Downshifting tips ?! ... and my FJR1300A '06 dies on me as I pace thru traffic on 1st/2nd

[Dan23]

Nothing is wrong with the bike. When the transmission is stopped, (the bike is not moving), even with the engine running, it's common for the gear teeth to not match up if you attempt to shift, (especially downshift), while stopped.
Proper technique is to down shift as your speed decreases. This allows you to be in the correct power band if you should need to accelerate due to traffic. Practice this and it will become habit. Normally people do not down shift to 1st while stopping, but just to second, then into neutral as they stop, or to 1st when they are stopped fully, then holding the clutch in while in first so as to be prepared for the light change, or unusual circumstances. Neutral or 1st at a stop light is a preference. In neutral you have less of a chance of getting out of the way should someone be endangering you.

Just braking to a stop, then attempting to down shift all the way to neutral is not going to hurt anything, but you will find that after one gear down, you may need to slightly engage the clutch, just enough to allow the gears to line up for the next shift. The bike should not need to move to do this, just let up a tad on the lever, then you will hear it engage the gear, squeeze the lever back in all the way and downshift again. Repeat as needed.

The "switching off" is called stalling. Too high a gear for the speed you are traveling usually, though too low a gear will lock the tire and sometimes stall as well. Practice rev matching the engine to the gear you are moving to when down shifting. A small blip of the throttle as you clutch in and down shift. It will take practice and some feel before you get it right, but it's much easier on the transmission and clutch, as well as placing you in better control while downshifting.

Good luck and please be careful.

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?s...mp;#entry167865

 

[Wolfhound]

Needs to be rolling to shift or some movement back and forth while stationary, same as all stick shifts or motorcycles....synchronizers have to move to synchronize the next gear....Tranny will get much smoother after some miles are on it also...

Sorry, No Syncro's in the FJR

PS: 19 Years of riding experience

My mistake, bad choice of words, gears must synchronize in order to shift.......per 40 yrs experience & tranny building for a few....

 

[Zoltan]

You picked a pretty big bike to learn on, but you can learn if you take it slow.

Make sure you are not holding pressure aginst the shift lever after each shift.

Shifting down more than 1 gear at a time is easier to accomplish if you release the clutch even just for a split second between downshifts. Your transmission will thank you. You should also "blip" the the throttle as you downshift so that your rpm's remain constant, and it will keep abrupt engine braking to a minimum.

If you do forget to downshift until you are at a complete stop and the trans sticks, you can ease the clutch out till you just get friction and then pull the clutch back in and continue downshifting. Repeat the slight clutch release if the trans gets stuck again. Of course you will want to keep a firm grip on your front brake.

And yes this is perfectly normal for a motorcycle transmision. That is the way they are designed.

Good luck with the new bike

Zoltan

 

[Zoltan]

Just braking to a stop, then attempting to down shift all the way to neutral is not going to hurt anything, but you will find that after one gear down, you may need to slightly engage the clutch, just enough to allow the gears to line up for the next shift. The bike should not need to move to do this, just let up a tad on the lever, then you will hear it engage the gear, squeeze the lever back in all the way and downshift again. Repeat as needed.

Sorry OCfjr I guess we think alot alike.

I started posting before I read your post.

Zoltan

 

[fjr007]

You picked a pretty big bike to learn on, but you can learn if you take it slow.
Make sure you are not holding pressure aginst the shift lever after each shift.

Shifting down more than 1 gear at a time is easier to accomplish if you release the clutch even just for a split second between downshifts. Your transmission will thank you. You should also "blip" the the throttle as you downshift so that your rpm's remain constant, and it will keep abrupt engine braking to a minimum.

If you do forget to downshift until you are at a complete stop and the trans sticks, you can ease the clutch out till you just get friction and then pull the clutch back in and continue downshifting. Repeat the slight clutch release if the trans gets stuck again. Of course you will want to keep a firm grip on your front brake.

And yes this is perfectly normal for a motorcycle transmision. That is the way they are designed.

Good luck with the new bike

Zoltan

Thanx a MILLION Alex (Cougar8000), Zoltan, OCFJR and EVERYONE for your valuabale advises ... It now makes sense, went on a couple of rides already since this thread and trying what everyone is mentioning here, need to practice A LOT.

I know this ain't the ideal 1st bike, trying to take it easy and manage my way on it slowly. Had 16hrs of training prior to riding it, 8 hrs field/control and 8hrs side roads/traffic.

Alex - I'd definitely look forward to reading more on riding bikes, so feel free to send me all you got ... [email protected]

Cheers everyone ..

 

[Dwavey]

Nothing is wrong with the bike. When the transmission is stopped, (the bike is not moving), even with the engine running, it's common for the gear teeth to not match up if you attempt to shift, (especially downshift), while stopped.
Proper technique is to down shift as your speed decreases. This allows you to be in the correct power band if you should need to accelerate due to traffic. Practice this and it will become habit. Normally people do not down shift to 1st while stopping, but just to second, then into neutral as they stop, or to 1st when they are stopped fully, then holding the clutch in while in first so as to be prepared for the light change, or unusual circumstances. Neutral or 1st at a stop light is a preference. In neutral you have less of a chance of getting out of the way should someone be endangering you.

Just braking to a stop, then attempting to down shift all the way to neutral is not going to hurt anything, but you will find that after one gear down, you may need to slightly engage the clutch, just enough to allow the gears to line up for the next shift. The bike should not need to move to do this, just let up a tad on the lever, then you will hear it engage the gear, squeeze the lever back in all the way and downshift again. Repeat as needed.

