Two problems - Ticking at startup, and getting stuck between gears on downshift

[Goody Boy]

I had a lot of those false neutrals when the bike was brand new up to maybe 3000 km. I used semi-synthetic 10w-40 after the first 1k km and I also noticed shifting was a bit clunky. Just switched to full synthetic 10w-40 at 5k km and it's definitely shifting much smoother. I put in 2.7 liters of oil this time and oil level is just below the max line.

[Ray Ride4life]

I rev it a little when i pull the clutch for a downshift.

[Dave D]

Further on down the road.......2252 miles and the gear changes are smoother. Will be doing next oil change to fully synth soon anyhow.

[kainic]

How many miles before switching full synthetic? Seems some folks are doing it at 1K others after 2-3k?

[Tenerider]

Noticed the downshift problem around 1600 km/1000mi for the first time, and then quite often on my recent 1000km trip (only when shifting down several gears, like going from 5th to 2nd in front of a corner AND low in the revs already). Clutch was pulled completely. Mostly, it was stuck in 3rd and wouldn't go either up or down without releasing the clucth and sometimes revving it a little bit.

I also can't downshift when in standstill and the clutch is pulled.

Oil level is up to the max on mine. No problems on upshift yet, no problem at all to perform an upshift without the clutch (at least from 2nd gear on).

 

I agree with @Ray Ride4life: You need to commit to the downshifts. Release the shift lever completely, so it returns completely to its neutral position. Don't be too smooth with your foot.

But anyway, it bothers me a bit - and didn't occur on the first 1000 miles! But as you folks said, I probably just need to put some miles into it, and/or swith so full syn oil with a slightly lower level.

 

And yes, mine is ticking, too.

 

 

[whisperquiet]

I have 17,800 miles on my T7 and it shifts like a hot knife through butter…..no problem with up or down shifts.  I run either Yamalube 10w40 or Rotella synthetic in 5w40 or 15w40.  I lube the shift lever pivot area with Dri Slide ever so often as the pivot bolt is almost impossible to remove with the SW Motech center stand installed.

 

I did remove some some material from the foot peg bracket with my Dremel tool to allow more downward travel on my shift lever as I have 15mm lowered ION foot pegs from SW Motech.

[CoreCass]

trouble with shifting can also be a to tight chain.  and if it skips a gear to lose.

at least that's what i found.  drove once from the mechanic. he thought the chain had to be loser and i could only get it with difficulty in gear as it seemd to skip it. tightened to spec of the manual and no issue.

same with when i overtightened the chain [by holding a wrong point of measurement] and i noticed it being a bit harder to get in to gear.

 

i have never had any real trouble shifting besides these 2 instances.

not in the first 1000 km. not now at 30000km.

 

 

[Dave D]

3 hours ago, whisperquiet said:

I have 17,800 miles on my T7 and it shifts like a hot knife through butter…..no problem with up or down shifts.  I run either Yamalube 10w40 or Rotella synthetic in 5w40 or 15w40.  I lube the shift lever pivot area with Dri Slide ever so often as the pivot bolt is almost impossible to remove with the SW Motech center stand installed.

 

I did remove some some material from the foot peg bracket with my Dremel tool to allow more downward travel on my shift lever as I have 15mm lowered ION foot pegs from SW Motech.

Same thing here with foot peg bracket fouling the gear shift rod joint. Had to carve a chunk out the aluminium bracket to allow for adjusting gear lever down to suit new pegs. I recommend everyone checks the clearance at this point as in my case part of my downshift problem was the lever not fully moving downwards due to the rod joint hitting against the casting. Take a close look in there while pressing the gear lever all the way down and see if there is still a small gap. If not hack some metal off. 

[Landshark]

I have no trouble with mine.  Just change the oil to synthetic and don't look back.  You can change it at any time.  The sooner the better.

[roygilbo]

On 6/10/2022 at 11:06 AM, Landshark said:

I have no trouble with mine.  Just change the oil to synthetic and don't look back.  You can change it at any time.  The sooner the better.

Where do you buy your synthetic from? And what kind?  I am in Victoria. 

[Uncle M]

@roygilbo one good source is your Yamaha dealer:

Yamalube® 10W-40 4T Performance Synthetic Engine Oil - Yamaha Motor Canada

 

[Landshark]

54 minutes ago, roygilbo said:

Where do you buy your synthetic from? And what kind?  I am in Victoria. 

I head down to Canadian Tire when they're having a sale on Pennzoil 10W30 or 5W30.  Although any 100% synthetic will work well.  

[Liquidape]

13 minutes ago, Landshark said:

I head down to Canadian Tire when they're having a sale on Pennzoil 10W30 or 5W30.  Although any 100% synthetic will work well.  

Will work well as long as it’s JASO MA2 certified. Not all synthetics play well with wet clutches. If it has a JASO MA2 cert on the bottle you should be good to go. 

