Shifting Issue

[nycrider]

I currently have a bit over 200 miles on my strada and after about a 100 miles in, I've had some occasional shifting problems. When trying to go from N to 1st, 2nd gear seems to slip in from time to time (about 5% of the time.) Also, downshifting from 2nd to 1st at 20mph or so gives of a rattling noise, not all the time, but frequently enough to be noticed. From my limited understanding, even when going at high speeds and downshifting all the way to 1st gear with the clutch pulled in shouldn't be a problem, unless you let go of it at a too high of a speed for that specific gear.

Since it's pretty obvious, I'm going to admit that I'm a motorcycle newb and this is my first bike. Is it possible that I have already screwed my tranny?

 

[nev..]

One thing I notice between my two bikes, one with hydraulic clutch and the TR650 with cable clutch, is that on the hydraulic clutch, pretty much as soon as I start pulling the lever the clutch disengages, and by about the time I've got it only halfway back to the bar the clutch is fully disengaged. The opposite is true for the Terra. The first half of the distance or so, nothing happens, and then the clutch disengages much closer to the handlebar. When I'm two finger clutching, the lever can't come far back enough to completely disengage the clutch. Depending on how many fingers you're using to pull the clutch, the clutch adjustment and the clutch cable adjustment, you may or may not be fully disengaging the clutch, even when you have the clutch lever pulled as far as you can.

 

[chris1261]

Make sure your chain isn't too tight. My Strada's chain was strung like a violin when i picked it up. I had some trouble shifting too, until I loosened the chain. I also rotated the shift lever 1 spline counter-clockwise, and that made it much easier to hit neutral at a stop, as well as all but eliminating missed shifts.

--Chris

 

[Coffee]

I currently have a bit over 200 miles on my strada and after about a 100 miles in, I've had some occasional shifting problems. When trying to go from N to 1st, 2nd gear seems to slip in from time to time (about 5% of the time.) Also, downshifting from 2nd to 1st at 20mph or so gives of a rattling noise, not all the time, but frequently enough to be noticed. From my limited understanding, even when going at high speeds and downshifting all the way to 1st gear with the clutch pulled in shouldn't be a problem, unless you let go of it at a too high of a speed for that specific gear.

Since it's pretty obvious, I'm going to admit that I'm a motorcycle newb and this is my first bike. Is it possible that I have already screwed my tranny?

Just put some miles on it, the shifting will get better with use. And no I seriously doubt you have done anything bad to your transmission.

 

[skywalker951]

It will shift fine, sometimes It pops out of gear in 1st or 2nd and this is do me being lazy with the shift. I believe it requires a longer throw for N. I have about two thousand mile and love the way it works.

 

[Coffee]

Make sure your chain isn't too tight. ...

And this part. My buttery smooth shifting went away immediately while I was doing a 'load test' on the suspension, added a lot of weight on the bike to simulate bike gear and the chain was *really* tight, and it would almost not shift at all.

 

[nycrider]

Thanks for the input guys. The chain seems to have enough movement and I rode it today for a while and all the shifting went well. Maybe it's just takes some more experience and miles on it like someone else have mentioned. Panicked a bit too early

 

[mario33]

Well, mine is shifting OK, except... it stalled once. I geared down to 3rd as I rememeber correctly and couldnt change any gear for some time. Had to add lots of rpms for longish time and it went free but changed gears really hard with lots of power needed. After I stopped and let it cool down, it works as previously now.

 

[Greg Jetnikoff]

The answer may be much simpler. The shift lever may need to be rotated on the spline to a better spot. Both too far down and too far up will cause it. If you wear really thick boots ( at the arch) this can cause it as well as you tend to be pushing the lever forwards as well as upwards . I had this problem a lot on some road racing bikes and even had to cut and reweld then to get the optimum pedal to lever tip distance and height differential, though on a nonracing bike it may not be that critical.
Costs nothing and doesn't take long to try . I would rotate the lever tip downwards first so you don't have to lift as far and see if that helps.
Too low can do it as well as it doesn't allow the push lever to return to the rest state between palls but it is less common.
Your boot should fit comfortable between the pedal and the shift lever without extreme ankle gymnastics.
Also if you have taken the rubber off the footpegs it will lower you boot position relative to the lever tip and the tip could now be too high relative.

 

[Clete]

Make sure your chain isn't too tight. My Strada's chain was strung like a violin when i picked it up. I had some trouble shifting too, until I loosened the chain. I also rotated the shift lever 1 spline counter-clockwise, and that made it much easier to hit neutral at a stop, as well as all but eliminating missed shifts.

--Chris

Have had no issues shifting, neutral seems very easy to find, 1st to N a little easier than 2nd to N (I think that goes for most bikes).
It's that vibration/surging i notice when lugging it in 5th (anything under 50mph).
Guarantee my chain is too tight.

 

[Tazzierob]

I had similar shifting issues to the OP, then adjusted my clutch cable and everything was fine afterwards. The locking adjuster was loose and the clutch was not pulling in far enough

 

[DanD]

The answer may be much simpler. The shift lever may need to be rotated on the spline to a better spot. Both too far down and too far up will cause it. If you wear really thick boots ( at the arch) this can cause it as well as you tend to be pushing the lever forwards as well as upwards . I had this problem a lot on some road racing bikes and even had to cut and reweld then to get the optimum pedal to lever tip distance and height differential, though on a nonracing bike it may not be that critical.
Costs nothing and doesn't take long to try . I would rotate the lever tip downwards first so you don't have to lift as far and see if that helps.
Too low can do it as well as it doesn't allow the push lever to return to the rest state between palls but it is less common.
Your boot should fit comfortable between the pedal and the shift lever without extreme ankle gymnastics.
Also if you have taken the rubber off the footpegs it will lower you boot position relative to the lever tip and the tip could now be too high relative.

This was my fix too. One spline tooth down and no more missed first to second gear shifts. Easiest way to fix it is to loosen the pinch bolt, spread the split in the lever slightly with a flat head screwdriver, carefully pull the lever just to the end of the shaft so you can feel the next spline engage and rotate one spline in a downward arc with the lever then push the lever back on and tighten the pinch bolt. A drop of blue Loctite on the pinch bolt wouldn't hurt.