[PhaserM]

Hello everyone

New rider here. I just purchased my 2015 matte grey fz09 in december a little more than a month ago.

Been gleefully happy with the handling, etc, however....

Ever since before the 600 mile break-in service, I have had an occasional, and alarming, problem.

When changing from high gears to low gears sequentially, such as when cruising and then approaching a red light, the shift lever can get itself stuck, like if it got stuck on the neutral position somehow. On the instrument cluster where it displays your gear, 1, --, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, it will be completely blank!

The problem occurs when holding the clutch in and shifting down through several gears. It has happened roughly once every time I ride, and the last time it happened was alarming due to impatient motorists around me.

At the 600 mile service I asked the tech to lube up the gear shifter, which he said he did and that it would be fine, but it has not been.

Ive tried to fix it on-the-fly by pulling the lever up, (thinking it somehow got tripped up and stuck on the half-way, neutral position) and then trying to go back down. This has had limited, infrequent success.

I thought it would work itself out over time as the parts breaks in, now the bike has over 1,000 miles and this is still occurring.

Any help or wisdom would be greatly, greatly appreciated.

 

[pattonme]

ignore the fscking computer display. the tranny is mechanical. or are you saying you're not getting clunks when you activate the lever?

 

[broncsrule21]

Generally give yourself enough time to shift down one gear at a time. Sounds like you might be pulling in the clutch, hitting your shift lever a bunch of times, and relying on the display to tell you where you are at. Maybe I read it wrong, but that is not a good habit to get into.

 

[lucas2696]

This has happened to me a couple times when downshifting quickly. Only really happens if I'm going too fast for the gear I'm trying to put it in. So I've made a habit of only downshifting once I reach a reasonable speed for that gear. Hasn't happened since. My best guess is user error.

 

[DNFDOUG]

Match the downshift to the speeds that you are reducing. In other words, don't do all of your downshifts at the same time. You may want to contact your local MSF school and ask an instructor if they could help you with timing your downshifts. I am assuming that you have already taken the course.

 

[cosmoKenney]

It's happened to me. Especially in hot weather. If it happens again and you have impatient people behind you. Just feather the clutch out a little and it'll pop into a gear. Then you can get her into first from there.

 

[triplethreat]

As Broncosrule and DNFDoug stated.....you need to downshift one gear, let the clutch out, downshift another gear, let the clutch out, etc, etc. Downshifting through several gears and expecting good results will probably leave you disappointed and having issues like you are experiencing. Try this and let us know how it works out.

 

[Fizzerpilot]

^^^^ this.

Never had the problem. But I downshift and speed match.

 

[bobby walnuts]

When changing from high gears to low gears sequentially, such as when cruising and then approaching a red light, the shift lever can get itself stuck, like if it got stuck on the neutral position somehow. On the instrument cluster where it displays your gear, 1, --, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, it will be completely blank!

when it's blank, the shift drum is stuck between gears - a false neutral.

while there's nothing technically wrong with pulling in the clutch and doing multiple shifts in one clutch pull, you're probably trying to click down through the gears too quickly. due to the way the shift shaft actuates the shift drum, it does take some time for everything to 'settle' after a shift. if you try to bang through gears as fast as possible, you'll get stuck. this isn't a gsx-r.

so slow down your shift rate a bit - try giving it a half second to a second between shifts.

also make sure your shift pedal is adjusted to give a positive engagement.

some people might advise you learn to downshift as you're slowing down so you don't get caught in too high of a gear for your speed - i would agree.

 

[motorock]

Good advice here. Downshifting multiple gears at once works for me but I am speed matched and shift while slowing down. as bobby walnuts mentions....
However, on the FZ, the gear seems to come to position itself once I release the clutch even if I haven't shifted it all the way through and the number on the dash is blank.
This shift is not the smoothest that I have ridden, but its not the worst either. Hondas and the newer, larger KTMs seem to have them pretty smooth- maybe you are used to those shifters?

 

[Desert Rat]

I had that happen on more than one model bike with the ratchet mechanism hanging up, but I discovered, long ago, that it only happened if I tried to downshift more than one gear at a time. Since then I always release the clutch in each gear before downshifting again. Problem solved.

