stuck in gear

I have 300 miles on my 2008 and every once and a while while shifting from 2nd to 3rd or 3rd to 4th the tranny locks up ie will not shift up! I then have to shift down a gear and retry, very frustrating when 75 cars are behind you. I mean there is nothing when shifting up...just air...my friend has a '07 and said he has also experienced this. Any thoughts or threads as to what is going on? Never had this type of problem with my other bikes.

Ankhman

Several different responses are possible:

1) I have had something similar happen to me when I am in too high a gear for the speed I am going. I don't know what kind of bikes you are used to riding, but driving around in city traffic at 2000rpm is not the way to go, keep the bike in a lower gear and keep the revs up. IMO think of 3000rpm as a minimum, 4000k as getting closer to the sweat spot.

2) Others have noted that the tranny on the Feej loosens with time. Although this was not my personal experience, many feel that the tranny is broken in at 5k miles.

3) It has also been noted that the feejer clutch plates need time to "wear" in. One cure for this has been to remove the clutch pack and soak the individual disks in oil. Now you are saying "aren't the clutch disks bathed in oil?". Well it seems that oil bath is not soaking in, this process has resulted in dramatic improvements in shifting for several riders. As new as your bike is this could be handled by a dealer.

ankhman said:

I have 300 miles on my 2008 and every once and a while while shifting from 2nd to 3rd or 3rd to 4th the tranny locks up ie will not shift up! I then have to shift down a gear and retry, very frustrating when 75 cars are behind you.

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V65 made an interesting point about shifting at certain RPMs. My "normal" shift point when in traffic is 4K-5K RPMs, and there aren't that many cars behind me. In stop-and-go traffic I don't usually shit up and "burbble" along, but leave it in the gear that keeps the RPMs @ 3K.

I mean there is nothing when shifting up...just air...my friend has a '07 and said he has also experienced this. Any thoughts or threads as to what is going on? Never had this type of problem with my other bikes.
Ankhman

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I think I'd report it to the dealer because you shouldn't have "air", that would mean the shift dogs are not moving the drum to the next location. At least it would be in the Yamaha computer for future reference in case of warranty repair.
Seriously, the FJR isn't a cruiser, meant to ride along @ 1500 RPMs. Keep the engine above 3,000.

ankhman said:

I have 300 miles on my 2008 and every once and a while while shifting from 2nd to 3rd or 3rd to 4th the tranny locks up ie will not shift up! I then have to shift down a gear and retry, very frustrating when 75 cars are behind you. I mean there is nothing when shifting up...just air...my friend has a '07 and said he has also experienced this. Any thoughts or threads as to what is going on? Never had this type of problem with my other bikes.
Ankhman

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From your post it seems you're no novice to motorcycles so please take this as such.

Early on with my 06, I noticed something similar between 2nd and 3rd. I'd shift and get nothing (as you stated, air). I found that I wasn't allowing the shifter to return fully after the 1-2 shift and began pointing my toe down further after the shift. This seemed to help but was unnatural to me, so I adjusted the shifter to fit my boot (imagine that). With time, this also seem to lessen the tendency for this occurance. Don't know if this is what you're experiencing but I never down shifted, just let my boot drop till it was clear of the arm. Time and the rod adjustment helped me.

Good Luck.

Capt. Bob said:

ankhman said:

I have 300 miles on my 2008 and every once and a while while shifting from 2nd to 3rd or 3rd to 4th the tranny locks up ie will not shift up! I then have to shift down a gear and retry, very frustrating when 75 cars are behind you. I mean there is nothing when shifting up...just air...my friend has a '07 and said he has also experienced this. Any thoughts or threads as to what is going on? Never had this type of problem with my other bikes.
Ankhman

Click to expand...

From your post it seems you're no novice to motorcycles so please take this as such.

Early on with my 06, I noticed something similar between 2nd and 3rd. I'd shift and get nothing (as you stated, air). I found that I wasn't allowing the shifter to return fully after the 1-2 shift and began pointing my toe down further after the shift. This seemed to help but was unnatural to me, so I adjusted the shifter to fit my boot (imagine that). With time, this also seem to lessen the tendency for this occurance. Don't know if this is what you're experiencing but I never down shifted, just let my boot drop till it was clear of the arm. Time and the rod adjustment helped me.

Good Luck.

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+1 CB!

I've had similar issues when I purchased new boots. Adjusting my shifter made it too high for me so I had to live with making sure I let the shifter return to it's home position before going for the next gear. Just a little retraining in riding style.

Good luck.

FJRBluesman said:

Capt. Bob said:

ankhman said:

I have 300 miles on my 2008 and every once and a while while shifting from 2nd to 3rd or 3rd to 4th the tranny locks up ie will not shift up! I then have to shift down a gear and retry, very frustrating when 75 cars are behind you. I mean there is nothing when shifting up...just air...my friend has a '07 and said he has also experienced this. Any thoughts or threads as to what is going on? Never had this type of problem with my other bikes.
Ankhman

Click to expand...

