My Turn

Ok, so I noticed some 2nd gear "slippage" under acceleration. After looking around the forum, I surmise it's a bent shift fork. Not sure what caused it, but that's not my concern now.

It appears that this is somewhat of a major fix, based on what I've read here. So, what am I looking at, as far as pricing, is how much to get it fixed at a dealership? I don't have the inclination, or abilities, to do this myself. I have Y.E.S., but from what's been said here, this wouldn't be covered. I haven't told my wife yet that I'll need work on the bike, because we've spent a bit of money lately on the house and daughter in college.

So I need to break it to her, knowing a approximation of cost.

Any idea?

I would definitely try and get it covered under the Y.E.S. warranty.

Yeah Joe, I'll try and work the YES, but if I can't, any idea what the cost will be?

I need to figure out a strategy, to break the news to wifey. Christmas season is nigh, and this won't make her happy.

Buy her a diamond ring, roses and take her out for a crazy expensive dinner. She'll smell a rat and ask you if you've been cheating with another women. When you tell her that you bent the fork going into second gear like Valentino Rossi she'll be relieved and not kill you. You're Welcome!

Why not just call shops and dealers in your area to ask for a quote? The job should have a set number of hours in their labor books and they'll all charge you list price for parts, so the only real difference is in shop rates, which can vary from $45/hr to $150/hr depending on the shop. If there's a tech day nearby, you might find a willing wrench to cut your costs way down. Heck, you could host one if you have a garage and are willing to spring for ribs or something.

Why would a bent shift fork not be covered by YES?

Slippage usually means a clutch issue. You mean slippage as in the bike is slipping out of gear? I'd take it somewhere to have it diagnosed before even thinking about dropping major cash.

Lakeland,

Ya got me curious. Just what do you mean by 2nd gear slippage under acceleration? Bike popping out of gear? What's happening to your machine?

Gary

darksider #44

What I have is....once in 2nd, and under good-to-hard acceleration, a moment (1/2 second) of pause, like the clutch has been engaged. Then, it'll catch. I haven't noticed it in any other gear.

I'll call the dealership tomorrow, but not sure I'll get a real estimate. Thought someone here might have gone through it, and had a cost for it.

hppants said:

Why would a bent shift fork not be covered by YES?

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Racing / Abuse...not throwing stones or saying the OP did anything like that, but Yamaha will be asking the same questions.

--G

I know, and agree. I've not raced it, but have gotten enthralled now and then.

It's not necessarily a bent shift fork, but worn dogs on the second-gear wheel. Actually, the dogs are on the 5th-gear wheel, and they engage holes in the 2nd-gear wheel. regardless, as the dogs wear the mating surface gets an angle on it, so rather than meeting perpendicularly, they meet with an incline, and that incline induces a force trying to separate the gear wheels, which wears the shift for rather than bending it, which in turn reduces the contact area being use on the dogs, which wears them more,which, etc. etc. in an ever-increasing circle of parts death. When the wear is serious enough, the dogs would be considered "barely" engaged because the fork can't move the wheel far enough.

I had this with 4th gear as well as 2nd last summer, and it was actually much worse in 4th. the issue was discovered when I broke the shift drum and had to go in anyway for that.

The job entails splitting the case and replacing gear wheels. For 2nd you'd probably have to replace 2nd and 5th, since those are both sides of the mating surfaces for 2nd. Once the engine's out it's a straightforward job mechanically, which of course helps you not in the least. A moto gearbox is nothing like a car box, as there are no helical gears so no thrust bearings, and there are no synchronizer rings. It's simplicity itslef, with like 13 moving parts in the whole box! Also not helping you in the least is that I had the good fortune of laying claim to transmission parts from a forumite's engine which had spun a bearing but had no other issues.

The 2nd gear parts were redesigned for the 2008 model (or was it '9?) so Yammy is aware of the issue. The YES is absolutely worth pursuing on this.

LKLD said:

What I have is....once in 2nd, and under good-to-hard acceleration, a moment (1/2 second) of pause, like the clutch has been engaged. Then, it'll catch. I haven't noticed it in any other gear. I'll call the dealership tomorrow, but not sure I'll get a real estimate. Thought someone here might have gone through it, and had a cost for it.

