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06 RT First Gear Problem


Albert

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Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and, if there's a simple linkage adjustment to correct it.

 

I now have around 1100 miles on my 06 RT and have experienced this behavior since new. When the bike is cold I have a tough time getting into first gear. When I step on the shifter it bottoms out (the indicator goes from N to blank) and 1st is not engaged. I can monkey around by shifting up to 2nd and back down and eventually 1st will pop in. This goes away shortly after riding away, as the transmission warms up. After warm up it never happens.

 

Any insights appreciated.

Thanks

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Change your gearbox oil. I use 75W-140 synthetic with added moly. Your gearbox is made to close tolerances and as such, when cold, the gears spin down quickly when the clutch is disengaged, making it difficult to engage first gear.

 

New oil and some moly will help alleviate the condition but, once you have 4000-6000 miles on your gear box, the condition will disappear.

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Or hold the lever down as you roll the bike back 6-12 inches. It works every time. There is nothing whatsoever wrong with your transmission.

Paul in CA

'05 R1200RT

'98 XR400R

Other vintage

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Thanks guys that gives me something new thumbsup.gif to try. I've tried rocking the bike, letting the clutch out part way, and so on but I hadn't thought about holding the shifter down.

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Al,

In a nutshell, the driving gears in the transmission stop rather quickly when youi pull in the clutch (thank you, dry clutch). The driven gears are stopped because you are standing still. When the driving gears stop, if the engagement dogs happen to be aligned, fine, it drops right into gear. If not, you have to align the gear engagement dogs somehow. The choices are 1) slip the clutch slightly to rotate the driving gears, or 2) roll the bike to rotate the driven gears (the method I use - less shock on the gears). Simple as that. Some riders time the pull of the clutch lever to pushing on the shift lever. That way the gears not not have a chance to stop (not my preferred technique).

Parenthetically, it is of no use to stab at the shift lever trying to get it into first (we've all seen that one or twice). At best. it does no harm. A real heavy for could possibly bend a shift fork. You wouldn't want that.

Paul in CA

'05 R1200RT

'98 XR400R

Other vintage

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It happens all the time...just keep tapping the shifter as you let the clutch out.....watch the indicator.....after awhile you won't even know your doing it....unless you try it on your Harley....That's a whole nother store...ouch

 

Whip

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Just let the clutch back out then pull it back in.

Works everytime.

 

This always works for me too. It is also sometimes necessary to do this in order to engage the starter while in first gear.

 

Jay

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It is also sometimes necessary to do this in order to engage the starter while in first gear.

 

I think that will only happen if you have the clutch disengaged before turning on the ignition.

 

What works best for me is to just engage first gear immediately after disengaging the clutch before the shafts stop spinning. The other methods work also but this seems to be the quickest and rocking the bike back and forth may not be possible depending on where you happen to be sitting.

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It's fairly warm here this morning (high 50's) so it did it only once when I first pulled out of the garage. I used the "hold the shifter down and let the clutch out slowly" method and it worked perfectly. Thanks to all.

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