changing down

Hi,

I've recently been experiencing a gear changing problem that seems to be worse the colder it is. I have been unable to change down more than 1 gear at a time, if I try to then the lever just flaps and doesn't seem to hit anything. Sometimes it won't go down at all so that is more than a little worrying. I've got a service booked for next week so I'll get them to have a look then but I was wondering if it sounds serious.

It's a W reg curvy.

thanks in advance,

Al

I had a very similar problem caused by a seriously loose chain.

Adjust chain, lube the joints on the gear shift rod and it was all good again

[johnnyrod]

Why are you trying to change down more than one at a time? It's not a car. Are you blipping the throttle on downcahnges? This makes it a lot smoother, but shouldn't stop the gearchange happening if you don't.

My curvy one has a crap gearchange if the chain is loose too. And check the oil level.

I had a problem last winter with the gear changing - sounds like your problem was similar to mine.

It may well be that the gear lever isn't returning properly. Mine would return sometimes and not others, meaning I couldn't then locate the gear I needed. After much toil and trouble, it turned out it the gear lever return mechanism had seized.

Took to local bike shop who stripped it, cleaned it up and fixed. No problem since. Guy in shop knew what to look for as soon as I described the problem, said it wasd quite common on SVs and Bandits.

Hope this helps

Tony

Originally Posted by Tony_BLY

It may well be that the gear lever isn't returning properly.

Had that in the winter. It only affected downshifts and you only noticed on blockshifting (E.g. Coming to a stop at lights - Johnyrod ). Mine was caused by a build up of cr*p round the gear change, a good clean (as oposed to the quicky it was getting coz of the cold) and plenty of lubrication sorted it out.

[Sid Squid]

http://forums.sv650.org/viewtopic.ph...rrosion#459706

http://forums.sv650.org/viewtopic.ph...rrosion#437680

If this is only happening when cold i would consider renewing the gearbox oil. In the cold the oil will be thicker which will slow the "De-Clutched" cogs and creat a greater rpm difference between engine side and wheel side drive, thus making it harder to change gear. Once the oil heats up, gear changing will be easier.

Don't believe me????? Try riding along and when you go to change down, hold the clutch in for 10 seconds or more, before pressing down the gear selector with your foot. You will find its a lot harder. This is because the 10 second delay is long enough for the gears to slow down, creating the large difference in gear/dog rpm.

The older your oil gets, the thicker it gets. the colder it gets the thicker it gets too. So if its fine when the engines hot but not when its cold, i would get my oils renewed.

Thats assuming all your linkage and cables etc are properly adjusted.

You may well be right splund on everything you say, but if I was a betting man I would go for the return mechanism, considering a) its a common problem b) the bike is a 2000 plate and things start to wear/seize, particularly if ridden through winter.

hmm, all seems a little beyond my technical expertise. I'll check the chain and take it to the garage I think. At least it doesn't sound too expensive.

Thanks all for the advice