shifting problem

Finnally got her on the road. its a fast bike. My problem is it shifts up fine but will only shift down 1 to 4th then its like it bottoms out. shift 1 to 3 and back to 1 no problem. any Ideas?

 

Not completely sure what your saying, but when I gear up its 1-2-3-4-5-6 and down 6-5-4-3-2-1, jumping gears like that could cause some rough and jerky down shifting, and make it really hard to accelerate when gearing up and skipping so many gears.

The only other thing I can tell you it to make sure you have some good fresh oil and maybe add some additives (that won't affect the workings of the clutch)

If I misread your post please say so and try to clarify and I as well as others will do our best to keep you rolling

 

What kind of additives can you use that are safe?

 

It's a 650. There is no sixth gear. Gear pattern is 1,N,2,3,4,5

The mechanism won't let you go straight from 4 to 1 with one stroke of the pedal.

Please describe in more detail what is happening.

 

I heard that you have to make sure it will be ok with a 'wet' clutch so you don't start switching gears unintentionally. (slipping out of the gears)

Ok, I did not know that yours is 1 to 5, mines a 550 and it is 1 to 6, MiCarl would know, hes got a 650

 

I am running yamalube oil, 20-50. when I down shift 54321, it shifts down to 4th but woulnt shift to 3rd. but if you shift up to 3rd it shifts back to first fine. it feels like the shifter doesnot spring back up that 1/4 inch fron 4th to 3rd.

 

So how do you get it down? Are you lifting the shifter with your toe after shifting from 5-4? Kicking the crap out of it? Or do you need to coast to a stop to shift down from 4? Are you turning the engine off?

 

Don't beat on it.
If you do you are going to do damage that will take hours to repair.

Give us a more complete idea of what is happening and what you are doing.
I still don't understand what is going on after reading the Post three times.

I know you are having some problem shifting.
Give us a complete story of what is going on and what you are doing when it happens.

Just don't jump on the Gear Change Pedal.
If you bend things out-of-shape inside ... you'll wreck transmission components and need to pull the engine to fix the problem.

 

I learnt a long time ago on dirt bikes not to jam the shifter so I woulnt do that. micarl I do stop the bike and jiggle with my hand to get it in a lower gear. Rick, i'll try to explain better.
Riding the bike I of course start out in first gear. shift to second-up to 3rd to 4th and then to 5th. so everything going up in the shift pattern is fine. the comming to a stop sign I down shift to 4th gear and thats is ok. now to shift down to 3rd it woulnt downshift to 3rd. so a coupple stop signs I will do a rolling type stop but I have no take off power and a coupple stops I have to reach down and jiggle the shifter by hand to get it in 3rd. and then 2nd -n and 1st shift by foot with no problem. I continue down the road and the sequence repetes its self every time. like I told in earlier posts that the PO layed it down hard on both sides . but the shifter was not bent or road rashed. I was thinking of pulling the cover off behind the shifter to see if I can see anything or am I just going to waste my time doing that because I dont really know what I am looking for.

 

tebo,
What pert of Ohio are you in? The shifter is like a ratchet. It should return to the center position all by itself when you let off it and then be able to down shift again. Is it possible that you are still holding a slight bit of down pressure on the shifter so that it can't re-center itself?

Ed

 

Well ... It could be something really simple like a broken or stretched-out shift selector tension spring.

Get a Manual and look at the mechanism that rotates the Shift Drum.
There are "Grabber-Fingers" on a lever that are spring-loaded to grab a notch on the Drum.

If the Tension Spring is unhooked, broken or stretched-out ... the Bike has the symptoms that you have described.

If you haven't ever pulled that Cover and seen the Shift Select Assembly there are good reasons for having someone who has the experience to put a new spring on thehre do it for you.

The mechanism needs to fit together just so or the shifts are inaccurate and the drum won't rotate.
Two levers are spring-loaded and need to be held in place while you fit the whole shifter in the proper alignment.
The case has the electric lead to the Ignition Contacts running across it and they can be pinched real easily putting the Cover back on.

That you have 1,2,3,4,5, ... on the up shift is a real good indicator that that spring isn't engaging the lower arm for the 5,4,3,2, N, 1.

Lets hope there is somebody who know what to do nearby you and see if you can get some help.

In the mean time ... the spring is short money.
It wouldn't be a bad idea to just replace it hoping that's what your trouble is.

But, if you still have problemsm after everything is aligned and re-sprung ... there might be other problems more serious.

But, I don;t think so ...

 

after further study of my problem and with the help with you guys here it dont spring back down shifting any gear. I am going to see if I can get all the springs at my local shop and a gasket before I pull the side cover off.but it sounds like the down return spring. I got a parts diagram and I did that stuff before. after all I am a master certified technician ( but for r.v. repair). thanks guys.

 

Not familiar with the 650, but does it have a linkage arrangement for the gear lever? The 900 does - and if yours does as well, check to see if this is moving freely / lubed as this can cause problems as you've described.

 

Another thing to investigate:

Proper placement of the Shift Arm on the Shift Shaft!

If the Shift Arm isn't placed on the Shift Shaft right ... the Geometry of making a clean Shift gets all out of whack.

The Shift Arm needs to be close to Vertical so that the Shift Shaft moves within the complete travel of the Pedal Height Adjuster.

Too far to the rear and you miss shifts or bind the linkage.
Too far forward and the Pedal motion only partially moves the shaft the full throw.

Ideally, the Shift Arm should be at a 12 O'Clock configuration, so that the movement of the Pedal through its adjustable height turnbuckle ... will move the Shift Shaft forward or to the rear without being at a tangent with the connection point on the Shift Pedal.

 

the springs and a new gasket are ordered. rick, you talking the mesh of the gears on the shift shaft assemblyand the shift lever assembly?

 

No. The splined item that fits on the end of the Shift Shaft.
The Shift Pedal Linkage hooks to it.

It needs to be on there with the ability to move fwd and back when the Pedal is moved.
It should be at 12 O'Clock and the pinch bolt securing it on the splines Horizontal.

 

No linkage on the 650. Shift lever goes right on the shift shaft.

 

Took the cover off, carefully, did not see anything wrong. pulled the shift rod out and sure enough a bad spring. I replaced all three springs put her back together, cold and raining this week but put about 50 miles on her and she shifts down, and up great. It only took about 20 min. to repair.

 

Hey all.........I'm so glad to find this forum thread on this particular problem, because just a few days ago the same problem popped up on my XJ750 Seca. I was thinking the worst, of course, and making plans to pull the motor and split the case to get at the transmission!!!
Now........that I have found this bit of great information........I'm not gonna do that.
I hope to find the same thing wrong with my bike tebo and I hope to be able to someday help one of you all with an XJ question.

 

Good luck with it.
It don't take much to block the channels on the shift drum or sit between the gears.

I hope you have success in clearing out the foreign matter and geting your bike to shift OK>