The "switching off" is called stalling. Too high a gear for the speed you are traveling usually, though too low a gear will lock the tire and sometimes stall as well. Practice rev matching the engine to the gear you are moving to when down shifting. A small blip of the throttle as you clutch in and down shift. It will take practice and some feel before you get it right, but it's much easier on the transmission and clutch, as well as placing you in better control while downshifting.

Good luck and please be careful.

I'm not so sure that there is nothing wrong with the bike - I have an 06A and the odd time I've had to stop quickly and ended up stopped in a high gear, I can't recall having had any trouble with downshifting multiple gears on one clutch pull. On occasion I have had to put some slight friction on the clutch to shift from neutral to 1st, especially on that odd time when coming to a stop (but still moving) I miss the shift into 1st and stop in neutral instead, in order to line up the gear teeth as Eric describes. But then again, maybe your problem will subside as you put some Kms on and get the gears worn in.

In the meantime, hopefully you'll take heed of the advice on downshifting that others have offered here.

As for the revs, as the owner's manual states, there's no problem revving above 5k rpms, just don't hold it up there for long.

 

[user 213]

As for the revs, as the owner's manual states, there's no problem revving above 5k rpms, just don't hold it up there for long.

Dwavey makes a good point, the manual gives you guidelines, but the restriction is only on sustained high rpms during the break in period. So it's ok to take it up to red line if you choose, just don't flog it about there and hold it there. Run it up, bring it down. sort of like normal shifting....

DO be careful, the FJR will loft the front wheel on throttle alone over 5k in some circumstances. At this point in your learning curve, you want both wheels on the ground at all times.

@Zoltan - No harm, no foul amigo.

 

[CDR]

I agree with others who say this is not normal. I can go up and down the range with the clutch pulled in. Only quirk in that I have seen is when you've been sitting in neutral and you have to let the clutch out for a sec to spin up the transmission to go into first - I imagine what's happened is it stops at a spot where the gears can't mesh, but it's not bog deal.

5k for first 600 miles? I f you read the manual it says extended operation - i.e. don't plug along the freeway at 6000 for mile after mile, but my guess is you won't be doing that anyways.

 

[evil_henchman]

Personally I think break in periods are much ado about nothing. A modern high performance machine like an FJR should be able to operate normally right out of the box. On the off chance you have a lemon, all the babying in the world won't do anything other than mask problems till you're out of warranty. If it's prone to failure you want it to fail under warranty...

Disclaimer: The foregoing should not be considered investment advise. Please consult the appropriate expert(s) before undertaking any potentially destructive behavior. And never admit to anything! :lol:

 

[Fencer]

My .02

When my 06 was under a 1000 miles, I had a handfull of occasions with the tranny sticking between gears on a rolling downshift to a stop. The stick would gen come between 3rd to 2nd. The gear indicator would go blank and I could not get to go up or down and had to pull to the side of the road to force into gear on two occasions. I adjusted the clutch lever/cable slack and now have over 6000 miles with no probs.

But as was said before, you do need to be rolling for the shift in a constant mesh tranny.

 

[mdisher]

Alright.. On the top of your clutch and brake lever there is a dial with the numbers 1-4 marked on it.

Push the lever outward and rotate that dial to a new position. Play with the 4 positions on the clutch lever and decided which one you like best.

This will adjust or change where in the lever pull the clutch engages and disengages.

I think out of the box, they are set to either (1) or (4), can't remember, but I seem to like mine on (2)?

They are easy to bump and will change every now and then.

Keep practicing, you'll get it.

 

[ejworthen]

There is nothing wrong with the bike. Just because some people are able to shift all the way through the gears at a stop, does not mean that yours has a problem because it won't.

I've had the same issue with other bikes. When stopped they would not always shift through more than one gear with one clutch pull.

If you have a problem shifting while moving then I'd be worried.

 

[cougar8000]

Thanx a MILLION Alex (Cougar8000), Zoltan, OCFJR and EVERYONE for your valuabale advises ... It now makes sense, went on a couple of rides already since this thread and trying what everyone is mentioning here, need to practice A LOT.I know this ain't the ideal 1st bike, trying to take it easy and manage my way on it slowly. Had 16hrs of training prior to riding it, 8 hrs field/control and 8hrs side roads/traffic.

Alex - I'd definitely look forward to reading more on riding bikes, so feel free to send me all you got ... [email protected]

Cheers everyone ..

AS you already got it there is no substitution for the real training and it sounds like you are not one of those -100 in less then 2sec. Here is some material that you might want to look into:

WWW.MSF-USA.ORG has lots of info.

Get your self few books. I really think Lee Parks Total Control is one of the best, easy reading, easy to understand books. And even so it is written by a racer and exercises might be designed to make you better track rider they are excellent to prepare you for the urban battle field.

Take care.

 

[fjr007]

Thanx a MILLION Alex (Cougar8000), Zoltan, OCFJR and EVERYONE for your valuabale advises ... It now makes sense, went on a couple of rides already since this thread and trying what everyone is mentioning here, need to practice A LOT.I know this ain't the ideal 1st bike, trying to take it easy and manage my way on it slowly. Had 16hrs of training prior to riding it, 8 hrs field/control and 8hrs side roads/traffic.

Alex - I'd definitely look forward to reading more on riding bikes, so feel free to send me all you got ... [email protected]

Cheers everyone ..

AS you already got it there is no substitution for the real training and it sounds like you are not one of those -100 in less then 2sec. Here is some material that you might want to look into:

WWW.MSF-USA.ORG has lots of info.

Get your self few books. I really think Lee Parks Total Control is one of the best, easy reading, easy to understand books. And even so it is written by a racer and exercises might be designed to make you better track rider they are excellent to prepare you for the urban battle field.

Take care.

Great, Thanx Alex ... Also found California Superbikes school will run here on 25 Nov., shall join them then for the level 1, some friends are telling me their school is a MUST, will see :blink: