2nd gear issue...revisited...

[Jax]

I heard about the "2nd gear" issue and read about how it happens, from other posts, if it is expensive to fix...and people are replacing with 98+ engines on pre98 bikes...what exactly do you need to buy, (other than the engine itself)?

I'm just looking in case I ever have to do it...

[Jax]

Never mind on this issue..I saw the Sticky notes above and answered all my questions...

[The CyberPoet]

Re: 2nd gear issue...revisited...

I heard about the "2nd gear" issue and read about how it happens, from other posts, if it is expensive to fix..

You read about the engine swaps. Now here's what to know about the gear repair:

It happens from shifting poorly, with mismatched revs, usually down-shifting into second without blipping the throttle (at all or sufficiently), usually by newer riders. Those guys who yank in the clutch at 50 or 60 as they roll towards a red light and start just slamming the tranny down gear after gear to get to neutral are the ones primarily responsible... for new riders, wait until the bike is under 15 mph to go back into 2nd gear, even with the clutch in... or just wait until you're stopped.

The reason people swap instead of doing the repair is the repair is extremely labor intensive. Figure 14 - 20 hours or so (depending on experience level & how many tools you have access to) to yank the engine, split the cases, pull the tranny, replace the offending parts and reassemble/reinstall. The tranny repair parts for 2nd gear run about $250 new from the dealer. Someone who does it all the time will probably still take 8 - 10 hours to do the procedure, and that's if they don't run into any problems along the way.

Easy way to avoid it: learn to match RPM's to shifts, and avoid shifting without easing off the throttle when upshifting, as well learning to blip up the throttle on down-shifts -- at the appropriate speeds.

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

[SweetLou]

I had a 3rd gear problem with my bike. I had no 3rd gear. Luckily, my warrenty covered the repairs. The cost was like $1200 bucks, so if there is a problem with just the tranny, it would be much cheaper to just get a whole new engine.