Gear Problems / Newbie ??'s

[zurv]

Hey all,

I have a few questions, number one is "gears". Let me say that I bought the bike used with 10500 miles on it. Did someome screw something up? I'll try and explain this the best I can.

Today I was trying to go a little fast on a long stretch of road (private). I change gears until about 5th, when I tried to go up and then let go of the clutch and gave it gas, the engine just reved. It was somehow not in gear, so I pulled the clutch again and geared up, which worked fine. This has happend twice.

Somtimes It is very hard for me to get into neutral, sometimes easy. Once time I was stopped and couldnt get into neutral. I couldnt release the cluch or I would stall. So I started off and then shifted to second (all was fine). Another time I was stopped and couldnt get into 1st (I was in 2nd).

What is going on here? It seems that if I can let the clutch go and pull it in again, that usualy fixes things if the gears wont change (usually).


The other question I have is, what should I do often after riding? lets say after a daily ride, or after a few days of riding? Anything?

How important is "chain greese" someone told me I should put it on every time I ride.


Thanks in advance,

-Griffe

[zurv]

I talked to a friend, he said it sounds like the clutch needs adjustment.

What do you guys think?

[philipMac]

:wink:
Alright mate.
I will try and walk through things are you mentioned them.
OK, so ten K on the clocks is nothing to be getting worried about.

Then we have the issue of "Gears". You know the way that between first and second you have neutral? Well, there are sort of "false" neutrals between all the gears. Sometimes if I am rushing I will hit a false neutral. It doesnt happen on my bike now as much as it did on the last bike. Not sure why this is. Its not a big deal though. Just put it into gear properly and firmly each change till it becomes habit.

If its hard to get "Neutral", well, try an oil change on the bike, and be careful you dont over fill it. Too much oil can cause the SV to be a bit of a bugger to get into neutral. More imedeately, what I do if it wont get neutral is ever so slightly drag the clutch a little, or rock the bike, and try again. I have had bikes with totally jocked gear boxes, and they always found neutral. Popping out of gears under load is the bad sign there.

And finaly the thorny issue of "Chain grease". You will find much dicussion about it on this site. Do a search on Chain lube up top there. You can use a Scottoiler. Really good. Or you can just give the chain a wipe every week or so with a nice oily rag dipped in engine oil.

Take it easy mate. Buy your self some leathers, and some crash bungs while you are at it. I think Chewy is flogging some good ones.

[philipMac]

Oh yeah, and the clutch.
I mean, to adjust it, you just pull back the rubber thingy, ahem, and twiddle the knurled knob. If you know what I mean.

Make sure you lock it back once you have adjusted it, screwing the big outer ring part till its locked against lever body.
You will just know the right adjustment. People like it differant places. As long as there is some slack on the cable when the clutch is released you're sound.

[petevtwin650]

The gearchange on the move problem could be a loose chain too.

I tend to lube the chain after every ride whilst it's still warm. But then I like to do a couple of hundred miles. Obviously shorter journeys don't warrant such attention.

Keep an eye on the oil level too.

[RandyO]

it actually sounds to me like a sticky clutch cable, before you bother to adjust it, make sure the cable moves freely, if cleaning I lubing doesn't work, then replace the cable with a new one

[zurv]

Thanx guys!

Damn your helpfull..

I guess I need to practice shifting. I have a friend that says he can help me take a look at the clutch.

I'll let ya kno what happends!!

Thank ya!

[zurv]

Ok,

Adjusted the clutch.
Well a friend did. He said the clutch was way off. So far since the adjustment I have only driven it home. But I thought I would come here and express a concern.

The clutch used to let out very early, it seems that now I have to pull the clutch in more and it only catches the gear right at the end before I let out.

I am not sure if its just me not being used to it, but it just dosent feel right.

How should the clutch be? How do I make sure its adjusted properly?
Also I just felt for some reason my RPM's were higher since the adjustment, am I mistaken? Could this have happend?

Can someone give me some RPM examples I can check, e.g 3rd at 40mph = 4000

Also, I thought I remembered the previous owner saying something about replacing the spark plugs. How can I check to see if this needs to be done?

Last question, I looked for information on "Chain Greese" and couldnt seem to find what I was looking for. Maybe I missed something? Since then I have every now and then sprayed WD40 on the chain and the engine. Is this a bad idea?

Sorry for all the ??'s!
Thanx in advance!
-Griffe

[philipMac]

Griffe mate.

When the clutch is let out, there should be a small amount of slack on the clutch cable.
You should be able to pull the clutch lever a fraction before it actually pulls the clutch in, just to take up that slack.

To test your clutch, find a bit of empty road, pull away in first, put it into second, and roll it open fairly quickly. Pull through the whole rev range. If the clutch is on the way out it will slip when the bike is really pulling, (high end revs). You will hear the engine roaring, disproportionatley to the rate of acceleration.

If the gear box is dodgey, it might jump out of gear. I doubt either of these things will happen after 10K though.

If the engine is fireing on both cylinders, and starts easily, your plugs are probably ok. You can swap them out if you want. I tend to leave well enough alone though.

WRT to Chain grease, look up chain lube. Or Scotoiler. Or Lubeman.
WD40 is very thin for chain lube. I use engine oil, or specific non fly-off chain lube when I am feeling rich.

[zurv]

Thanks for the answers, I will check these in a bit.

How do I make sure my clutch and gears will last? What should/shouldnt I do?

How quickly should I let the clutch out for it to be ok for the bike? Sometimes I have to let it out quite slow if I have a 2nd person on the bike or on a hill.

Is it ok to give it gas while letting the clutch out?

-Griffe

[philipMac]

Thanks for the answers, I will check these in a bit.

How do I make sure my clutch and gears will last? What should/shouldnt I do?

How quickly should I let the clutch out for it to be ok for the bike? Sometimes I have to let it out quite slow if I have a 2nd person on the bike or on a hill.

Is it ok to give it gas while letting the clutch out?

-Griffe

Dont worry about your gearbox, or your clutch. The SV is a solid bike. People do horrible things to them all the time, and they run away fine. Clutch in, throttle closed, change gear, clutch out. No worries.
If you drive in a anyway sane way your clutch will last ages.
I "blip" the throttle, to spin the engine up when I am downshifting. This means there isnt that really hard engine break when you are slowing down fast. Blipping is just like twitching the throttle a little bit, like:
Clutch in, throttle closed, blip & change gear, clutch out. Its like a little twitch.
Do a search on blipping, you will find threads.

Letting the clutch out slowly is fine, giving it a load of throttle is fine. If I am rushing, I try not to lift the front wheel, other than that I push as hard as I can. Thats how hard I push it, other people here push it harder than that.

I used to really beat the crap out of my two strokes clutch. REAALLy beat on it, sliding the crap out of it. Never had to replace it.

Even if you do have to replace it, its not the end of the world at all.

[zurv]

great, thanks for the answers. That reassures me.

Btw, whats the best way to lift the front end up on a sv650? as in novice wheelie.

I have heard of a lot of different ways.

-Griffe

[Biker Biggles]

Try an Abba stand-----Much safer. :wink:

[zurv]

haha,

I thought you were serious so I started looking them up, then I saw what they were :)

Any other ideas?