist gear and i sat there tapping on the shifter, lifting up on it to and it just wouldn't switch, eventually it did.

Maybe it is just operator error, it's only happened a couple of times. I guess i will wait to see if it happens again and pay more attention to what the details are just before it happened.

 

[youngGun]

I know of a few circumstances where i have had trouble finding 1st gear. If you dont remove all pressure from the shifter when shifting it tends to stay in the last selected gear. also if you are stopped let the clutch out till you feel the bike pull a little then it should shift down fine. hope that helps somewhat

 

[CanadianFZ6]

Try adjusting the shift lever up... my '05 had the same problem. It turned out the shift lever was too low which caused it to hit the frame sometimes before first was engaged. Go and look at the shifter mechanism/frame area and you will see what I mean.

 

[idanny]

I am having the same problem. it started happening after I bent my clutch but it seems to be getting worse. I am going to put the new clutch on tonight hopefully that will fix the problem.

 

[idanny]

Hi all

My first gear has always been lightly less than crisp. In the past I have had to tap it a couple of times to find it. Today though it disappeared altogether!

This happened twice so I stopped and adjusted the clutch cable at the bars. I thought this had resolved it but nope, happened again. Happened about 50% of the time I went for 1st, usually after a fairly quick stop and down the gears. When I took it slower (eg when approaching the scary right turn onto the main road near my house) it was OK.

Any thoughts?? More fine tuning of clutch required or something more serious??

buggerlugs have you found the solution? I cannot get my bike to shift into 1st normally, Idk what to do. I am taking it to yamaha next wednesday for a service, i am going to get them to look at it. It only shifts into first when I am already moving. I cant get it to shift into first when I have it stopped in place.

 

[idanny]

Okay I figured it out for me it was that my shift pedal was loose so it would shift up fine but then would only shift down 1 gear after the upshift. Because of the placement it would not shift down. what I need to do now is figure out how to tighten the shift pedal.

 

[Nelly]

Once your at a stand still just try moving the bike forward a few inches and then re-engage the clutch and it will pop in to first sweet as. I don't know why but it does.

Nelly.

Lugs you coming on Saturday fro our ride out?

 

[Mattberkshire]

Hi all. I haven't been on the bike since my post. Been too bleedin cold and I've been playing with my new toy (BMW - car not bike, I do have taste).

Nelly - I can't come Saturday sorry. Got a list as long as your arm to do at weekends, eg our willow tree fell down last weekend so I've got to tidy that as well. And finally the family is dragging my out to Thorpe Park on Saturday. Sorry guys

 

[bluenova]

It's quite normal, happens with manual geared cars too. You just have to stick it in neutral let the clutch out, pull it back in and it'll engage fine.

 

[goran21220]

it happens to me all the time!And i just bought mine and only have 800 miles on it!It's ok when theres no traffic around me but its preety frustrating when you're first in line on a red light!Im still waiting on a expert oppinion on this one!

 

[GConn]

i couldnt find first coming up to a light if i downshifted a couple gears. if you let the clutch out slightly to where it pulls you and then you pull it back in you should be able to find it. hope it makes sense to you.

+1 that's what I got too. No other probs. Engage the clutch and disengage again to find the gear

 

[wrightme43]

Blip the engine and let the clutch out on each gear downshifting. Stop in first with the clutch in. Leave it in gear with the clutch in untill a blocker car stops behind you protecting you from rearenders. Shift to neutral.

The only time I have trouble shifting my bike is when its due a oil change.

 

[idanny]

I oiled up the gear pedal and now it is shifting properly. All it was doing was not coming up all the way so when I tried to down shift it would do nothing.