Weird 'hiccup'

Today the bike started doing a weird little hiccup kind of thing, only when going WOT through 2nd gear. Somewhere around 7k, it felt like a little misfire - a realy fast jerk, like I ran over a sheet of paper or something and the wheel slipped a tiny bit. I thought it was a fluke until I could repeat it every few tries. It doesn't feel like a misfire, there's no sound of one, no engine change or anything felt like that. It almost feels like a gear jumping a tooth kind of thing, but it SO quick and relatively slight. It's just like a little blip of power out then back in as it sweeps though.

I could not get it to do it under 1st or third, making me think it's related to torque output somewhere.

Any clues? I'm going to do a oil/rear change tomorrow and check the splines. It has 10k miles.

Kaelaria said:

Today the bike started doing a weird little hiccup kind of thing, only when going WOT through 2nd gear. Somewhere around 7k, it felt like a little misfire - a realy fast jerk, like I ran over a sheet of paper or something and the wheel slipped a tiny bit. I thought it was a fluke until I could repeat it every few tries. It doesn't feel like a misfire, there's no sound of one, no engine change or anything felt like that. It almost feels like a gear jumping a tooth kind of thing, but it SO quick and relatively slight. It's just like a little blip of power out then back in as it sweeps though.
I could not get it to do it under 1st or third, making me think it's related to torque output somewhere.

Any clues? I'm going to do a oil/rear change tomorrow and check the splines. It has 10k miles.

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Ruh-ro!

As soon as I saw the thread title, I knew what this post was going to be about.

That's how it starts. You are beginning to lose second gear. When I first experienced this, I thought the rear wheel was breaking loose for just an instant at max torque (around 7k). What you'll find is that the problem gets progressively worse until you have no doubt the bike is popping out of second gear. When you take it in, your yammie mechanic will tell you either worn dogs or a bent shift fork and that they can't guarantee that you are covered by a warranty, because this problem is attributable to squids, or even one missed shift. Some have had to pay 2.5K to get the problem fixed. Some have been covered by warranty, some have been given a "good will" repair.

I've taken my 06A to the local yammie dealer 3 times for this problem. Each time they've given it back saying there's nothing wrong. The last visit was about two months before NAFO. I rode out to NAFO and back substantially without second gear. This will do a lot for brand loyalty, by the way. Yamaha not even showing up to such an event will do even more. Why not go back a 4th time, you ask? My yammie dealer got fired after the last visit. All three in the Baltimore area have been fired. I need to visit one in Frederick, some 40 miles away, next.

Yamaha says this is not a design defect, but have nonetheless redesigned the dog arrangement in the transmission's gear set, starting in 08.

Honda? Give me just one bike to love, and I'll come back...I love you, man.

Ari -

Fredericktown Yamaha is run by a nice family and they have a bunch of good people working there, but be prepared to wait for everything. As a family-run dealer, they are tight on staff and don't stock much. As a commuter who wants parts available when I need them, they are one reason I didn't buy a second Triumph. I do most of my own work, but have used Battley in Rockville. Their labor rate is steep and others may have different experiences, but I've not had a problem with their work and they have a better track record for having parts on hand.

Bob

Damascus, Md

Crap.

Thanks for the info. I had read the 2nd gear threads so I am familiar with the problem now. Dealer, here I come, wish me luck.

Sounds like a bent shift fork to me and the engagement dogs are beginning to wear.

My dealer was more than willing to fix mine for me, but they weren't willing to tell me how much. They started out around $2100, but that quickly grew to well over $3000 before they ever even looked at it. When they told me they were going to "have" to replace the piston rings at the same time, that was enough for me to venture out and do the work myself. Which I did. And I'm damn glad I did! No issues since.

Good luck!

Well now I don't know what to think.

I ran some errands today, and was going to go up to a dealer afterwards. I couldn't get it to do it once.

I'm kind of leaning towards a misfire, maybe some gunk on a plug. The plugs are pretty fresh, I put them in about 2k ago. I hardly ever get to go WOT or get it above 4-5k, my riding is almost all slow city, and I usually shift under 3k and go right from 2nd to 5th. It's actually hard to find a place where I can even do WOT in 2nd and get the RPMs relatively high. Yesterday was just a good break in traffic flow. Today I had to hunt for a spot. I did about a dozen passes today trying to get anything. Nothing.

