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Transmission problem???

  1. #1
    Dictionary quoting knob stoinkythepig's Avatar
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    Transmission problem???

    I have a 2001 ZX9R with roughly 28000 miles. Last week it suddenly began shifting poorly. It required much more force than normal to change gears, was reluctant to go to first from second, the neutral finder wouldn't work, and it generally felt as though it was way overdue for an oil change. I parked it ASAP and finally got around to changing the oil last night. This morning it required noticeably less effort to change gears but was still reluctant to go into first from second and neutral was rather tough to find. After 25 miles or so, it went into a false neutral several times, something it's never done before, and at one time made some horrible crashing/crunching/"steel-bucket-full-of-rocks" noises when I up-shifted from a false neutral. After that, it began working normally and continued to do so for the remainder of my (rather stressful) commute. Any clue what may have happened? I'm a bit freaked out.

    Some history:

    While under warranty, I followed the oil change and oil grade recommendations in the owner's manual religiously. After the warranty was up I used nothing but Mobil 1 15W 50 and changed it every 4000-6000 miles, as I've done with my other bikes. I have never abused the bike, ridden wheelies, run low on oil, drag raced, shifted without the clutch or done anything stupid to it. About 1000 miles ago I replaced the chain and sprockets and I did use an impact wrench to remove the front sprocket nut but it came off effortlessly. I used a very expensive and supposedly accurate torque wrench to put the nut back on. I also low-sided in the rain last year (5000 trouble free miles ago) and it slid on it's left side for over 100 feet but did no obvious damage to the shifter and only required cosmetic repairs. This morning I carefully looked at the shifter linkage and everything is in order. The clutch is disengaging completely when pulled in, and engages smoothly when let out. I needed to start off in 2nd gear several times this morning and it worked great so I don't think it's clutch related.

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  2. #2
    Just Registered TLRMan's Avatar
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    Transmission problem???

    check your chain tension first....can cause the gearbox to act up.
    Either that you got buggered up shifter forks, or the shifter drum isn't indexing properly....It's not popping out of gear is it?

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  3. #3
    Hey did you see that cop RevHappy's Avatar
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    Transmission problem???

    Sounds like a shift fork to me, my R6 did the same thing back in the day....

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  4. #4
    Dictionary quoting knob stoinkythepig's Avatar
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    Transmission problem???

    Update:

    Went out at lunch and moved the shift lever around while the bike was parked. It was quite stiff and a quick test spin revealed that the problem was back. Took the peg/shift lever assembly off and apart and discovered the grease in the lever pivot point was totally dried up and useless. I cleaned it all up and lubed it with 3-in-1 oil. One more test ride revelaed the problem to be fixed. Never would have guessed that was the problem. Hopefully it's "really" fixed.

    Boss found my desktop shift lever repairs amusing...

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  5. #5
    Lifer
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    Transmission problem???

    Doh.

    Yah I had that happen on my SV. Gunk city. Clean the gunk up and the thing would start shifting a lot better.

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  6. #6
    Dictionary quoting knob stoinkythepig's Avatar
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    Transmission problem???

    Forgot to say thanks for the replies. I was pretty freaked out since I could not imagine how I could possibly bugger up a shift fork or any other complicated sounding bit like a "shift drum indexer".

    There was plenty of grease on the parts, and they actually put grease seals in there too. The grease must have been total crap to dry up like it did. Owner's manual does not include the shift lever in the scheduled maintenance nor is it shown in the general lubrication section so I feel better about not having lubed it in the past.

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  7. #7
    Ense petit placidam sandman's Avatar
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    Transmission problem???

    imho: 4000-6000 miles is way tooooo long between oil changes. i usually change mine at 1500 and change the filter at every other oil change. oil is cheap.

    btw: i used to have a 00 zx9 and still have some acc for it if your interested.

    as i recall i have the factory manual a corbin seat and a few other misl things.

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    jim

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  8. #8
    Dictionary quoting knob stoinkythepig's Avatar
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    Transmission problem???

    Originally posted by sandman
    imho: 4000-6000 miles is way tooooo long between oil changes. i usually change mine at 1500 and change the filter at every other oil change. oil is cheap.

    Funny, I'm all bummed because I feel like I cheated myself out of an extra 2000 miles of oil usage because I changed it early thinking it would help the problem...

    I used to think that short oil change intervals were a good idea and then came to the conclusion that it was a waste of money and natural resources if you use good oil. The nice thing about a bike is that you can actually feel when the oil needs to be changed, in the shift lever. The shear stresses in the transmission break the oil down faster than any other stresses in the engine. When the oil looses shear strength the shifting becomes noticably notchy. Mobil 1 supposedly has the best resistance to shear break down of any readily available oil. It shifts great until 4000-6000 miles. Some motorcycle specific oils I have tried shift like crap after 1000 miles or less so I can see why they should be changed more often.

    My dad changed the (not synthetic) oil every 10,000 to 12,000 or so (only when the oil analysis lab told him to change it) on his 86 Corolla . Sold it with 340,000 miles on it and it was still running well, though a bit tired.

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  9. #9
    Lifer GMAN226's Avatar
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    Transmission problem???

    Originally posted by sandman
    imho: 4000-6000 miles is way tooooo long between oil changes. i usually change mine at 1500 and change the filter at every other oil change. oil is cheap.

    btw: i used to have a 00 zx9 and still have some acc for it if your interested.

    as i recall i have the factory manual a corbin seat and a few other misl things.
    Do you work for an oil company??? The synthetic oil will be fine for 5000 - 7500 miles easy.. The only time you need to change it sooner is if it takes you a year or 2 to do those miles.. The acids in the oil are not good for the internals.. This is what I have heard from some good mechanics..


    G-man

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    Gerard

  10. #10
    Dictionary quoting knob stoinkythepig's Avatar
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    Transmission problem???

    Originally posted by gsxr600ger
    Do you work for an oil company??? The synthetic oil will be fine for 5000 - 7500 miles easy.. The only time you need to change it sooner is if it takes you a year or 2 to do those miles.. The acids in the oil are not good for the internals.. This is what I have heard from some good mechanics..


    G-man
    I have a boat and acids in the oil are a concern in boat engines because of the harsh environment in which the engine resides. You want to do everything you can to reduce corrosion when you are dealing with an iron engine in a marine application. Studies have shown that all motor oils have more than adequate buffers to absorb the acids until long after the viscosity and shear strength is below tolerable levels. So I would not sweat the acid problem. Oil deals with it nicely.

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