hard to shift... advice?

[dexter10]

so this morning took off to work and 2 or 3 times my 04 didnt want to upshift. after a few tries it finally did and them came out of it without happening again. does the fluid need to be warm to operate correctly? I am in maine and it was about 35 degrees so I am wondering if it just needed to warm up. bike has 31k on it and I have never changed the clutch fluid, but the dealer may have (bought it with 28k) and previous owner was super anal about keeping the bike clean and serviced. thanks

 

[wfooshee]

By clutch fluid I guess you mean the hydraulic fluid. It ain't that which needs to be warm, it's the oil in the crankcase.

How long since your last oil change? Not necessarily miles, but time, as well.

 

[Bokerfork]

35 degrees is not your problem. Assuming you haven't done much riding this winter, my guess is that the clutch plates might need a soak. There are many posts regarding this procedure if you search.

The other possibility is that it was just a one time thing from sitting in the garage for a couple of months. May go away on its own.

Either way, IMO, it doesn't sound serious.

Mark

 

[n1acguy]

It could also be as simple as the linkage itself sticking. If the spring can't overcome a sticky linkage and the linkage can't return to center after a shift, the racheting mechanism won't be able to grab another gear.

 

[dexter10]

It could also be as simple as the linkage itself sticking. If the spring can't overcome a sticky linkage and the linkage can't return to center after a shift, the racheting mechanism won't be able to grab another gear.

thanks for the replies... did it once this morning too. I changed the oil last october and she sat in the garage until march. I have done this before, but maybe this is bad practice to let the oil sit. thoughts?

 

[Fred W]

The symptoms suggest that the clutch is dragging and not fully releasing when you pull in the lever. This could be because not all of the plates are separating. Even when warm you may only have a few of them doing the clutching due to the others being stuck together, but with the thinner (warm) oil the clutch works better.

That is what the "clutch soak" procedure is all about, opening up your clutch and seperating all of the plates, lubing them up and putting it all back together. You don't really need to "soak" anything (unless you want to). Just clean and lube them all up and slap it back together. You'd be able to tell if some of the plates are stuck together. For the price of a gasket it is worth having a look.

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

so this morning took off to work and 2 or 3 times my 04 didnt want to upshift. after a few tries it finally did and them came out of it without happening again.

... did it once this morning too.

The symptoms suggest

What symptoms?

What, exactly, is "it"? (please explain...)

Does the shift lever move when you try to shift? The FJR will, normally, shift just fine without the clutch 'in play'.

 

[Wee Willy]

Had something similar happen soon after I bought the bike. I had just acquired a new pair of riding boots and when I shifted up, the boot toe was large enough that I wasn't completely dropping the gear shift lever back into center so it wasn't willing to accept the next shift "command." I'd pull up and nothing would happen. Pissed me off pretty handily...new bike and all. Once I realized I just needed to get the geometry right, all was well. Happened to me two or three times before I figured it out.

Cheers,

W2

 

[BikerGeek99]

Had something eerily similar happen to my FJR a coupla months ago. It did not want to shift and the clutch 'take-up' was right off the grip.

Turns out the clutch was a little low on fluid. I bought some synthetic fluid and a vacuum bleeder mahoogey, bled that sucker and it's been fine since.

Oh - mine is an '04 as well with 70K on it.