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LKLD,

Almost hate to mention this, but the "wrong" motor oil (with friction modifiers) can cause the clutch to slip. First thing, I would change the oil to straight Yamalube for now, and if things improve, you probably do not have a mechanical problem. Beyond that, has the clutch fluid been replaced lately? Old fluid or even a flakey clutch hose/hydraulics could also keep the clutch from connecting up as it should. As for the shops, if you want a price on transmission work, that is just what you will get, even if some minor maintenance is all you need. I'd ask them to give their opinions, with no suggestions about what is wrong from you, rather than hand them the opportunity to bore out your wallet. I'd want the opinion of a second shop (at least), as well.

This glitch does not sound like a problem that must get fixed tomorrow. Check out the simple fixes, first. If my bike had YES, I'd pursue that option, for any serious repairs.

Best,

Infrared

Let's be sure what we're talking about, clutch slip or gear slip.

Clutch slip is simply that. Engine runs and doesn't propel the bike. Mechanically there is no reason for this to be worse in 2nd gear; it should actually be worse in higher gears. However, the fact that the riser is "on it" harder in the lower gears just because accelerating to road speed may make it happen more in lower gears.

Gear slip is the dogs not quite engaging and slipping to the next alignment of the pins and holes. It's a harsh mechanical action, makes noises, and has a broken parts feel.

Clutch slip is cheap and easy, just get a new set of discs and throw them into the basket. If you can put batteries in a flashlight then you can do the repair.

Gear slip repair means pull the motor, split the case, install new parts, throwing money at everyone involved.

+1^^^

As wfooshee says, two different things! If it seems to smoothly engage after a brief over-rev then its a good chance its the clutch slipping (i.e. cheap and easy). A definitive test is to do a "roll-on" in 4th or 5th (don't be shy about twisting the wrist).

If remember correctly someone paid around 2K to have this service done last year. The OP doesn't mention noises just slippage. I am going with wrong oil put in unless he can comfirm some hard shifting and noise going into Second. Yamaha did change the gearing in 2008 but I don't think they change the design.

Edit: I don't believe gears slip, they are either engaged or not.

My 0.2 cents worth,

Dave

If the symptom is popping out of second under hard accel, then re-engaging (this all happens quickly), then it's a gear dog problem. Major fix required, engine removal....

Here's what was done as extra insurance, but methinks straight replacement of the offending parts is what you need.

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php/topic/156189-what-undercut-gears-look-like/

This will get you started.......

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php/topic/164691-2nd-gear-is-bad/?hl=transmission

LKLD said:

What I have is....once in 2nd, and under good-to-hard acceleration, a moment (1/2 second) of pause, like the clutch has been engaged. Then, it'll catch. I haven't noticed it in any other gear.

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That sounds more like a clutch slip type issue, not the gear dogs skipping.

When the gear dogs pop it's loud and violent and jerky.

When the clutch slips (for whatever reason) there is just "no go" when you release the clutch.

The latter is a much less expensive proposition to fix than the former.

Fred W said:

LKLD said:

What I have is....once in 2nd, and under good-to-hard acceleration, a moment (1/2 second) of pause, like the clutch has been engaged. Then, it'll catch. I haven't noticed it in any other gear.

Click to expand...

That sounds more like a clutch slip type issue, not the gear dogs skipping.

When the gear dogs pop it's loud and violent and jerky.

When the clutch slips (for whatever reason) there is just "no go" when you release the clutch.

The latter is a much less expensive proposition to fix than the former.

Click to expand...

Not a problem on my FJR but on previous bikes I dealt with both clutch slip (Mobil 1) and gear dogs, coincidentally 2nd gear. Fred describes it accurately- when gear dogs pop it is violent, noisy, jerky and IMHO quite unmistakable. If the OP has nothing distinctive like these, I think go with maybe the clutch soak procedure not to soak so much as to inspect and clean. It's a straight forward job and costs nearly nothing to look.