Stiff Shifting

[JoeDalton]

Hi Guys (and girls),

English is not my natural language, so don't be too bad against me !!

Yesterday March 10, it was my first ride on my brand new FZ6 2008. It's very erarly for my place ! (Québec, Canada) i was like an alien on the street.

I use to ride on custum bike and my FZ6 is such a change in many ways.

I very appreciated this first ride. I read a lot before on this mechanics and was ready to "feel" this bike.

For thoses who are familiar with this bike, i had some trouble shifting from the second gear to the third, the gear did not "bit" or "switch" and i had to de-clutch one more time and then, the third gear went on ??

And it did that as long i was "soft" on the shifting. Then i told my self :This bike is raised on an R6 and the transmission profile should reflet that origin!!
Then i became more agressive, attemting to shift (lift my foot up ) in the same time as i clutch without reducing much the gaz !! Impressive !! No more trouble with this shifting !!:Flash:

Was it just the habit i got from "custom shifting" i mean, slow enough, release the gaz all way down while shifting ?? Or my bike has somethink wrong ??



Instead this, even if the road was still suffering from the last winter, i like the feel, the punch (over 5000 ) and the driving position.

Thanks for your advices.

Louis

 

[Drinky]

when I release the gas, and change gears when rolling, it'll just gear up?
So I don't think your problem can be considered "normal"

 

[reiobard]

how many miles on the bike? brandy new as in 0 or close to 0 miles as of yesterday?

If so then i would let it wear in a bit to see if it gets better and loosens up. worst case is that if there is a problem then it is probably covered under warranty. just make sure you get it in to them before it expired.

 

[04fizzer]

Make sure your shift lever is properly adjusted. It may be set too high, and you're not able to lift the lever far enough with your toe.

There's a section in the owner's manual that shows you how to do this (it's very simple).

 

[Cuba]

Don't use the clutch, just let off the gas while pushing on the shifter.

 

[staticghost]

Don't use the clutch, just let off the gas while pushing on the shifter.

WOOOT....:spank: this is not good for your engine man. Clutcless shifting is not good at all. And even if you are that good, its never good to do this no matter how smooth you are. Always use a clutch for shift gears up or down.

 

[Cuba]

WOOOT....:spank: this is not good for your engine man. Clutcless shifting is not good at all. And even if you are that good, its never good to do this no matter how smooth you are. Always use a clutch for shift gears up or down.

I've never heard anyone say that, and actually many on here agree that this is a good method and not bad for the bike at all. Not saying you're wrong, just confused if you are infact right. Any other opinions on this???

 

[The Pheasant]

I reckon if you are very slick it works fine and probably does no harm at all. I know plenty of people who do it a lot. Get it wrong and you may damage shift forks or engagement dogs. I used to do it all the time off-road to save forearm pump, but prefer to use the clutch when shifting on my road bike just to get as smooth a shift as possible. When I had to take down a motor on which I had done 60,000 miles from new, the gear dogs were all in perfect condition. Might be some connection.
To the OP, I do find the FZ6 'box to be particularly sensitive to shift technique and timing.

 

[staticghost]

I've never heard anyone say that, and actually many on here agree that this is a good method and not bad for the bike at all. Not saying you're wrong, just confused if you are infact right. Any other opinions on this???

Well all my riding buddies are telling me this and I have even called yamaha dealer and asked them the same thing. And I also have 3 of my friends who are motorcycle mechanics and they said the same. It’s not good to do without using a clutch. Don't get me wrong, many people do it, but I just tend not to. Do a little research about this and you will see. And plus I just love my FZ6 to much that I will not attempt to do anything harmful to her..:thumbup:

 

[FATHERHIGH]

I found mine to be very temperamental with the original factory yamalube in the crank case, at first 500 I dumped the yamalube and went to castrol 10w/30 motorcycle oil has been much better since. (used the 10w/30 due to winter setting in and cooler temps, during summer I run same oil in a 20w/50.)

 

[mstewar1]

Hey Joe,
Welcome and congrats on buying a great bike.

If it's just that it's a bit stiff or difficult to shift, it may be just a new gearbox and will likely smooth out with some time/miles.

As someone has suggested, take a look at the position of your shift lever. If it's too high it could be contributing to your woes.

And as someone else has suggested, you might do an oil change and put some synthetic oil in there -- Rotella T is what I'm using and it has made a significant improvement in the shifting of my bike, it's much smoother and easier.

As regards the no clutch shifting sub-thread that's going on: when I picked my bike up at the dealership, the dealership had a policy of having one of the mechanics come out and do a walk-around and discuss things like break-in procedure. This guy was their lead tech and was real blunt about the topic. He said once I'd gotten past the break-in period that I could shift without the clutch all I wanted and the bike wouldn't mind. Sometimes I do, most of the time I don't. I'll typically do it if I've got to do a rapid acceleration while getting on the freeway or if I'm just expressing my inner-hooligan. The bike doesn't protest at all. I'm no [fill in name of famous/favorite racer] but I have some experience with shifting without a clutch and don't really see it as a big deal. As always, YMMV...just enjoy the ride.

 

[SANGER_A2]

WOOOT....:spank: this is not good for your engine man. Clutcless shifting is not good at all. And even if you are that good, its never good to do this no matter how smooth you are. Always use a clutch for shift gears up or down.

+1 to this. Rebuilding a transmission is expensive. The clutch is there for a reason - to stop those cogs wearing each other away when changing gears!!!

 

[smidge]

to the OP, make sure you've totally released the shifter back to its normal spot from the shift BEFORE, if its still slightly engaged it won't shift smoothly, or at all...

i had that problem before i adjusted my shift lever down a little as i had to basically lift my foot right off it was so high

 

[Gilo-FZ6]

this is a quote from the advice page of mcn (motorcycle news) in the uk ..a very well respected mag/paper

food for thought

Clutch-less upshifts
You’ll hear about this from more advanced riders and it’s a technique often employed by racers. But clutchless upshifts are something that you should ignore if you've never ridden a geared bike before as it is something to learn once you have mastered using the clutch. The theory is that when you are approaching the point where you want to change up put a little pressure on the gear lever. When you're ready to change up release the throttle slightly and the bike will go in to gear. "Again don't fully close the throttle, only close it slightly - just a little flick of the wrist works fine," says Glyn, "Changing up the gears without using the clutch is a lot easier on the clutch and gearbox, but it takes time to perfect it. It's not something that should be attempted until you are comfortable changing gears with the clutch."

 

[Cuba]

Hmmm very interesting, some say it'll blow up, some say it puts less wear and is better. I did research this last year, on this forum infact, and the general concensus was that it is totally safe if not better for the bike and is encouraged during rapid acceleration. I just like it, it's smoother and faster. I've even mastered the clutchless 1-2 shift which is clunky at first because you have to cross nuetral. To each his own I guess, I'll let you know if it blows up.

 

[SovietRobot]

The shift forks would wear down before the gears would, especially if you don't use the clutch.

On the topic of clutchless shifting, just don't do it all full throttle.