[Ray Ride4life]

I bought a 20L drum of Kroon Expulsa RR, also full synthetic and JASO MA2.
This year i'm over 30.000km on 2 bikes and the year is not over yet so it's cheaper to buy in bulk at a wholesaler because that's a normal yearly distance for me.

[EnduroRdr]

Wow reading this kinda makes me feel a little better (not that I have this downshifting issue but only because it seams several people have this same issue) and it seems to cure itself over time.

 I thought it was just me that bought a lemon!
So bought my 22 t7 a week ago and finally got out today to ride a little.

did the first 10 miles stop and go (lots of shifting) - smooth as silk.

shut it off for about 20 minutes to allow a heat cycle, then noticed after another 10 miles of more city (lots of shifts and red lights) it was often difficult to down shift! (Pretty much 6th down to 2nd would hang up with blank indicator in no particular 2 gears!) Release clutch slightly to engage sometimes helps to get to next lower gear. Always upshifts great!
then I noticed it seemed to help if I slightly lift shifter right before downshifting. Almost like it was not returning to center all the way.

doing that as I approach red lights helped to downshift each gear.

So my first thought was shift lever sticking?

I did notice my oil level was at top of glass. ( this is with oil as delivered).

 

parked it in garage tonight with only 50 miles on the clock.

after reading this thread, I think im going to change oil before next ride, set level at 1/2 glass and see if it improves.

Thanks for sharing everyone! 

Edited December 11, 2022 by EnduroRdr

[Tenerider]

I don't have this problem any more, it has disappeared around 5-6000 km.

But I meanwhile always blip the throttle for half a second when downshifting, this makes the switching super smooth. On upshifting I've always released the throttle for half a second.

[Dougie]

9 hours ago, EnduroRdr said:

Wow reading this kinda makes me feel a little better (not that I have this downshifting issue but only because it seams several people have this same issue) and it seems to cure itself over time.

 I thought it was just me that bought a lemon!
So bought my 22 t7 a week ago and finally got out today to ride a little.

did the first 10 miles stop and go (lots of shifting) - smooth as silk.

shut it off for about 20 minutes to allow a heat cycle, then noticed after another 10 miles of more city (lots of shifts and red lights) it was often difficult to down shift! (Pretty much 6th down to 2nd would hang up with blank indicator in no particular 2 gears!) Release clutch slightly to engage sometimes helps to get to next lower gear. Always upshifts great!
then I noticed it seemed to help if I slightly lift shifter right before downshifting. Almost like it was not returning to center all the way.

doing that as I approach red lights helped to downshift each gear.

So my first thought was shift lever sticking?

I did notice my oil level was at top of glass. ( this is with oil as delivered).

 

parked it in garage tonight with only 50 miles on the clock.

after reading this thread, I think im going to change oil before next ride, set level at 1/2 glass and see if it improves.

Thanks for sharing everyone! 

I wouldn’t bother with the oil change yet, just run her in as per normal and do it at the 600 miles point. 

[EnduroRdr]

I did some investigating today (while it was raining- couldn’t rid anyway).

 I found that the shift lever was kinda sticky and wouldn’t return to center very easily. So I removed the shift rod (at the top arm). I found the top lever on motor working great, snaps back to center but the lower shift lever stiff to move. Removed the aluminum assembly (foot peg and kick stand all together) to gain access to the shift lever mounting bolt. Removed bolt and found it dry, not a sign of grease in-spite of the obvious groove intended to hold grease. I also slightly flattened the wave washer to ease some tension. Greased the shaft, added thread lock and reasonable.

Now everything snaps back to center as an assembly with shift rod reconnected.

 I feel pretty confident this will improve the downshifting.

also while the assembly was off I trimmed the aluminum tab that potentially interferes with the shifter at bottom of stroke.

[EnduroRdr]

 

you can see the tab here that the shifter could be touching on downshifting.

[EnduroRdr]

I just found this video that actually confirmed my same findings:

 

[EnduroRdr]

Also - anyone here an opinion on these shift shaft supports?

 

Racetorx Gear Shift Support Yamaha Tenere 700 / R7 / MT-07

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Have you ever been in a situation where you're screaming through some twisties when suddenly you hit a false neutral and so you have no drive or engine breaking,This...

 

[EnduroRdr]

Heres more on that shift support thingy:

 

 

[DT700]

Picked up a new 2022 T7 recently and had the same issue with not being able to downshift consistently, especially getting stuck from 4th to 3rd.  Brought it to the dealer and the mechanic rode it, then told me there wasn't an issue as I watched him struggle downshifting.

 

After having to stop suddenly in highway traffic and then not being able to get out of 5th gear, I checked the oil level and the noticed sightglass was completely full. Look like these clowns filled about 3 full liters in there when setting it up. I drained it to underneath the max line and the issue seems to have gone away.