From your post it seems you're no novice to motorcycles so please take this as such.

Early on with my 06, I noticed something similar between 2nd and 3rd. I'd shift and get nothing (as you stated, air). I found that I wasn't allowing the shifter to return fully after the 1-2 shift and began pointing my toe down further after the shift. This seemed to help but was unnatural to me, so I adjusted the shifter to fit my boot (imagine that). With time, this also seem to lessen the tendency for this occurance. Don't know if this is what you're experiencing but I never down shifted, just let my boot drop till it was clear of the arm. Time and the rod adjustment helped me.

Good Luck.

Click to expand...

+1 CB!

I've had similar issues when I purchased new boots. Adjusting my shifter made it too high for me so I had to live with making sure I let the shifter return to it's home position before going for the next gear. Just a little retraining in riding style.

Good luck.

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this may be the problem recently purchased new boots to fit the fjr better...that being said now I need to adjust my riding style to the FJR, will try and pay attention to allowing the shifter return...Thanks for everyones help!

Capt Bob's right on with that diagnosis. Been there, done that. Not letting the shifter return all the way down to it's neutral resting point will cause the issue. I sometimes ride with my "Harley" boots instead of my normal Tourmaster riding boots and will miss a shift due to the thickness of the boot. Good luck and let us know how it works out.

ankhman said:

I have 300 miles on my 2008 and every once and a while while shifting from 2nd to 3rd or 3rd to 4th the tranny locks up ie will not shift up! I then have to shift down a gear and retry, very frustrating when 75 cars are behind you. I mean there is nothing when shifting up...just air...my friend has a '07 and said he has also experienced this. Any thoughts or threads as to what is going on? Never had this type of problem with my other bikes.
Ankhman

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Capt. Bob, How did you adjust the shifter to a new position?

I have the same problem but it's when I am trying to run hard. I can't seem to get my size 13 out of the way fast enought!

It is kind of a negtive thing for me I don't want to blow the the motor or trany so I'm a little scared to really get it on.

I have had the bike for seven months now and have 3,700 miles on it (dam rain) I'm hoping these guys are right and the trany loosens up a little more. It is the only thing about the bike that so far I don't like. This summer will tell a lot more, I'll be getting a lot more miles on it. Will even be doing NAFO in Golden Co. and will also be trying new things as I go along. Good luck.

Panman, we can switch next time we ride. Got 18000+ and everything is really just now breaking in.

ankhman said:

ankhman said:

I have 300 miles on my 2008 and every once and a while while shifting from 2nd to 3rd or 3rd to 4th the tranny locks up ie will not shift up! I then have to shift down a gear and retry, very frustrating when 75 cars are behind you. I mean there is nothing when shifting up...just air...my friend has a '07 and said he has also experienced this. Any thoughts or threads as to what is going on? Never had this type of problem with my other bikes.
Ankhman

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Capt. Bob, How did you adjust the shifter to a new position?

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A-Man,

Sorry about taking so long to get back to you but North Fla. is under a "ride alert". Morning temps start in the 60's and hit 72 around noon. Clear skies and light traffic until 1:00pm. Been riding. :yahoo:

Anyway,

If you have a service manual check section 3-32. If not, look above the shift arm and you will see the diagonal "shift rod"(move the toe shifter up and down and you'll see it move).

First, look at the cover that the shift pedal arm disappears behind. You will notice two marks on the panel. Looking at the pedal shift arm, you should see a third mark on the arm. Yamaha states that the arm mark must fall between the two marks on the panel. Mine was originally just below the bottom panel mark.

To move the pedal higher (allowing for a bigger boot) you need to loosen the two lock nuts on the shift lever and rotate it "counter (or anti) clockwise". You will notice the petal mark rise in relation to the two marks on the panel. You don't have a lot of adjustment but it certainly was enough for me.

As you get more seat time, you will find that shifting becomes easier as you adjust to the bike.

Enjoy!

Dude one other thing you might check is the range of motion of the shift lever and components. If it is placed in the wrong position, it can hit the engine on the upshift and not allow a complete engagement.

ankhman said:

I have 300 miles on my 2008 and every once and a while while shifting from 2nd to 3rd or 3rd to 4th the tranny locks up ie will not shift up! I then have to shift down a gear and retry, very frustrating when 75 cars are behind you. I mean there is nothing when shifting up...just air...my friend has a '07 and said he has also experienced this. Any thoughts or threads as to what is going on? Never had this type of problem with my other bikes.
Ankhman

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Ankhman,

I just purchased my new 2008 FJR1300A back in January, and I experienced the same thing you've mentioned. It seemed to me at the time that I didn't have enough speed or revolutions to affect a gear change from 2nd to 3rd. At other times it seemed that I had to much speed or revolutions to change the gear from 2nd to 3rd. Whatever it is, I don't experience it as much as I did before since adding 400 miles or so to the odometer. In regards to me, I think it was just an error by the operator.