Going into "neutral" between fifth and sixth gear?

[Motormike]

Here's something I've noticed happen a couple times on my '06 600...

When upshifting into sixth, sometimes it doesn't actually go into gear, but rather acts like it's in neutral. Today, I upshifted as I was leveling off my speed in traffic, so I didn't even notice I wasn't in gear until rolled I back on the throttle a bit and didn't feel the usual engine braking. Shifting into sixth at that point results in a nasty crunching noise, and then it's OK.

So, for you mechanically inclined, what exactly is going on here and how is it happening, so I can avoid it??

Thanks!
MM

[djct_watt]

Are you snap shifting? It's possible the gear isn't fully engaging. Bad teeth maybe?

What's the condition of your oil? Is it possible your clutch is slipping/sticking?

[Motormike]

Snap-shifting, yes. Oil was recently changed. Bike is only 1,500 miles old, so I doubt bad teeth or sticking clutch.

Anyone else got any theories?

MM

[#1 Moses]

I would take it back to the dealer you got it from.

[SleeperKat]

There's a clutch for a reason. Did you get a warrenty? If so bring it back in.

[Sasquatch]

That has happened on my 06 600 a couple times as well. I attributed it to me not fully raising the shift lever for positive shifting.

My bike has just over 10K miles on it, and I can remember 3 times that the 'mis shift' has happened.

[Motormike]

Sasquatch - Thanks for letting me know that it's not just me.

I'd just like to know what's technically going on with this, if it's a defect or just operator error, and how to avoid it, cuz I'm sure it's not a good thing for the bike in any event.

Yes, I have the extended warranty, but I don't need to wait three weeks to get an appointment for service to have them tell me nothing is wrong. It has only happened a couple times, and it's fine otherwise.

Thanks,
MM

[Rothman]

I would say that you should clutch shift and make sure that when you upshift, the lever is at the end of it's motion all the way upward. The transmissions on kats aren't exactly performance style units, they don't just snap up into gear with a quick slight movement such as gsxrs do.

[djct_watt]

You had to go and jinx me. . . it happened to me today. And I was able to replicate it. . . it happens when you lazy shift into 6th. Properly snap shift and you'll never drop into neutral.

[Motormike]

That sounds about right. On my morning commute, there's a spot where I'm in traffic, accelerating up to just about 45, on a slight downhill, so even though I don't need to upshift to 6th, I do just to save gas, because I don't need the RPMs as much on the downhill. And so, I'm a little lazy about the shifting because I'm not accelerating.

MM

[hardlydangerous]

Missed shifts are usually caused by an incorrect shifter adjustment.
#1 if the shifter is too high you won't get a full throw on the shifter and it won't go into the next gear fully.
#2 if the shifter is resting on your toe when you shift up it may not allow the shifter to drop in for the next gear.

[the wind]

it's happened to me before.i just chalked it up to a lazy shift.it did happen in the same spot on my 99 so it must be another design flaw.

[Mat0302]

happens to mine occasionally too, between 4th - 5th and 5th - 6th. basically I just didn't have my foot completely under it and was missing the shift falling into a neutral area between gears.