It's broken!!! :(

Hi,

I'm an absolute novice when it comes to motorcycle mechanics but my bike is now broken and I don't know how to fix it.

On the way home today my bike was stiff when changing gear and I thought it was noisy too (clunking noises) but I can't be sure because the traffic was too loud. I've been meaning to adjust the clutch cable recently as it has seemed to be a bit slack but it seemed to be very slack today. Changing gear was very difficult, it didn't just drop in, I had to push the lever down with a bit more force and the same when changing up.

When I got it home I had tea and then decided to adjust the clutch tension. I started it up to see if it was still as stiff as it was before, but now when I put it into first it stalls immediately. It starts up fine and the engine sounds ok but when I go into first it just cuts out (not a jerk like stalling from being in gear with the clutch out).

Can anyone help? I don't think I'm cut out for this biking lark and am starting to get disillusioned as I don't really know very much at all and don't have any friends with bikes either.

Any suggestions would be gratefully received, even ones that suggest throwing my bike off a cliff.

It's a curvy 99 sv650S btw.

Thanks in advance,

Al

Are you trying to put it in gear with the side stand down are you!!! If so the bike has a cutout switch that will stall the bike!!!!

[fizzwheel]

As well as checking your clutch adjustment, check your chain tension and also the oil level. I found before a slack chain will have an effect on the gear change. Also if the oil level is to full it will effect it to. Though normally to much engine oil will make it hard to find neutral at a standstill.

As billy says your problem with starting sounds to me like the side stand cut out switch is cutting the engine out.

Originally Posted by BILLY

Are you trying to put it in gear with the side stand down are you!!! If so the bike has a cutout switch that will stall the bike!!!!

erm . . . .

Originally Posted by alex.j

erm . . . .

Easily done, especially if you didn't know! The 3rd day I had my SV I turned the ignition on but a red warning light came on and the display said 'CHEC'. 'Check what?' I thought, worried that something had gone wrong with my new bike. After consulting the manual it turned out that it was because it was in gear with the stand down (I had intentionally left it in gear). If it had been a simple case of nothing happening when I pushed the starter button my first reaction would have been to check if it was in neutral, but the red warning light and 'CHEC' warning threw me!

I spent half a day adjusting and re-adjusting the cable and screw in the mechanism, before realising I , too , was trying to put it in gear with the side stand out. Easily done.

Also check to see if the gear lever is stiff to move. Could be the bush at the footpeg end is siezed. A fairly common fault.

Originally Posted by alex.j

Can anyone help? I don't think I'm cut out for this biking lark and am starting to get disillusioned as I don't really know very much at all and don't have any friends with bikes either.

DON'T get disillusioned. I had a really awful riding experience about two or three days after my test, nothing major but i dropped the bike from a standstill twice in two days, and then my right turns all went to pot, and I thought I was just pants and would be pants forever...

BUT... some good rides out with a mate and I'm getting more confident and happier... Yes, I still have the odd moment here and there, and they knock your confidence, but any ride you come back from alive is a good one.

If you want someone to ride with, drop me a PM... I live down near Sunderland and I work in Gosforth - and I could do with some more mates to ride out with, as I don't have many and they're not always around. It'd be good to have someone else to go out with who's not an expert rider!!! I'm also pretty handy with a spanner, just in case you need it.

Originally Posted by WRCSixtyThree

DON'T get disillusioned. I had a really awful riding experience about two or three days after my test, nothing major but i dropped the bike from a standstill twice in two days, and then my right turns all went to pot, and I thought I was just pants and would be pants forever...

What he said. If you were able to trawl the archives here back way beyond my apparent joining date you would see that I said almost the very same thing. I expect many thers did too.

When I started riding I was crap and progressed to not very good*. I also had no other biking mates apart from one or two I met here. But things change. Stick with it. BUT what I found I had to do from time to tome is sit back, take a break and do other things. Then a while later you find you WANT to get back on the bike. Oh, and despite owning a bike for a bit now I still have no mechanical know how whatsoever

*my road ridings alright now, Ive progressed to trail riding badly