First ride of the year and downshifting is temperamental

[DesignFlaw06]

Finally had a break in the weather where I could go get the FJR from my parent's place. Maybe the bike didn't want to go any slower, but I ran into trouble downshifting on several occasions. Pull the clutch in, hit the shifter, and get nothing like it is not connected to anything. Shifting up doesn't seem to be an issue, but down was very problematic. I could go from 5th to 4th and usually to 3rd, but 1st and 2nd were very difficult to get in.

Where do I go from here?

[SLK50]

When was the last time you changed the oil?

[ionbeam]

That is a typical symptom of the shift drum not being returned to the center position after a shift. The typical cause is the shifter pivot behind the foot peg plate is gummed up. You need to pull the plate off, remove the screw holding the pivot then clean & lube. Take pictures, it defies logic how to put it back together again Also, if you follow the torque setting for the screw it can flatten the wave washer causing the same shift symptoms as your cleaning was supposed to cure. I used a little locktite on the screw and ~90% of the specified torque (7 ft/lb?).

You can confirm this issue the next time it won't down shift. Gently put pressure in the up shift direction to nurse the shift lever to the middle position then try to down shift again. If it shifts down, your shift lever pivot needs cleaning. This is really common.

[gixxerjasen]

That is a typical symptom of the shift drum not being returned to the center position after a shift. The typical cause is the shifter pivot behind the foot peg plate is gummed up. You need to pull the plate off, remove the screw holding the pivot then clean & lube. Take pictures, it defies logic how to put it back together again Also, if you follow the torque setting for the screw it can flatten the wave washer causing the same shift symptoms as your cleaning was supposed to cure. I used a little locktite on the screw and ~90% of the specified torque (7 ft/lb?).

You can confirm this issue the next time it won't down shift. Gently put pressure in the up shift direction to nurse the shift lever to the middle position then try to down shift again. If it shifts down, your shift lever pivot needs cleaning. This is really common.

Trying to figure out how many curse words were spent to acquire the above knowledge.

[Abercrombie FJR]

That is a typical symptom of the shift drum not being returned to the center position after a shift. The typical cause is the shifter pivot behind the foot peg plate is gummed up. You need to pull the plate off, remove the screw holding the pivot then clean & lube. Take pictures, it defies logic how to put it back together again Also, if you follow the torque setting for the screw it can flatten the wave washer causing the same shift symptoms as your cleaning was supposed to cure. I used a little locktite on the screw and ~90% of the specified torque (7 ft/lb?).

You can confirm this issue the next time it won't down shift. Gently put pressure in the up shift direction to nurse the shift lever to the middle position then try to down shift again. If it shifts down, your shift lever pivot needs cleaning. This is really common.

Trying to figure out how many curse words were spent to acquire the above knowledge.

Not one curse word was uttered here while learning from Ionbeam's troubles.

[gixxerjasen]

Really? I uttered a few just reading that.

[ionbeam]

If you do lube the pivot, item 28 is the pivot screw and item 29 is the wave washer. The job of the wave washer is to put a tiny amount of spring force on the shift lever to keep it from moving/rattling in and out. If the washer gets flattened the shift lever will bind.

[DesignFlaw06]

If you do lube the pivot, item 28 is the pivot screw and item 29 is the wave washer. The job of the wave washer is to put a tiny amount of spring force on the shift lever to keep it from moving/rattling in and out. If the washer gets flattened the shift lever will bind.

Hoping this is the case, but you've got me a bit nervous. Perhaps it is a Tech Day project where someone more skilled than myself can supervise.

[raYzerman]

Ah it's easy..... shall we give that 20 minutes... why not go all out and do a clutch soak at the same time.... all done in an hour with your capable assistance. OH yeah, bleed the clutch too. Add beer.... 2 hours.
And no, I don't mean add beer to the clutch!

[LKLD]

20 minutes for smart people, 45-1hr for everyone else. Hell, I spent 15 minutes at least, going back and forth between the bike, toolbox, and manual!

The clutch soak, that Ray mentioned, is easy too. Unless, you pull that retainer out for the last 2 plates. That little piece of engineering madness caused me a great deal of cussing. Bleeding is much simpler, if you get one of those vacuum bleeder pumps, which I highly recommend.

[gixxerjasen]

This looks like a Design Flaw to me.

[Red]

I ran into trouble downshifting on several occasions. Pull the clutch in, hit the shifter, and get nothing like it is not connected to anything. Shifting up doesn't seem to be an issue, but down was very problematic. I could go from 5th to 4th and usually to 3rd, but 1st and 2nd were very difficult to get in. Where do I go from here?

DesignFlaw,

If the shift lever is gummed up on the pivot bolt (#28), you can probably lube it without disassembling anything. Just use a spray-can of good quality petroleum lube, with the thin red straw. Do NOT try using WD-40, which is little more than kerosene, and that stuff is not a lubricant (it dries out fast, leaving things worse than before).

You might need to disassemble things to clean out any grit in the pivot, but not usually. With the bike on the centerstand, you should be able to shift through the gears with the engine OFF, using one hand to rotate the rear wheel back and forth, and just hand pressure on the shift lever.

[ionbeam]

^^^^ <Me with Red.

[raYzerman]

red and ionbeam, stop trying to spoil our fun. Wreck days are for wrecking shit

[DesignFlaw06]

Assuming I make all 8 lights and no traffic jams, there should only be a need to downshift 3 times to Owosso.

I've got some lithium grease and a small red straw. I'll give that a shot without taking it apart. Don't worry Ray, we can still do all the other stuff to break it.

[Festus]

I think we need to pull the transmission.

[bungie4]

Bust: "Let's get drunk 'n bust shit"

[raYzerman]

I think we need to pull the transmission.

Ya see! That's the spirit right there for Wreck Days!!