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luvda6R · 05-12-2005

Ok, I just got an '05 ZXR6 and I'm fairly new to biking, so this may be user error.... however a couple friends with more experience with bikes than I have taken a quick cruise on my bike and agreed that something seems wrong. I wanted to get some more opinions.

Here's what's happening:

First problem: When shifting up I commonly miss gears. I feel like I'm doing everything I can to shift smoothly. Roll off the throttle, pull in the clutch, use the foot with swift and moderate to heavy pressure to shift up, roll back on the throttle as I let out on the clutch. I feel like I'm being reasonably smooth, but it seems that when I hit up on the shifter sometimes it just refuses to go into the next gear. I'm wondering if this may be because I'm breaking in the engine so I'm at lower RPMs than is optimal (or where the bike "wants to be") for clean shifting. Maybe I'm being too light when pushing up on the shifter w/ my foot??

Second problem (and the more aggrevating): When coasting to a stop, say to a stop sign, I want to coast in with the throttle in and at the same time click down through the gears so I will be in 1st as I come to a stop. The key here is that I'm not downshifting through the gears, meaning I'm not letting out on the clutch for every gear as I go down....I'm just keeping the clutch in and trying to click down through the gears to get into first. I'm going at a fairly slow speed (maybe 15-20mph) so there is really no need to down-shift by letting out the clutch at every gear. So, when I do this, the bike will not go down to first. As I'm coasting to the stop I'm clicking down and finally get to a point where it won't click down any more...so at that point I feel as though I'm in 1st. However, when I finally start to go it turns out I wasn't in 1st, but instead in 2nd or 3rd. I've tried to vary the pressure that I use w/ my foot to shift down, from lightly tapping it to practically standing and jumping on it (without breaking or bending it). Even if I'm competely stopped often times pushing down on the shifter will not get it into 1st without some fiddling with the clutch, combined with rolling the bike back and forth...usually it will eventually go into 1st.

So, there's my long description.

Can anyone tell me what's going on? Does this seem right that I can't simply shift down into 1st? Or could the shifter need some adjustment...or is there any truth to the idea that the shifting is going to be thougher at lower RPMs?

All comments appreciated. Thanks.

05-12-2005	#1 (permalink)
luvda6R Refrigerator Magnet Test Engineer BTK Expert Join Date: May 2005 Location: North Lake Tahoe, CA Posts: 494	Is this normal when shifting? Ok, I just got an '05 ZXR6 and I'm fairly new to biking, so this may be user error.... however a couple friends with more experience with bikes than I have taken a quick cruise on my bike and agreed that something seems wrong. I wanted to get some more opinions. Here's what's happening: First problem: When shifting up I commonly miss gears. I feel like I'm doing everything I can to shift smoothly. Roll off the throttle, pull in the clutch, use the foot with swift and moderate to heavy pressure to shift up, roll back on the throttle as I let out on the clutch. I feel like I'm being reasonably smooth, but it seems that when I hit up on the shifter sometimes it just refuses to go into the next gear. I'm wondering if this may be because I'm breaking in the engine so I'm at lower RPMs than is optimal (or where the bike "wants to be") for clean shifting. Maybe I'm being too light when pushing up on the shifter w/ my foot?? Second problem (and the more aggrevating): When coasting to a stop, say to a stop sign, I want to coast in with the throttle in and at the same time click down through the gears so I will be in 1st as I come to a stop. The key here is that I'm not downshifting through the gears, meaning I'm not letting out on the clutch for every gear as I go down....I'm just keeping the clutch in and trying to click down through the gears to get into first. I'm going at a fairly slow speed (maybe 15-20mph) so there is really no need to down-shift by letting out the clutch at every gear. So, when I do this, the bike will not go down to first. As I'm coasting to the stop I'm clicking down and finally get to a point where it won't click down any more...so at that point I feel as though I'm in 1st. However, when I finally start to go it turns out I wasn't in 1st, but instead in 2nd or 3rd. I've tried to vary the pressure that I use w/ my foot to shift down, from lightly tapping it to practically standing and jumping on it (without breaking or bending it). Even if I'm competely stopped often times pushing down on the shifter will not get it into 1st without some fiddling with the clutch, combined with rolling the bike back and forth...usually it will eventually go into 1st. So, there's my long description. Can anyone tell me what's going on? Does this seem right that I can't simply shift down into 1st? Or could the shifter need some adjustment...or is there any truth to the idea that the shifting is going to be thougher at lower RPMs? All comments appreciated. Thanks.