Bought this bike a week ago, 16k piped and jetted. I didnt noticed till the other day during accel between 4th and 5th it missed. Clutch was all the way out and when it did go into 5th it felt like i shifted without the clutch. I had a friend who does a little tinkering look at it and it didnt do it for him...:mad:. I run amsoil 10w40 motorcycle/trans oil. Clutch mis ajustment?, worn clutch? Please help this drives me nutty,.

Bought this bike a week ago, 16k piped and jetted. I didnt noticed till the other day during accel between 4th and 5th it missed. Clutch was all the way out and when it did go into 5th it felt like i shifted without the clutch. I had a friend who does a little tinkering look at it and it didnt do it for him...:mad:. I run amsoil 10w40 motorcycle/trans oil. Clutch mis ajustment?, worn clutch? Please help this drives me nutty,.


"misses gear with clutch all the way out, does pop back in without clutch use, pops in when i hear it rev up i natually reduce throttle.. thats when it pops in."

Being previously jetted and piped, it's probably abused and has transmission issues. The most common gears to have problems in are the 1-2 shift, but since it shifts in the other gears ok, I'd be suspect of the 4-5 gears and/or shift fork.

Magical.

Cable clutch or hydraulic on that bike?

it's a cable clutch.^

Kawasaki transmissions are notoriously weak, i think they're made out of glass or styrofoam or something. they won't take a lot of abuse for long.

it's a cable clutch.^

Kawasaki transmissions are notoriously weak, i think they're made out of glass or styrofoam or something. they won't take a lot of abuse for long.

I kinda figured...all the sport bikes I can think of are...just holding out slim hope it was a hydro, in which case it could be a balky slave cylinder with delayed release...

I'm trying to think...my old '81 Gold Wing started doing random weird things when the clutch cable started to fray...hanging up sometimes on release, then progressed to stretching and not giving a full clutch pull every time, which made the shifts very awkward and harsh...then it snapped, and I got to teach myself how to float downshifts as well as upshifts so I could get home without grenading the gearbox...

I'd make sure the clutch cable is well lubed and not starting to break strands before condemning the gearbox...

No weirdness in anything other than the 4-5 upshift though? That's not a good sign...but I'd still verify cable and lever pivot before going internal...

If inside, it's gonna be a badly worn shift drum or damaged gears, like rich said...sometimes they can also pop retainers that hold gears on shafts and the gear is drifting around on the shaft and not finding engagement easily...

Like i said, i have only had this bike for a week and my riding experience is minimal, about 1-2k miles. only 500 on bike, others on scooter. Also failed to note that 3rd gear up gets "whinier" with rpm, but from what i can tell from other bikes thats normal. Altho could this problem be my error just not being used to higher RPM shifts?:runaround:

I guess using the K.I.S.S. (keep it simple stupid) principal, I would do all the normal maintenance things like changing the gearbox oil (if not shared with the engine), check clutch cable free-play, and lube the clutch cable like Larry (jeffcoslacker) suggested. If none of that helps, then you probably have transmission issues....sorry for the bad news.

BTW, I'm not calling you stupid, that's just what K.I.S.S. means, it's like the smack yourself in the forehead because you didn't think of something simple and went after something much more difficult and expensive first.

K.I.S.S also stands for Kawasaki Ignition Security System.:runaround:

K.I.S.S also stands for Kawasaki Ignition Security System.:runaround:

Hmm, I always thought that was spelled G L O C K. :evillol:

After work today I will check all of those things and will repost with details. ftr the bike hasent done it since i posed, (about 300 miles). :runaround:

Hmm, I always thought that was spelled G L O C K. :evillol:

No silly, that's a standard Harley-Davidson Security system. At home, my Fatboy has the upgraded 44 Mag/crazy white boy security system. When on the road, it's a 38 snub-nose (as the 44 is a bit bulky).

It seems that the clutch cable was mis adjusted slightly so when i was under accel I would hit the cluch too quickly and it wasnt completely enguaging the clutch. it happened in 4th right before I re-adjusted the cable. It seems it was partial operator error and patrial mechanical mis adjustment... :banghead: doh, Oh well At least it wasnt serious. :grinno: Thanks for the help fella's.

Glad to hear it was something simple, and you're welcome. We here at AF like happy endings!

Hopefully...that's what I thought at first when the Goldwing started acting wonky...a few days after adjustment it stretched more, and finally popped...

But those cables are very tough...a bike that new shouldn't need one, unless it's been sitting on the bottom of a lake or something...:tongue: