2013 hard downshifting

[Allen_C]

Try pulling in the clutch lever and blipping your throttle after starting the bike in neutral (or at a stand still) then shifting down into first. I purposely tried this over the weekend and no clunk at all!

 

[rockmurf]

Clutch fluid flushed, oil changed, clutch lever to 1 position and tomorrow I shall check it out to see if this has resolved the problem.

 

[rockmurf]

Much much better. It looks like I will still need to blip the throttle on the downshifts but overall I could not be happier.

 

[Harald]

Try pulling in the clutch lever and blipping your throttle after starting the bike in neutral (or at a stand still) then shifting down into first. I purposely tried this over the weekend and no clunk at all!

You beat me to it Allen_C. This method works wonders for smooth shifts into first because the blip breaks the oily bond between drive and driven clutch plates.

 

[JREW]

My 05 always clunked going into 1st, but the 13 almost never does. I also always sit in 1st at a stop, so it's only right after a start up that I go to 1st. I have over 10,000 on my 13 with no shifting issues. I use Yamalube full synthetic. Costly, but I never have had issues with it, and motorcycle oil is supposed to have additives for transmission shear that car oils do not.

 

[redneckj]

The ol red cap 15w-50 is gone. You can buy it in the 5 quart container at Walmarche. It is the same oil as the red cap but there is no red cap.

 

[CA G-Man]

I find all this hand-wringing about clunking into first quite funny. It's been a couple of decades, but if I recall correctly, when I first took riding lessons I was told that clunking was normal and nothing to be concerned about. I've only had 2 bikes (both Yamahas) and both will clunk into first. It doesn't bother me a bit - in fact it's sort of nice to have that sensory feedback that yes, you are in gear (without having to look at the dashboard).

 

[Old Guy]

I find all this hand-wringing about clunking into first quite funny. It's been a couple of decades, but if I recall correctly, when I first took riding lessons I was told that clunking was normal and nothing to be concerned about. I've only had 2 bikes (both Yamahas) and both will clunk into first. It doesn't bother me a bit - in fact it's sort of nice to have that sensory feedback that yes, you are in gear (without having to look at the dashboard).

Yep, I taught MSF courses from 1980 to 1995, and we did, indeed, cover that in class. And we didn't even have a gear indicator

 

[pcarnut]

With clunky shifts on my '07 and Rotella T6 I quit using it. With the '14ES I've tried various oils including the Yamalube semi-syn and Redline. The Redline was pretty good for smoothing out the shifts but just tried Motul 300V 15-50, and very happy with it, Shifts the best so far and very smooth motor, a little pricey but worth it to me.

 

[20valves]

Keeping the air and contaminated fluid out of the clutch lines is usually all it takes. Like southern cruiser, I had one oil change to non-syn Rotella and it got a bit sticky. I ditched that after about 500 miles, bled the clutch, went back to Yamalube, zero problems, transmission is perfect. I have about 8,000 miles on mine now. Making sure your boot is all the way under/over the toe part of the shift lever so there's no twist on it helps too. When going into first at a stop light to avoid a clunk, pull in clutch, count to three, select first and it goes in with a clunk-free snick.

Whenever I experience anything other than perfect shifting, I bleed the clutch (like once every two years) and it comes back to good. I do bleed the clutch on delivery though. For some reason, it seems the factory clutch fluid contaminates much more quickly than subsequent fluid changes. Maybe it's that long trip over here on the sea that does it, idk.

 

[RavFJR]

mine did the same thing. I had switched to Rotella on the first oil change, and think that may have had something to do with it. Switched to Honda pro oil,and problem went away within a couple of hundred miles. Seems the clutch plates were sticking. Now at 12,700 miles, all is still well.

Though mine is a Gen II... It hated Rotella. The bike would not shift properly. I even did a second attempt of using Rotella and the problem reappeared. Went back to Castrol Actevo and it shifted smooth.

 

[bigjohnsd]

My Gen III shifts up and down fine except for the neutral to 1st gear shift upon occasion.

If allowed to idle in neutral it can be very dificult to make the shift to 1st upon occasion.

Get a clunk when making this shift once in a while, but not always. Clunk doesn't seem to be coincidental with the dificult shift.

Yamaha Dino oil for the first three changes, Valvoline 4 stroke MC oil also dino this time. No effect on operation.

 

[Jerambelu]

Good thread, I find it intersting reading the different perspectives. I'm definitely a noob here, but it seems a lot of folks on here are using automotive oils, I was under the impression tne m/c oils contain different additives specific for the clutch and transmission. Perhaps non-specific oils contribute to the described downshifting issues? FWIW, I run Castrol Actevo 10W-40.

 

[Steel_Gin]

I had clutch sticking issue and had the plates soaked twice. After the soak it shifted perfectly but returned each time after a few thousand miles. Now, when its cold, I let it warm up until the idle RPMs drop to 1000 or less, pull in the clutch, rev three or four times, release the clutch, pull it back in and shift in to first. Been doing this for about two seasons now and the sticking went away.

 

[rbentnail]

My Gen2 bike also hates Rotella. Tried it twice, dumped it both times in less than 1000 miles. From my V-twin days, I'm not a fan of Mobil1 or "m/c specific" oils. The first made the clutch slip, the second didn't hold up well (did oil sample analyses at each oil change). I always come back to Valvoline SynPower full synthetic.