Sloppy shifting

[alanmcorcoran]

On a recent lengthy ride, I discovered a new way to eff myself up while riding. I have some softish racing boots an accessory guy recommended, and when I am upshifting from second to third or third to fourth, sometimes the bike does not... "go into gear?" The squishy tops of the boots take away some of the shifting feel and the shift lever sinks into them a bit.

I didn't actually know this was possible, because it never happened before, but the effect is identical to when you accidentally end up in neutral when going from first to second. The bike revs up real high, there's no power and, if you then react and pop it into gear, you get a nice lurch to go with it.

Is this just my bad shifting technique, or is my transmission loose? I owe the bike a 600 mile service (I'm at 1350), not sure if these things need to be tightened up.

[Moedad]

I guess something could be loose. I have on occasion made a "soft shift" between 1st and 2nd and had it stick in neutral, so I'm inclined to think it's the boots. I even managed to do it in upper gears once, which surprised me. I didn't think it would go into neutral in upper gears. Maybe it wasn't "neutral" proper, just "in between."

[Sarris]

Sometimes that can happen when the shift lever needs to be adjusted closer to your toe to allow you to shift with a more comfortable "throw"..

Might help. :biggrin:

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by alanmcorcoran

Is this just my bad shifting technique,

Yes. :skull:

It is a "false neutral" and it is NOT supposed to do that......ever.

Stop being such a wuss and shift like you MEAN it.
Have you tried "preloading" the shift; that is, putting some upward pressure on the lever BEFORE you shift ?? That is a very effective technique BUT it only works well when you are under steady power right up to the shift; that is, preloading doesn't go good with "granny" riding.

You are more likely to hurt the transmission by being too gentle that with being too firm.

[alanmcorcoran]

I've pre loaded and I've shofted completely without the aid of the clutch - but neither on purpose. I'm not trying to be cutesie with the thing. It's mostlythe shoes. Before I got these fancy velcro jobs I had a pair of steel toed L'il Abners (well actually they said CAT on them) that shifted quite authoritatively. But ittook ten minutes to get them on and off and they weighed a pound or two each. These are a lot more comfy and easy on/off, but squishy on the upshift.

If I jam the arch of my foot uner the lever, it's more predictable of the shift. I just never had it go into "false neutral" before yesterday.

[patrick_777]

What Easy said. The false neutral is because the teeth in the tranny don't lock in correcly during the shift and will either slip out :blush: or just not go in at all. Either way, you aren't sending throttle power to the wheels where it needs to go.

Try the preloading technique. It's what I use almost exclusively now on both bikes.

[alanmcorcoran]

I'm not sure how to do the preloading without actually shifting. I have discovered I can shift the gears without using the clutch. I didn't set out to discover this, but in one of my many shifting panics, I believe I dropped it into fourth, having completely forgotten the clutch part. I think I did back off on the throttle. For now, I am going to try and go back to focusing on nice, crisp, smooth shifts - like I did before I got all confident (and sloppy.) Once I get those habits re-established, I'll try playing around with the "pre-load."

I don't know the exact count, but I wouldn't be surprised if I went up and down through the gears 100 times in 225 miles of riding this weekend. Maybe more. Out of those 100 I probably had minor eff-ups on 10. Had about three "false neutrals." (Also had about 3 "regular neutrals" which is an entirely different type of eff-up.)

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by alanmcorcoran

I'm not sure how to do the preloading without actually shifting. I have discovered I can shift the gears without using the clutch.

I figured some more explanation would be in order. :cool:

If the bike is pulling, under power (as opposed to cruising, just maintaining speed), the tranny is pretty much locked in gear....as long as sufficient power is applied. You can put a fair amount of pressure on the lever without shifting or hurting anything, if you don't hold it like that for long.

So, we are pulling....accelerating or going uphill or into the wind.....and it is about time to shift. First you put some pressure on the shift lever, then you drop the throttle and pull in the clutch. If you put enough pressure on the shifter, it will just "fall" into the next gear when the time is right. This will happen even if you ONLY drop the throttle and don't do the clutch......if there was enough pressure. That is not recommended; at least not until you get to 3rd or above.

I have been able to shift like that without the clutch in the higher gears in all the Honda's and the one Kaw I have owned but for some reason, can't seem to get it right with the GZ; WAY too much clunk! No big deal but I do find it a little strange.

So, to recap: You should ONLY preload the shifter when the engine is PULLING toward the next shift. If you are just kind of wussing around in the present gear......don't do it. You won't like the resulting clunk and jerk.

Next week's lesson will be shifting without EITHER the clutch OR the throttle......just WFO!!! :whistle: :biggrin: