Sometimes bike won't downshift

vonbonds

Supercharged
Joined
Mar 4, 2006
Messages
297
Location
Bel Air, MD
Hey all, I sometimes have a problem downshifting when I have been cruising at highway speeds for quite a while...such as commuting to work in the morning....such as THIS morning . It has happened to me a few times in the past. I know the oil is fine as there is only about 3K miles on it. I am not resting my foot on the shifter preventing it from recoiling after I depress it. It almost feels like the shifter is between gears but I am always in gear and it never falls out, it just feels spongy when I push down or pull up.

Any advice on how to correct this?

Thanks!

Tom
 
Just The Opposite

Hey VB...... I've had an intermittent situation of not being able to down shift....but it's only around town speeds ( say under 100 ) ! Just kidding. Usually I've been in 3rd and slowing down with traffic or coming up to a stop light. I push down and usually get 2nd but first comes up empty. Try again and still nothing. Then it's several quick "pound on the darn thing" but no response. I try bringing up the RPM's before going to first as that normally helps everything mess a lot easier. Hard to diagnose when it only happens occasionally.
 
Check your shifter linkage from your shift pedal to the shift arm on the side of the engine. I had a small nut work its way loose and it caused a lot of slop in the shift linkage which felt like you describe.

If all of that is tight try adjusting your clutch, it may be dragging. See the service manual...

If that isn't it... it may be that internal shift dog that has a locknut that comes loose. Bigern is an expert on that... you don't want this option :eek:
 
But look at it this way, if VB does experience the third possibility, we can all get excited again, as we did when bigern was back together. Now THAT would be something to look forward to during the long cold winter, right?

Not really, I hope the fix is simple for you vonbonds. I'm certain you've already done a few of the suggestions listed by Tomo. At least you can get on the road. It's the "getting off" that seems to have you stymied. Good luck.
 
Hey Tom, Sounds like a problem with that small hairpin detent spring or the selector wheel is either overtraveling or rotating slightly off key due to normal engine vibrations, which it shouldn't do. Do you have to shut the engine off to get the bike back to shifting? Like Toy said, check that external linkage for looseness and also make sure the lever comming out of the case has enough right angle to completely complete the shift action.
Bigern
 
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