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Intermittent NO Shift to 1st from Neutral

RibEye

Senior Member
I have an '03 RKC, w/ @15K mi on it. Occasionally, from neutral, I'll shift to 1st and the tranny doesn't go there. Sometimes it will go there but no detectable indication that it did. I have to slowly release the clutch to see. The neutral light goes out every time, but sometimes it is still apparently in neutral, or some intermediate state with no engagement.

If it does not go into gear, and I let out the clutch to know for sure, the next time I try to shift into 1st it goes in with the encouraging clunk.

I have no other shifting problems or symptoms. Just this one.

Does this sound familiar to anyone? Is this normal, or is something out of adjustment? Sprung shifter fork? Tranny going out? What do you guys think?

I don't remember having this issue when I ws running Syn3 in the tranny. I am now running Spectro 75w140 HD Platinum tranny lube in there. In the primary I'm running Formula+.

Thanks,
Rich P
 
I have an '03 RKC, w/ @15K mi on it. Occasionally, from neutral, I'll shift to 1st and the tranny doesn't go there. Sometimes it will go there but no detectable indication that it did. I have to slowly release the clutch to see. The neutral light goes out every time, but sometimes it is still apparently in neutral, or some intermediate state with no engagement.
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I I am now running Spectro 75w140 HD Platinum tranny lube in there. In the primary I'm running Formula+.

Thanks,
Rich P

JUST MY THOUGHTS.... any LOOSENESS in the shifting linkage..... IF you try shifting and it DOESN"T go all the way into first it sound like a worn out linkage or a problem in the trany....

USUALLY the linkage ISN"T throwing the shift arm on the tranny FAR ENOUGH..... WHEN it DOESN"T WORK.... ? DO you shift BACK to neutral or do you JUST shift IT AGAIN from that position to make it work???

I doubt if the NEW OIL you are using NOW (the correct ones) had anything to do with it.... SYN3 is not a Transmission LUBE... AND IF you HAVE USED IT FOR A LONG TIME THAT MIGHT BE YOUR PROBLEM.....

YES WE HAVE ALL HEARD IT....HD SAYS OK IN 3 HOLES but MOST HERE wouldn't use it in ONE HOLE.....

HOW LONG HAVE YOU OWNED THE BIKE?

HOW MANY MILES ON BIKE?

HOW LONG DID YOU USE THE SYN3 (MILES)

HOW LONG HAS THIS SHIFTING PROBLEM BEEN GOING ON?

DO YOU HOLD THE SHIFTER INTO LOW GEAR POSITION UNTIL YOU LEAVE CLUTCH OUT...By holding pressure against the FOOT SHIFT(toe down) until clutch is left out and still NO FIRST GEAR....TRY THIS AND REPORT.

If the shifter linkage is making a FULL THROW into low AND at the TRANNY ARM,,,it is probably inside the BOX...

WHEN CHOPPER GETS OUT OF BED HE WILL PROBABLY HAVE ANOTHER OPINION and I would LISTEN....

COM'ON Chopper....

signed....BUBBIE...
 
I think Bubbie has the bases covered for you Rich, the first place to look would be the shifter linkage, is it sloppy or need adjustment? Sometimes just switching to a better fluid in the trans can make a world of difference in the shifting department, maybe the spectro fluid is not the right fluid for you, it is heavier then syn 3, if all checks out well I would try going back to syn 3 and see, if you're bikes happier shifting with syn 3 run it. . The word Occasionally and intermediate tell's me the problem is more likly in the linkage, fluid or clutch adjustment rather then the trans itself.
 
JUST MY THOUGHTS.... any LOOSENESS in the shifting linkage..... IF you try shifting and it DOESN"T go all the way into first it sound like a worn out linkage or a problem in the trany....

USUALLY the linkage ISN"T throwing the shift arm on the tranny FAR ENOUGH..... WHEN it DOESN"T WORK.... ? DO you shift BACK to neutral or do you JUST shift IT AGAIN from that position to make it work???

I doubt if the NEW OIL you are using NOW (the correct ones) had anything to do with it.... SYN3 is not a Transmission LUBE... AND IF you HAVE USED IT FOR A LONG TIME THAT MIGHT BE YOUR PROBLEM.....

YES WE HAVE ALL HEARD IT....HD SAYS OK IN 3 HOLES but MOST HERE wouldn't use it in ONE HOLE.....

HOW LONG HAVE YOU OWNED THE BIKE?