 

[R1-Dave]

Like others said, one gear at a time ! Give a blip of throttle on downshift as well to match engine speed with the transmission. Rev matching as the car guys call it. You should be able to brake hard from top speed and bang downsifts one at a time all in one motion. Be positive on the shifter but not abusive. I haven't got a false neutral on anything other than a Ducati in years.

 

[Tigershark]

Could also relate to your clutch lever adjustment. On many occasions, I've pulled in the clutch and quickly downshifted from a higher gear down to second without releasing the lever. Never had your problem, but I felt each gear change as a very faint decel pull with each lower gear. If I went all the way down to first or any other gear at too high of a speed for hat gear, I could feel it and would correct by upshifting before I let the clutch out. If you can't feel this slight increase in drag with each downshift, You may want to adjust your clutch lever for less engagement when pulled all the way in. I am by no means an expert on this. Just my opinion. I've never had a hiccup with my display.

 

[Mothy]

I've had several bikes that did not like to multi-shift... i think it has to do with the way the gears engage, almost as if they get forced (nudged) into the proper position under a small amount of load. When taking several gears quickly there isn't enough time for them to position correctly... once you go past a couple they get far enough out of sync that all you find is a false neutral. Like was said above, a small amount of clutch fixed it every time, sometimes needing the rear wheel to be turned at the same time for everything to fall into place.

 

[Rapido1]

downshift one gear at a time and you won't have the problem.

 

[LSK]

Are you attempting to shift down from 4-5-6th from a dead stop?


I forgot to downshift at a light once and i realized it does NOT like shiffting down quick at idle with the clutch pulled in. a lady on a cruise we went on did the same with her Vstar 650.

 

[cosmoKenney]

This shift is not the smoothest that I have ridden, but its not the worst either.

This (my) reply is a little off topic, but I've come to prefer a slightly less than smooth (crunchy) gear change. My 4T husky, for instance, is so smooth you have no idea if you actually changed gears. I often end up second guessing myself and hitting it more than once. Which puts me in the wrong gear.

 

[motomania]

First point: motorcycle transmissions are NOT synchronized and thus they do not like shifting when stopped. They shift much more easily and consistently while still rolling.

Second, when coming to a stop I usually pull in the clutch and downshift through many gears and have no problem with any of my bikes whether BMWs, former FZ1, FZ09, FZR400, 2 stroke and 4 stroke dirtbikes and many many others.

However, what I find usually causes most shifting problems, especially for a new rider or a new bike to an experienced rider is poorly adjusted controls:

1) The handlebar needs to be adjusted to your comfort. Sometimes this means rotating the handlebar forward or back. Sometimes this means moving your hands in or out on the handgrips. Sometimes this means narrowing the handlebars by trimming an inch or two off each end and moving the grips and switches nearer to the center. Sometimes this means changing the handlebar bend to a different handlebar bend.

2) The clutch lever needs to be adjusted around the handlebar and the angle/distance away from the handlebar to fit you so the lever falls into the second segment of your fingers. When you pull the clutch in, while sitting on the bike, your wrist should be pretty straight so that the back of your hand is mostly lined up with your forearm. This gives you the most control of the clutch. Often this requires an adjustable lever that has an adjustable pivot, unlike the stock clutch lever..

3) The shift lever needs to be adjusted so it fits your foot/boot and amount of ankle rotation you are comfortable with while sitting on the bike. Usually this is a small adjustment of the shifter push/pull rod length. I have seen where a shifter needed to be lengthened for a guy with really big feet. I knew and older FJR rider that had issues with his knees and we needed to extend the "toe" on the shifter lever so it stuck out far enough that he could catch it comfortably with the toe of his boot.

Most of the time I find one or more of the above controls are far from optimum for the rider and that causes missed, rough or inconsistent shifting.

Getting everything adjusted properly results in smoother more consistent shifting and less of the issues you are describing.

Having everything fit you better is much more comfortable and give you a lot more control and you don't have to think about things like shifting so you can expend your conscions effort on riding and enjoying the ride.

 

[abe57]

That IS the first thing i do with a new bike is adjust the levers,adjust handle bar, rear brake peddle and shift lever to my settings. I find that the shift lever is always way to high for me from the factory !! Very easy to make all these adjustments ..

 

[DNFDOUG]

It would be kind of nice if he would respond to some of the pertinent questions posed here by several members to get a better handle on exactly what is going on in order to better help with the issue.