help :o

[heros]

well tday took the missus out for her bday on the bike, iv done about 570 miles (on the bike from new) so far and on the way back i was coming to a stop and between 10 - 15 mph i tried to go to 1st with the clutch in and the gear box made a dodgy crunch noise and went to neutral and wudnt go into first till i was at a complete stand still. iv had 1st make this crunch a few times and am now getting worried about it, got my first service coming up in a day or two so should i mention it to the garage or am i doing something wrong with my gear changes?

[gomez]

Hi,
You should wait until you are stopped until going into 1st. Your bike will happily go down to 10 to 15 mph in 3rd or 2nd. If you read page 5-4 of the handbook it has two tables for the speeds for changing up & down.
ie:- 1st to 2nd @ 12mph etc. up to 6th.
The ratios a very close on the SV.
Going down the box, the book only gives 3 changes
6th to 5th @ 31mph
5th to 4th @ 25mph
4th to 3rd @ 19mph .
It then states " Disengage the clutch when the motorcycle speed drops below 12mph"

From this I assume you are ment to come to stop snicking down to 2nd then neutral with the clutch in. Of course most of us do all this with out thinking about what we are doing. If you are in traffic and moving slowly don't go below 2nd use your clutch below 10mph and as long as you are still moving, use some revs and feed the clutch in gently then you will pull away ok.

[Stig]

They all do that sir.

As has been said, selecting first gear should be done at a stand still and going through neutral properly. Stop in 2nd gear, select neutral and then first.

When down shifting, do you use the "clutch in, rev, select lower gear, clutch out" method, or do you just clutch in and down shift? Doing the first option will allow the clutch to match the speed of the gearbox when shifting gears and makes for smoother changes.

There is always the possibility that because all the parts are new and as yet have not seated properly you will have some grinding to begin with. This is why the oil and filter are changed so soon after the bike is new. To allow all the bits of metal in the oil to be removed during the wearing in process.

You may find that after the 1st service, gear changes are somewhat smoother, as the mechanic should re adjust the clutch to compensate for this initial wear. In my experience this is quite often missed by the mechanic though, and they just adjust the cable at the lever end.

[Sid Squid]

Agree with the above, 15 mph is a bit high for getting first - unless you were to bring the revs up significantly, but then there's no need if you're slowing.
Down to first at walking pace or stopped - otherwise a healthy 'blip' will be needed.

[Iain51]

:? I know I drop down into first when still riding along, never had an issue. Can't be sure of speeds tho.

Mind you, I do *always* blip on a downchange. I find it physically impossible not to!

[thor]

I found the same with mine, but it got better after 2000 miles odd. Now I can select first on the move as long as I give it some revs with the clutch in first.