Hello everyone.
I have a 2005 model with a Staintune exhaust system. I hope someone can suggest what might be wrong with my gearbox as these symptoms have been getting progressively worse over time:
1) There is resistance when shifting from first gear to second and it is an awful crash/grind when it shifts
2) Under load, drops from second to neutral occassionally (particularly during wheelstand )
3) Under load, there is a very brief period where there is no drive after an upshift - particularly in the lower gears

Thanks for any tips on how to resolve this problem.

 

The 1-2 shift is notably clunky or not real smooth on these bikes. There are products out there such as the Factory Pro detent arm/spring kit that I have in mine or the evo shift star kit which replaces more components. The cheaper kit that I have makes a noticeable difference in shift quality and performance under load.

Your other 2 issues sound like bigger issues might be going on in there...

 

Sounds like maybe a clutch issue. How is the oil level, age and quality?

 

#2... are you saying it pops out of gear? If so, you have a bent shift fork or worn dogs.
For this top of happened to a Honda means there has been some serious tranny abuse during it's life.

 

I have replaced the oil and filter recently to see if it would make a difference. It didn't. Yes it pops out of second and into neutral. The crashing from first to second is definitely not normal - this is the second Superhawk that I have owned and have accumulated 60,000km on both so I understand that it is normally a bit clunky, but not like it is now.

Is there a simple diagnostic test or should I take it to the guy down the street?

 

This sounds seriously expensive...I would expect that the only true diagnostic will come when you strip the motor/box down as whatever a mechanic tells you up front will get a lot worse when they look at the parts...

 

This doesn't sound like the typical 1st to 2nd clunk that can be fixed by installing the Factory Pro kit and adjusting your shifter travel down to 3/4" instead of 7/8".

http://fiche.ronayers.com/Index.cfm/...GEARSHIFT_DRUM

I would guess you have a bent fork and or shift drum problems. The drum is responsible for moving the shift for which in turn movesd the grears (not shown). The fork stays in position and the fork keeps the gear in position. If the channel in the shift drum is worn, especially where the fork rest while in gear then the fork can move and thus the gear moves and jump out of drive.

Not going to be cheap to fix!

 

Could be as simple as a piece of trash stuck to the drum blocking the shift form from moving it as designed, something in the shiftier side of the case keeping the selector arm from moving all the way. Broken spring on the selector, or as others have guessed, bent shift form, damaged drum,.. I ASSUME you are fully shifting it into the next gear (lazy sifts account for an awful lot of (bad trannys) I've worked on)
Checked the shift lever when it connects to the shift shaft? If it's loose there, even if your fully moving the pedal, it will not fully move the shift shaft>selector>drum>fork> fully engaging the gears.