Brand New 2008 with transmission issue

Hi all,

I am sorry to say that my first post is not a positive one. I just took my brand new 2008 on its maiden voyage last night. Clutch update was performed and this is not the issue.

When upshifting from 5th gear to 6th, it would sometimes get caught between gears. The motor would rev, and you could hear a slight grinding or clunking in the tranny. I would have to pull in the clutch and either go back down to 5th or up to 6th. This happened a total of 6 times in about 100 miles.

The tranny was basically in no man's land between 5th and 6th. This only happened when upshifting from 5th to 6th.

I was definitely being very careful to positively shift since it is a brand new bike. I was riding with 2 friends, so after it happened to me 4 times, I let one of my friends try it, and it happened to him twice within 10 minutes.

Is this a known issue with these bikes?

Thanks!

That sucks dude, sorry to hear, there are a couple of threads around on missed shifts do some searching. Not a know issue with the model!

when i first bought my bike i experienced the same issues with the transmisson only from 5th to 6th. once i changed out the oil to full synthetic it only happened once within 13k miles. and that was from softly shifting into 6th at a lower rpm. i think that will work itself out. ride it hard.

There is likely nothing wrong with it. These trannies are not designed to shift gears like the way a pontiac would do it, all soft and mushy. These trannies are designed to be flogged, they aren't street bikes (even though we ride them on the street) If you ride it harder and shift at higher rpms you will see it is buttery silky smooth. I don't recommend you do that though since you'll lose your license and likely end up wadding it up. Just try shifting a wee bit higher up in the rpms and see if it goes smoother and give it some time, it needs to break in. Keep the shifts nice and positive. Also if it were my bike I would change the oil now, 10W40.

There is likely nothing wrong with it. These trannies are not designed to shift gears like the way a pontiac would do it, all soft and mushy. These trannies are designed to be flogged, they aren't street bikes (even though we ride them on the street) If you ride it harder and shift at higher rpms you will see it is buttery silky smooth. I don't recommend you do that though since you'll lose your license and likely end up wadding it up. Just try shifting a wee bit higher up in the rpms and see if it goes smoother and give it some time, it needs to break in. Keep the shifts nice and positive. Also if it were my bike I would change the oil now, 10W40.

I dont know why but that just sounds so funny :)

had the same roblem on same bike.. ever since i got the clutch update ..its been non existent.. i was told to try rearsets for more positive shifting and/or a quick shifter... good luck with it...:th_salute:

i had it happen on my 09 a few times in 4,200 miles i think it just because i didnt hit it hard enough. I had it do it a few times on my 05 and 07. I do beat on it pretty hard and have no issues i think you just didnt click it hard enough.

I have had it happen once on my 08 about 2,000 miles ago... never have seen the issue again. Just ride through it and as it breaks in it will hopefully go away

Hi all,

I am sorry to say that my first post is not a positive one. I just took my brand new 2008 on its maiden voyage last night. Clutch update was performed and this is not the issue.

When upshifting from 5th gear to 6th, it would sometimes get caught between gears. The motor would rev, and you could hear a slight grinding or clunking in the tranny. I would have to pull in the clutch and either go back down to 5th or up to 6th. This happened a total of 6 times in about 100 miles.

The tranny was basically in no man's land between 5th and 6th. This only happened when upshifting from 5th to 6th.

I was definitely being very careful to positively shift since it is a brand new bike. I was riding with 2 friends, so after it happened to me 4 times, I let one of my friends try it, and it happened to him twice within 10 minutes.

Is this a known issue with these bikes?

Thanks!

you knwo what, my 04 does that sometimes, and ive found it only does it when im too gently with the shifter. bang that shit in dude.

Still experiencing the same issue shifting from 2nd to 3rd on my 08. Problem started after 600km on the clock.

The 5th-6th stutter happened a few times when my '08 was new. I since pay more attention and have adjusted the lever for more positive shift. Hasn't happened since in about 6000km.

Adjust your lever. If it isn't adjusted right you're only moving the shift drum half way yourself and hoping the rotational momentum of the transmission is going to carry the rest of the shift movement by itself. This works at high RPM but not so much under light load. Move the shifter so that your foot will complete more of the full shift motion. You can't really bang it into gear unless its adjusted right.

Dealership forgot to install tension ring stuck in back of basket!!!lol

I'm sorry....its just happened so many times at shop...its funny now!

Take it back!

Only between 5th and 6th and when the bike was new. Problem seems to have ironed itself out for the most part because it hasn't gone into no mans land in a while.

A couple of things...

It's still what I consider a bit clunky between those gears at times, the others are as smooth as butter (if you shift while accelerating). It hates shifting when your just poking along.

Second, I haven't had the problem since I got new boots. I know it sounds silly but my new Sidi's are much more firm than very soft and comfy BMW street sneaker boots I was wearing. I think the Sidi's enforce a more positive shift so if you're wearing street shoes it may be aggravating the issue.

Last, make sure you have all of the adjustments set right. My clutch lever had a hair too much slack from the dealer and until I got that sorted it was really pissy about shifting smooth. A couple of tweaks of the adjuster made a huge difference.

Like some here have pointed out, it's not really a street bike so you have to ride it with a bit of attitude to make it happy.

sorry to hear. The only thing that kinda worried me while shifting is sometimes when I upshift I can feel a strong click in the left handle bar. Doesn't happen all the time, its just random. I hope I don't have any tranny issues