Preload for Gear Shift

[TomS]

Hi All. New owner here from Southern California. 

 

I took the bike out this afternoon for it's first miles, and I immediately noticed that it was difficult to upshift into 3rd and 4th gears. I was riding with new boots as well, so I chalked it up to the stiff boots, but for some reason shifting up to 5th and 6th was never a problem. After missing the same upshifts consistently for a handful of times, I decided to try preloading the shift lever and was surprised at how much 'slack' there was between 2-3 and 3-4.  Is this normal for this bike?

 

Once I started preloading the shift lever before upshifting into 3rd and 4th, the shifts were smooth as expected. Downshifts were all normal. It's still possible that the boots are still stiff and don't allow for enough range of motion yet, I was surprised at the amount of 'slack' going into those gears. 

 

Attaching a photo for the heck of it

Edited February 12, 2023 by TomS
typo

[Stevoh]

3 hours ago, TomS said:

Hi All. New owner here from Southern California. 

 

I took the bike out this afternoon for it's first miles, and I immediately noticed that it was difficult to upshift into 3rd and 4th gears. I was riding with new boots as well, so I chalked it up to the stiff boots, but for some reason shifting up to 5th and 6th was never a problem. After missing the same upshifts consistently for a handful of times, I decided to try preloading the shift lever and was surprised at how much 'slack' there was between 2-3 and 3-4.  Is this normal for this bike?

 

Once I started preloading the shift lever before upshifting into 3rd and 4th, the shifts were smooth as expected. Downshifts were all normal. It's still possible that the boots are still stiff and don't allow for enough range of motion yet, I was surprised at the amount of 'slack' going into those gears. 

 

Attaching a photo for the heck of it

Not sure how many miles you have up, but it may have a lot to do with the break in oil from new, change out to full synthetic and you will see an immediate difference the gear shift, it will be a heap smoother and will improve with use.

[Dougie]

As @Stevoh says, (loads on here about it a few years ago) the gearshift was a pain in the arse from new. It becomes smoother after first service and mileage. Totally different. 

[Windblown]

I vote that the new boots are the catalyst to your new and likely temporary issue.  Other things might enter the picture as well (like the amount of throw, the oil bring used etc) however when a new issue rears it's head right after making a change the cause 99% of the time it's the change at the heart of it. No need to start throwing parts at it IMHO. Make sure your new boot is clearing the shifter between shifts first as you might benefit from a small lever height adjustment to get it all working smoothly.

 

As you mentioned a bit of break in may make things fine again. In the meantime there is nothing wrong with preloading for the shift. I've done it on a ton of bikes over the years if they seemed to prefer it. I think you'll find once your boots break in and/or you adjust the shift lever it won't be necessary though.   

 

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by Windblown

[Hollybrook]

I tend to preload the shifter on the street to get faster and smoother shifts. Offroad, I just stab the lever. 

 

So far, my T7 is shifting fine. I do find that when switching boots it takes a few minutes to adjust and get better shifts. 

[Endopotential]

Anyone having issues with downshifting?

 

On my nearly brand new bike, on rare occasions I can't just row from 6th down to neutral, like coming off a freeway to a stop sign.  I'll do 6-5-4 or something, then it'll get stuck there.  I have to let out the clutch and continue the process and 3-2-N works fine.

 

Hopefully this is something that just breaks in with time, I hope?  Otherwise upshifting hasn't been a problem for my bike.

[Ray Ride4life]

I blip the throttle when downshifting.

[Windblown]

6 hours ago, Endopotential said:

Anyone having issues with downshifting?

 

On my nearly brand new bike, on rare occasions I can't just row from 6th down to neutral, like coming off a freeway to a stop sign.  I'll do 6-5-4 or something, then it'll get stuck there.  I have to let out the clutch and continue the process and 3-2-N works fine.

 

Hopefully this is something that just breaks in with time, I hope?  Otherwise upshifting hasn't been a problem for my bike.

 

It's not unusual at all for a MC transmission to balk at going from 6th to first (or neutral) with the clutch pulled the entire time.  I never do more than two gears at a time without letting out the clutch even if just for a split second.  

[Endopotential]

I've also got a Triumph Daytona and KTM 790 Duke and they seem to be able to do multiple sequential downshifts more consistently.

Guess I'll give this Yamaha a bit more break in time, along with its first oil change soon.

[Rich TT]

9 hours ago, Ray Ride4life said:

I blip the throttle when downshifting.

Exactly that. Been doing that for 39 years!

[TomS]

Thanks everyone for the comments. I made the previous post after the first ride (mile 0 to around 50).

 

Took the bike out again today for a short ride, and 2nd to 3rd shifts as expected now. I haven't done anything besides making it a point to let the clutch out all the way between shifts, as suggested, so maybe that helped. 4th to 5th still requires preloading the lever here and there, but I think it's more from me being sloppy because of the stiff boots. Whatever the case, we'll let the bike do it's thing and break itself in. 

 

As for downshifts, those are all very positive and smooth. I'm not coordinated enough to blip, but I hold the throttle steady and let the clutch out between every downshift, even the quicker ones. The revs seem to naturally match, and that's always worked for me.

[bth2]

ive done 25,000 mls on mine now. gear shift has always been "not the best" but works fine. 

first ,get some miles done. second , make sure the oil level is mid way between the markings. too much /little oil does have an influence over the smoothness of gear change.

after first engaging gear, i very rarely use the clutch to change up and changes really nice.sometimes i can change down without issue.

just have fun and dont overthink things.

 

brian

[mcbrien]

I moved the shifter linkage closer to the shifter shaft and that took about half of the free play out. 

No more missed shifts for me. I bought a new lever and placed hole 1.125 in from c/l of shift shaft

and that's great for me. 

 

 

[Stevoh]

20 minutes ago, mcbrien said:

I moved the shifter linkage closer to the shifter shaft and that took about half of the free play out. 

No more missed shifts for me. I bought a new lever and placed hole 1.125 in from c/l of shift shaft

and that's great for me. 

 

 

What lever did you buy?

[Windblown]

3 hours ago, Stevoh said:

What lever did you buy?

 

Looks like the stock Shift arm.  Nice out of the box thinking by @mcbrien.  The throw doesn't bother me but if it ever does I'm going to use his idea!

[Hollybrook]

That also reduces impacts from stomping on the shifter to downshift while riding offroad in rough terrain. 

[mcbrien]

7 hours ago, Stevoh said:

What lever did you buy?

I bought the stock lever because I  couldn't  put a hole at the 1 1/8 location because of all the other holes from me experimenting .

Just drill & tap a hole in your lever at the 1 1/8 mark and try it out. If you don't like just go back to your original hole.