HOW MANY MILES ON BIKE?

HOW LONG DID YOU USE THE SYN3 (MILES)

HOW LONG HAS THIS SHIFTING PROBLEM BEEN GOING ON?

DO YOU HOLD THE SHIFTER INTO LOW GEAR POSITION UNTIL YOU LEAVE CLUTCH OUT...By holding pressure against the FOOT SHIFT(toe down) until clutch is left out and still NO FIRST GEAR....TRY THIS AND REPORT.

If the shifter linkage is making a FULL THROW into low AND at the TRANNY ARM,,,it is probably inside the BOX...

WHEN CHOPPER GETS OUT OF BED HE WILL PROBABLY HAVE ANOTHER OPINION and I would LISTEN....

COM'ON Chopper....

signed....BUBBIE...
I got this scooter in Sept. with @10K mi on it. I had the Hundred Dollar Store do a full up 10K service, and added both tires and rear brakes to the mix. I believe the original owner ran synthetic of some sort except in the primary. The dealer put Syn3 in all 3 holes. I let it stay till I did my next service at 14K mi, when I put Spectro 75W140 in the tranny and Formula+ in the primary. Not long after that the 1st gear issue showed up. The Spectro did smooth out teh shifting quite a bit. There does seem to be a slight issue that seems like teh gears aren'tmeshing right, when shifting from 1st to 2nd or from 2nd to 3rd, if my revs are low or I'm twisting the throttle pretty good. I'm thinking that is more or less normal. maybe I'm wrong there.

As for the linkage, I just ordered a new linkage from J&P with heim ends. I'll put that in this weekend and adjust per manual. Lets see if that does it.

When the issue shows up, I usually shift back to neutral and try again. If that is all I do, it still does not go into 1st. If I try letting out the clutch slightly to see if there is friction, then go back to neutral and retry, she generally will go in then. I'm not sure what makes the difference...the bike moves forward or back, or something in the box shifts slightly, I just can't tell. There's nothing I can reliably correlate yet.

I'll try maintaining pressure on the shifter as I release the clutch and see if that makes a difference...

Enjoy,
Rich P
 
Sounds like one of the linkage levers may be a little loose on the splined shaft. Either the one up front or the one at the tranny. Get down there and take a close-up look for any give that should not be there.:(
 
OK. I have installed a new chrome linkage from J&P. It was a little longer at its minimum adjustment, so I had to move the front and rear shifters one spline each, on teh splined shaft. They are both a bit higher now, but I now have aircraft ends.

Shifting has improved, feeling more positive, and less sensitive to rpm vs. vehicle speed...meshing better. There does seem to be less clunking when shifting as well.

The failure to go into 1st from neutral, at a stop, seems to be less frequent. It did not clear up entirely. I have a friend with an '03 FB, and is experiencing the same thing. Not going into 1st but the neutral light going out. I tried the experiment of maintaining light pressure on the shifter, while letting out the clutch. This does work. The tranny slips right into 1st, and I can feel the shifter moving a bit more down as the tranny goes into 1st.

Enjoy,
Rich P
 
How do you properly adjust the linkage?
The only adjustment is to make sure that the shifters have enough room to fully actuate the shift mechanism, up or down, without hitting the floorboards, or the limit(s) of the shifter shaft. The other limit would be that the shifters are not too high off of the floorboards for comfortabel shifting.

Enjoy,
Rich P
 
OK.
********
I tried the experiment of maintaining light pressure on the shifter, while letting out the clutch. This does work. The tranny slips right into 1st, and I can feel the shifter moving a bit more down as the tranny goes into 1st.
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Enjoy,
Rich P

THAT EXPERIMENT is HOW it should be done ever time .. HOLDING the direction of the shift with the shifter... When I suggested that,,,, it was meant to become a permanent process..

EVEN on my 09 FLHR, I can feel the gears go FULLY into them every once in a while...

JUST ME
signed....BUBBIE
 
One other thing that can have a affect on shifting is proper clutch adjustment, since you have had the service done the clutch adjustment should be good but sometime you can get excess play in your cable adjustment after a while, you should have a 1/16'' to 1/8'' free play in your clutch cable, no more, if there is more just loosen the lock nut on the cable adjuster and readjust. Glad to hear the new linkage helped some and just getting to know your bike better, you'll get a better feel how she likes to be shifted, bikes are like women, once you figure out what makes them happy, life just gets better.
 
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