Dropping out of 1st into neutral.

john.pilot@hotmail.com said:

Guys,

What you are describing is a major, major problem with the R3. Ok mines an 08 purchase but made earlier, I got to 6000 klicks only and yep same symptoms, kicks out of 1st gear, then it kicks out of 2nd gear, all at the wrong time.

Nothing you have suggested will fix the problem, shuffling feet, doing banana skins transplants in the box instead of oil, hoping it will go away. IT WON"T

THE PROBLEM:

Triumph have a "KIT", you need to take your sick puppy back to where you got it and say hey guys, MY REAR OUTPUT SHAFT BEARING HAS FAILED. Yep this is the problem, the cage the bearing is in breaks up and puts metal in the oil, the same oil that feeds through your motor by the way. They say they have "the fix" but this is serious enough for me to say, thats it I'm going back to Banshee bashers.

Your repair bill will run to thousands unless you kick up a stink with the Triumph dealer, they are very sheepish (this is not a sheep joke) My home town is Adelaide South Australia. Triumph here know all about it, 1 in 3 are going but that figure is climbing daily.

Click to expand...

I have to commend you on bringing up a bit of historyYou must be the one running up the count on old post visits

I got the upgrade kit installed by the dealer - - which was supposed to include the rear output shaft bearing in addition to the gears, bushings, etc. It did not fix the problem. In fact, second gear failed to mesh within 1 week of them installing the upgrade kit.

Dealer says Triumph sent them the wrong 2nd gear. They tore it down again and put in the right gear. Problem still not fixed. Second gear would still pop out under power.

Dealer could not replicate the problem and I picked up the bike. On the drive home from the dealer, bike popped out of second and then second gear totally cratered. Back to the dealer.

They now say that it could be a circlip on the cluster gear installed backwards. One side is beveled and the other flat. If installed backwards, it will flex and/or pop out of the groove, allowing the gear to slide out of engagement under power.

Conclusions:
1. My bike has been the training motor for my dealer's incompetence.
2. The problem is more complex than what the upgrade kit is designed to remedy.
3. Triumph is trying to quietly band-aid the problem without issuing a formal recall.
4. My bike will never be the same and its resale value is permanently impaired.
5. If they had put a new 2008 motor in my bike in the first place like I requested, I would not have been deprived of 7 months of riding, $600 of unused motorcycle insurance, registration, and state inspection, plus the 250 miles of trips to/from the dealer - - And the dealer would have saved countless hours of unpaid labor and $6000 in parts to fix something that was poorly designed.

Triumph insists on trying to diagnose this problem and throw parts/labor at it. I say send the f*&#!%$ motor back to the factory, replace it with a new '08, and let me ride again!!