I've read before that people have had experience with a sloppy shift from first to second. Rebuilding an repurposing someone's track bike over the past three years has been way more than I expected oh well she has character.

Wondering if my shift is more sloppy than normal and if I should buy a whole new shifting mechanism instead just a foot lever like I need.

Mine shifts ok when cold. When riding temp shift from 1 to 2 usually results in a n. However from 3-2 crisp. Is this normal or worse than usual?

 

shouldnt be dropping into neutral when going from 1 to 2.

my guess is that the PO who used it as a track back had one to many missed shifts or just plain misuse of the gearbox and has caused damage to the transmission

 

Purchased my vtr a little over a year ago with 22k miles. Rough 1 to 2. Just clicked past 37k and 1 to 2 has smoothed out a great deal.

 

The bad shift is mainly caused by a bad shift lever bush. I did mine last week. Where the pin goes through the lever to the rearset. I bought a stock DU bush and press it in.

The 1st to second shift is now much better.

 

Are we in danger of calling the "The Sloppy Seconds" mod?

 

Oil age and quality have varying effects on the transmission as well. May not be your issue, but if you haven't changed oil in awhile, give that a go first.

 

This has been the same since I bought it fours years ago and sadly only have put 2.5k on it. It now only gets semi synthetic every season. I hope oil and gear box are not the issue. I'll get a whole new shifter rear set and bushing hoping that helps.

I know I gotta ride more! Bike is almost ready to turn 13k!

 

It doesn't drop into neutral it just finds neutral on first up shift and next up shift finds second.

 

Another thing to play around with is to try shifting at different rpm. You may find a sweet spot

 

Possibly a bent shift fork?

 

Check the chain adjustment, do the gear lever detent adjustment and change engine oil.

Detent adjustment loads up the shaft into the gearbox and makes the lever travel less distance.

Also the original joints on the shaft from the gear lever to the splined gearbox are sloppy as hell so you can fit heim joints to those to tighten things up.

I have rearsets but I notice the shifts becoming harder when the chain needs adjusting or the oil has gone off.

The box in these old girls is not slick but a bit of TLC makes a big difference.

Good luck!

 

I agree with Kenmoore. Look for the Heim Joint thread on upgrading the linkage. Also make sure your shifter is adjusted down quite a bit, so your foot doesn't have to tilt up so far to shift. That really helps.


James

 

Rebirth, I had the same thing 10-15% of my shifts. I found 2 things, when I shift slower it happens more often. And when I don't kick it hard enough. The VTR has a stupidly long 1> 2 shift. My boyfriend noticed when switching from his gsxr that he actually had to lift his foot. Try giving it a little more "oomf" and with some quickness...mine has worked itself out with modifying my shifting.

 

Yes I have noticed that if I really give it a pop it works we'll. I'll clean up the linkages and stop being a sissy on the up shift haha. Thanks everyone

 

I don't think think its really a big deal, as mine does it once in a bluemoon Did it yesterday while on a ride.

 

Where did you source the DU bushing?

My shift lever is quite loose. My local Ace Hardware has the hiem joints, and figured as long as I'm in there fixing stuff, may as well fix this bushing too.

 

My engineer mate ordered it, I will ask him. I have a spare. There is still a tiny amount of play but heaps better.

I will be doing the heim joints i think.

 

Your ace hardware has metric heim joints?

I gave all the heim joint part info on that other thread... Pretty cheap upgrade. I think i also gave the shift bushing info.

If you have to lift your foot, it may be because your shifter is adjusted too high. Most people never take the time to personalize the feel of their bike. I adjust the shifter and brake pedals way down, and i also adjust the levers... That will help.

 

The Ace Hardware by me has metric heim joints. I don't know if the heim joints they have are the correct size for the stock shifting rod. Haven't tackled this project yet. Since my stock shifting rod looks pretty rough, what I was planning on, was to get a piece of stainless rod, cut it to length, then cut some threads on each end. Attach heim joints. Project done

 

Check the fit, function, clearance standard and type on those Ace Hardware rod ends (Heim is a brand name, a manufacture, not a type of motion transfer assembly, though as the first US manufacture (during WWII), it's common for folks to still call them "Hiem Joints" , in general they are Spherical rod ends )

Cheap stamped steel body with a plain steel ball, loose clearances, no liner or design feature to lube them are common garden tractor fodder and what your likely to find in a Ace Hardware store. These will be worse then a new OEM shift linkage and thus a step down in precision.

If you are finding quality 3 piece Spherical rod ends at your local Ace,,,, those guys rock...,, support them for sure. (And M6 is the size that works with the stock shifter parts. )

 

I'm one of those guys that says Heim Joint instead of saying like, High Misalignment Rod End. I really should start calling these parts what they actually are.

I got a Fastenal and a Grainger no more than a 5-8 minute ride if the Ace Hardware stuff isn't up to snuff.

They do look like quality rod ends. I'll have to take a picture or find who makes them next time I'm there and report back here. They looked really decent. They were not cheap, that's for sure. They definitely weren't replacements for lawn mower equipment.

 

Went to Ace Hardware today to see what it is they in fact have. Here is thier selection:



These are made by Hillman, which I found is carried by Home Depot.





So, I decided to head over to Grainger instead. You pay more, but it's a better product.

I did see that Ace Hardware has nice bronze bushings that will work for the shifter pedal. So, I'm on to figure that out...