Kaelaria said:

Well now I don't know what to think.
I ran some errands today, and was going to go up to a dealer afterwards. I couldn't get it to do it once.

I'm kind of leaning towards a misfire, maybe some gunk on a plug. The plugs are pretty fresh, I put them in about 2k ago. I hardly ever get to go WOT or get it above 4-5k, my riding is almost all slow city, and I usually shift under 3k and go right from 2nd to 5th. It's actually hard to find a place where I can even do WOT in 2nd and get the RPMs relatively high. Yesterday was just a good break in traffic flow. Today I had to hunt for a spot. I did about a dozen passes today trying to get anything. Nothing.

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Man you gotta get out of town and ream that baby out. :blink:

It's drunk. Give it some coffee.

Yep it's the gear. It was fine all day today, but just now pulling in the neighborhood - I rounded a corner, shifted into 2nd very gently, was just rolling on the throttle maybe 10%...CLINK sounded and felt like a skipped tooth. Metal sound, hard, loud, sudden. She's going in ASAP and the YES had BETTER cover it because this bitch has been babied, I haven't mistreated the transmission for a fraction of a second.

OK I took her in this afternoon. The Service Manager was aware of the problem, and said there were a couple recalls he would take care of too. He put a rider on it today to verify the problem (hopefully, since it was sporadic at best) and said it would be about 1 month to get it done, if the parts are in stock somewhere. He said he only had one tech he felt qualified to do that particular job, and I said I have no problem with it taking a month as long as it's done right (I will miss it terribly, but it's not alone in the stable).

One month later.

Ride Now in Port Richey sucks monkey balls.

I called up just now to get an update. The guy sounded a little nervous and said, oh, the guy with the FJR...yeah, um, actually it's been ready for a while now. Before I could ask the obvious question (why didn't anyone call me) he went on to say that 'they had two techs ride it and what I'm feeling is normal gear lash'. I was a bit stunned at both the BS and the fact that they never called. I knew there was no point in arguing, they simply won't do squat no matter what. So at this point, I'm going to go pick it up, and I guess I'll have to wait until it gets worse. Then I'm going to the next dealer down the road.

Unbelievable.

WOW! It took them a month to tell you that 2, 20 minute test rides revealed nothing?

YEP

Kaelaria said:

One month later.
Ride Now in Port Richey sucks monkey balls.

...

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Bounce said:

WOW! It took them a month to tell you that 2, 20 minute test rides revealed nothing?

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Sorry about your problem...hope Yamaha takes care of you soon. :clapping:

Ironic isn't it...RIDE NOW took a month to tell you they did nothing. :angry:

Just picked it back up - time to cool off by doing an oil change.

They put less than 20 miles on it.

Oh yeah MAN IS IT GOOD TO HAVE IT BACK! After riding a sportster for a month it felt like being on a rocket pulling out of the parking lot.

Just an update. I've put on another 1,000 miles since the oil change I did that day. It hasn't happened once.

Kaelaria said:

Ride Now sucks monkey balls.

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So far I have yet to hear a positive thing about Ride Now, Port Richie or otherwise.

Report that dealer to Yamaha inc . And the better buisness b.

UPDATE

Well, after letting it get worse little by little, enough where I was confident that they would be able to reproduce it on their own, I took it back in last month. After a week I get a call with good and bad news. The good news is, they WERE finally able to reproduce it and were ready to tear it down. The bad news, the owner had just announced the store was shutting down and everyone had to come get their stuff. So I had to take it down tot he next dealer, another Ride-Now - actually the dealer where I purchased it, a much bigger but farther away shop.

After another week I get another call and now this second shop is giving me the runaround about how THEY can't reproduce it, even though they had already spoken to dealer #1 about it and claim dealer #1 now says they didn't ride it. Whatever, I'm tired of the BS and DEMANDED the bike be repaired, I'm tired of the hassle. So short of having me come in and sign a waiver in the case they don't find anything, they agree to tear it down. Another week later I get a call, and they find a tiny tension spring in the middle of the trans with a kink in it. They said it was on the way in and I should have the bike back any day now.

UG!