Gearbox Blues... :(

[steelboss]

So if you have not hear it before, I live in China and my options for maintenance and repair are seriously limited. I bought my 2008-R3T in 2012 and sold 3 other bikes the same year including my Ninja. The R3T is my commuter...my only way to get to work. 3 Months ago my clutch cable snapped and I had to park my bike. Lucky for me I was on the way to Perth on business, so I was able to get a new cable. I returned from AU and the next week I thought I popped my throttle cable. I did some reading and realized it could be the grip connections, not the cable. I checked and sure enough, it was the grip. Funny thing... when I bought the clutch cable I also bought new grips Lucky, huh?
But then within the next two weeks, my bike started popping out of second gear..and this time it is not funny!. I cannot do anything in second gear..nothing! If I can coax it into 2nd gear...and then give it some gas..it throws the bike into neutral. This is also dangerous for me if I am trying to power out of traffic, switch lanes in traffic, of if I am leaning in a turn.
Ok, so if anyone can tell me how painful this will be? I think i need to replace the whole gearbox..or second gear. I have no clue. Please offer me comments!

Thanks!
Tony

 

[warp9.9]

Time to send Andy at North county Yamaha a e-mail andy@ncyyamaha.com and explain you problems. Give him the bikes VIN number and ask for a update kit. I say him because the guys in OZ get parts from him also and say its worth the money. You;ll have to take the frame off the engine and flop her over to open her up. It can be done in 16 hours but you have to bust your arse. I would say three days is a better time frame. You will be able to update the output drive also while your in there. There is more to the update kit then your problem so how far you want to go right now is up to you. You can ride the bike as is and just double shift by second gear if you want to wait for the weather to get bad.

 

[Gregger]

Is it possible that he only broke the detent spring which holds things in gear. From what I've read, a broken or weak detent seems to affect 2nd gear more than the other ones. I'd pull the clutch to check it and if it isn't broken, just continue on as Warp stated with the upgrade kit.

 

[Idaho Red Rocket 3]

FYI: Up-Date Kit is priced at $209 USD. Some of us have paid less.

 

[warp9.9]

If it was the detent spring he would be able to keep his foot down on the shifter and hold it in. My bet is second gear dogs are rounded off as he cannot keep it in at all. That's how mine was. First thing is to check the VIN number so we can tell if it was built after the update. My bet is no. its not a hard job just a little time consuming. I bet he has the older style cam chain guide (Black one) which if he does not want to mess with the cam timing right now I would not worry about it. with OEM valve springs he won't hurt anything by not changing it Provided the tensioner drop is not out of specification (this also can be measured and or checked with the gauge provided in the kit). The rest of the update can be done without losing valve timing as you don't have to release the tensioner to split the engine case.

 

[Scorp]

When my second gear issue started, it wouldn't jump into neutral, it would only briefly go out of second gear and back in but would give you a hell of a startle. Is it jumping out of second into neutral and staying in neutral or briefly, hopefully it's not the costly issue, my fingers are crossed for you.

 

[warp9.9]

Not costly if you do it yourself just the 200 bucks(plus shiping) oil, filter, and antifreeze. on yours Scorp the reason why its jumps out and back in is because the detent spring is holding the detent wheel in position which means the forks are still trying to keep it in gear. If it went totally out and stayed out I would be suspecting the detent spring.

 

[Mittzy]

So if you have not hear it before, I live in China and my options for maintenance and repair are seriously limited. I bought my 2008-R3T in 2012 and sold 3 other bikes the same year including my Ninja. The R3T is my commuter...my only way to get to work. 3 Months ago my clutch cable snapped and I had to park my bike. Lucky for me I was on the way to Perth on business, so I was able to get a new cable. I returned from AU and the next week I thought I popped my throttle cable. I did some reading and realized it could be the grip connections, not the cable. I checked and sure enough, it was the grip. Funny thing... when I bought the clutch cable I also bought new grips Lucky, huh?
But then within the next two weeks, my bike started popping out of second gear..and this time it is not funny!. I cannot do anything in second gear..nothing! If I can coax it into 2nd gear...and then give it some gas..it throws the bike into neutral. This is also dangerous for me if I am trying to power out of traffic, switch lanes in traffic, of if I am leaning in a turn.
Ok, so if anyone can tell me how painful this will be? I think i need to replace the whole gearbox..or second gear. I have no clue. Please offer me comments!

Thanks!
Tony

Well that sucks.... Sorry to hear this. Good luck

 

[peter k]

So if you have not hear it before, I live in China and my options for maintenance and repair are seriously limited. I bought my 2008-R3T in 2012 and sold 3 other bikes the same year including my Ninja. The R3T is my commuter...my only way to get to work. 3 Months ago my clutch cable snapped and I had to park my bike. Lucky for me I was on the way to Perth on business, so I was able to get a new cable. I returned from AU and the next week I thought I popped my throttle cable. I did some reading and realized it could be the grip connections, not the cable. I checked and sure enough, it was the grip. Funny thing... when I bought the clutch cable I also bought new grips Lucky, huh?
But then within the next two weeks, my bike started popping out of second gear..and this time it is not funny!. I cannot do anything in second gear..nothing! If I can coax it into 2nd gear...and then give it some gas..it throws the bike into neutral. This is also dangerous for me if I am trying to power out of traffic, switch lanes in traffic, of if I am leaning in a turn.
Ok, so if anyone can tell me how painful this will be? I think i need to replace the whole gearbox..or second gear. I have no clue. Please offer me comments!
Tony

Tony just a suggestion as i have had two detent springs replaced on my 2008 standard .When changing into second if you hold second gear firmly in place and accelerate gently up through the gears if it still jumps out while firmly holding it in second gear it wont be a detent spring .just something i would try before pulling it apart ..

 

[HansO]

Tony just a suggestion as i have had two detent springs replaced on my 2008 standard .When changing into second if you hold second gear firmly in place and accelerate gently up through the gears if it still jumps out while firmly holding it in second gear it wont be a detent spring .just something i would try before pulling it apart ..

I agree with Pete I have had to replace my Detent spring and is a much smaller job than pulling the whole motor down, also is your last six digits of your VIN higher than 337294 you already should have all the updated parts