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Hey, I have a '93 Honda 600 F2 and just in the past couple of days I've noticed that sometimes I'll go to shift down and while the shift lever will move the gear will not change. So sometimes I'll come to a red light and will be shifting down and then I won't be able to go from one gear to a lower one. I asked the guy at my local cycle shop and he said that it may be a transmission problem but it's probably that I'm just not matching my RPMs to road speed well enough. Also it may be in my head but i think that when I'm riding the bike is bucking a little bit. As in its kind of jumping and stuff like I'm going over alot of bumps but the road will look pretty smooth. So I was wondering if you guys had any ideas on what could be the problem. The only thing I could think of is that I know I really need to change the oil soon. Thankyou for your help.

cybermaxx12


PS I also noticed that the engine tempature wasnt getting very warm at all.

Are you moving while you're trying to shift? A lot of bikes get grumpy when you try to shift while standing still.

Does it make any noises at all? Or do you feel anything grinding? Are you stepping down hard enough? Or do you press it all the way down and have nothing happen?

Are you fully releasing pressure on the shifter between each shift?

No sometimes I'm not moving while I'm trying to shift, like I'll be going up to a light and I'll start slowing down and pull in the clutch lever and hold it and shift down from six to first normally without releasing the clutch. Sometimes I'll stop still in a higher gear and tap down at the light. When it doesnt shift it doesnt make any noises at all that I know of. I believe I'm pressing it down all of the way. Sometimes I even kick it with my heel and I dont get any thing.

oh well first you should know that a bikes transmission is different than a cars transmission, in a car, you can change all the gears when your stopped, on a bike, it doesnt do that so easily for some reason. One or two gears is pretty easy to change but six no way. Shift down to one before coming to a stop because you wont be able to change the gears, or else if you are at a stop, and you are trying to shift down, you will have to move the bike forwards and backwards to shift.

so.... shift gears down to one BEFORE coming to a stop.


hope this helped. give it a try.

Yeah, basically a bikes transmission doesn't like to shift while sitting still. Sometimes rolling forwards or backwards a little bit will let you complete a shift... but not always.

Generally speaking it is better to your way down through the gears one at a time fully releasing the clutch each time you make a shift. So that you end in first just before you stop.

cybermaxx12 wrote:[...]he said that it may be a transmission problem but it's probably that I'm just not matching my RPMs to road speed well enough. [...] I also noticed that the engine tempature wasnt getting very warm at all.

Matching engine speed to RPMs should not be an issue, as you should have sychnronized shifting - he must think you are on a 1930s Ford with 3 on the column! My '86 454 did not like to shift when stopped either. Gear down while rolling to a stop and (maybe this is what he meant) try matching the gear you downshift to with the speed you are travelling, so if you don't have to stop, you can keep going easily - if you should be in third, you are not in sixth or (worse) in first.

As for the temperature, if it is cold where you are, the air is likely cooling things down too much for the gauge to register. On my Ninja 500-R lately, the temp needle hardly moves, and I am having a real problem with the carbs freezing up - just one of the things to deal with when you don't have a cage around you . My Ninja 636 had a digital temp reading, and when I'd hit the highway (like a battering ram, as the song goes) I could see the temp drop 20 to 30 degrees in the fall, so who knows how much it is dropping when it is 35' out with less fairing?

--Dave

I've had several bikes that did not like to downshift at a stop. I found that easing the clutch out until it starts to drag, then pulling it back in would usually allow the downshift.