Trouble Finding Neutral

[dentheman]

Originally Posted by Water Warrior

If you do go with a synthetic oil you might want to try Rotella synthetic. It is reasonably cheap and works quite well. Both of our bike have Rotella dino and the shifting is spot on with no hang ups. Rotella will resist breaking down in a Kenworth engine so a GZ will likely like it. Rotella is motorcycle certified in case you are wondering.

I just changed to synthetic 5W40 in my Shadow in an attempt to help shifting into first. Often when I have ridden for a while at highway speeds on warm days (so the engine/oil is HOT) she will not go into first. I will press the shifter down and the neutral light will come on, and when I take pressure off the shifter the neutral light goes off, and she has remained in second. This happens whether the bike is moving or at a standstill, rolling the bike does not help. The synthetic didn't help.

What DOES work is to slightly let the clutch out while pressing the shifter down; then she easily pops into first. Just my bike, I guess they all have their idiosyncrasies. Or maybe it was designed that way to reduce the chance of inadvertantly shifting into first and overspeeding the engine or losing traction when downshifting.

I know I have strayed from the OP, but I did want to give my experience using both dino and synthetic when it comes to shifting. There is no difference that I can tell for my bike.