Clunking shift in 1st , 2nd and 3rd

[Blue_Goose]

Six speed transmission on my F4i.....about 1100 miles on the GN 4 Honda OEM 10W40. Why clunk in these gears but not the others? I don't recall it clunking with the previous fill which I assume is the same juice as it was changed at the dealer by the previous owner....If it matters I MAY be a little overfilled but if so just a tiny bit


Ideas? Also downshifting from 3rd on down sounds louder than the other gears



Goose

 

[Greg L]

A similar topic on a Yammie was here clunking on this site.

Almost the same amount of miles you have...he ended up having a mechanic evaluate it....


I have clunking myself between 2-1. Changed to a different oil, which helped. But when it still clunks, I just go into neutral & hit the clutch once...and then downshift back into 1st. Works everytime.


GL

 

[wantin150]

Goose,

Not only did I stop wearing tennis shoes to ride in, I also swapped the oil. I had my first done at 600 as recommended. Now, at 1200, I changed it from the OEM Yamalube junk. I just tried the Valvoline MC oil in 10W40 and it's better.

I got to looking at that stuff coming out at 600 miles and thought "NO way am I going to 4k on any of these oils!".

 

[Blue_Goose]

Maybe clunking is the wrong word...it goes into any of the gears fine, just makes a louder noise in those 3 gears and feels more like a harder shift...does that make sense?


Wantin...I'm gonna change this oil out in a few more miles as well...not sure If I want to try the Royal Purple synth 15W40 or maybe Rotella 15W40..or I may just stay with a MC oil like Castrol or Valvoline






Goose

 

[Travis99LS1]

man i put some yamalube in my new R6 and the shift quality was terrible..i drained it after like 200 miles and put rotella 15w40 in the bike and it shifted awesome again..i kept that in there until about 1300 miles and now i have amsoil MC 10w40..and to be honest, the bike doesent really shift any better than it did with the rotella

 

[02zx9r]

can probably go muc longer drain intervals with the amsoil though.

I have never used it but would not hesitate to use it, but for me I cant justify it since i change out around 2500-3000 miles so rotella works for me

Im running Brad Penn 20W50 right now and it shifts fine to me, just like with rotella.

Got a pair of the Icon Super duty 3 riding boots and the clutchless upshifts are a lot better than with sneakers that is for sure

 

[wantin150]

I was told by the Service Tech at the dealer that Yamaha wouldn't pay for the inspection for my issue as it was probably caused by "poor shifting habits". I have been wearing different shoes and it's pretty much non-existent now. Sooooo.... Yamaha was correct. Different oil helped too.

 

[Blue_Goose]

I just changed out to Mobil 1 MC Synth..bike seems a bit smoother but still a clunk hitting 1st and 2nd, 3rd sounds a lot better


I gotta ask, how do shoes make a difference?




Goose

 

[CaspianM]

Shift noise gets better with miles on the bike.
There will always be some clunk as the tannies in bikes don't have sync gears. Their design is based on constant mesh hence gears still spin when shifting at a different speed.
Some oil make a slight difference but not much.
Some of the clunk actually comes from shift mechanisn not the gear syncing. Try different shift points, ususlly lower rpm, which should help. Also shift quick with min let up on the trottle. Have you tried pre-load the shfter befor shifting?
It works on my 919.

 

[Blue_Goose]

Define preloading....


Goose

 

[CaspianM]

Apply a bit of force to the shifter prior to the shifting. Not enough to shift though. It takes a bit of practice.

 

[02zx9r]

i just keep my foot under the shifter pedal and apply a light pressure so when I close the throttle a bit and upshift at same time if falls into gear.

 

[Greg L]

I'm with zx9r above:

I do the same thing when pedal shifting on my Ninja...

 

[Blue_Goose]

Seems like it would pop into the next gear before pulling in the clutch??



Goose

 

[CaspianM]

Learn how much pressure to apply w/o disengaging.
That also depends on the load on the engine.
This is a common practice by many riders.

 

[Blue_Goose]

Thanks....Ive heard of it but never practiced it...will check it out and see if it helps



Goose

 

[wantin150]

Shoes with a "soft" toe absorb some of the force. At least that's what I found. A harder toe transfers more of the effort to the shifter for a faster shift. Make sense?

 

[Blue_Goose]

yep! That does make sense




Goose

 

[foxer]

Plus you have to go through neutral on your 1-2 shift. Need a little extra oomph.

 

[kballowe]

Give it another thou or two. If you think you have a clunky transmission then you should try a new FZ1 - and worse yet a Gold Wing. Horrible. They do, however, get slicker as the miles accumulate.

1st, 2nd, and 3rd will almost always clunk more than the higher gears. To reduce the clunk while downshifting (coming to stop) try downshifting only in the RPM range. e.g. don't get down into the lower gears until you're close to stopping.

Also - your clutch does not totally submerse in oil. At least part of the shifting effect is caused by the amount of time the clutch plates take to separate. Sometimes, a little too much oil may contribute to the "clunk". This is especially true on Harleys (separate primary chaincase/clutch basket). In this case, too much oil makes it clunky and hard to shift, expecially in the lower gears.

And like someone else said - some oils are a little better than some others. Still, (in my mind) putting a few more miles on the bike should smooth things out a bit.