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Second gear slipping, what could it be?

45K views 18 replies 14 participants last post by  Darkstar 
#1 ·
A bike a friend of mine is possibly interested in buying apparently has some sort of transmission problem. The seller says that it slips only when it's in second gear, all other gears are fine. I assume that because it only happens in one gear, and no others, it rules out a clutch problem. Any ideas what else it could be, and am I correct in assuming the case would likely need to be opened to fix it? If so, he'll probably pass on the bike.

Thanks!
 
#5 ·
maybe he just sucks at shifting into second over neutral.
 
#8 ·
Thanks guys, I'm hearing the symptoms relayed through several different people, so I'm not sure if by "slipping" the guy means it's a smooth slip (clutch) or a on-off slip into and out of gear (transmission). I'll try to speak to the seller myself... The bike only has 16,000 miles on it, so unless someone slipped the ever living hell out of the clutch every time they started off, I wouldn't think the plates should be that worn (assuming it's a clutch problem). Maybe it's just out of adjustment.

It's actually a cruiser - '02 Vulcan 800, my friend is looking for a decent first bike to learn on.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Not just a clutch. If it was the clutch, it would slip in the high gears under heavy power, ALL the time.

Slipping in and out of 2nd gear poses a problem for a lot of motorcycles. Throttle happy riders who make hard, redlined shifts from first to 2nd cause a lot of wear. Sometimes, (like in my case) a snap ring on the gear shaft brakes/comes loose and allows the gears themselves to slide a certain distance. Sometimes (also in my case) you can even crack the main gear bearing.

There will be a few riders repeating information that they heard on here saying it could be the "shift fork", which in 99% of the cases is just the aftermath of the gears being "out of whack".

A common problem with sportbikes is stunting- and what it does to your transmission. My 1st and 2nd gear wore on the deacceleration side, causing them to skip in and out of gear.

It's not a cheap, nor easy fix. Make the seller replace the clutch...if it doesn't solve it, don't buy the bike.

*Actual pictures of my shift fork, main trans bearning (cracked), and my 2nd gear (see how the deaccel side is worn?)**
 

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#14 · (Edited)
Don't know if this will help. There's a number of people with the same problem on their 05zx6r myself included. It ended up being worn dog gears. In my case I stopped using full synthetic and just used synthetic blend and it's fine. It only affected 2nd gear it'll pop out of 2nd and back to neutral.

I'd tell your friend to stay away from it.
 
#15 ·
Old ZX-6's (early to mid 1990's) have the same issue. If you don't do the work yourself, it gets expensive quick.
 
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