Notchy Shift between 1st and 2nd ?

[gmly]

Hi
I just bought a 2000 VTR 1000F after selling my 2003 GSXR 1000 and was wondering if the 1st to 2nd gear upshift is a little notchy?
Is this normal? all other gears seem to be smooth
Bike has only 7000KM on it and does not look like it was abused Original tires with lots of tread life and absolutely no damage or road rash whatso ever

[plivesey]

Can't speak for anyone else, and I've only ever ridden my own Firestorm, but I've had mine for 7 years, from 6 months old with only a few thousand km on the clock. From day one, the shift between first and second has been akin to being belted with a lump hammer.

There's a definite clunk on the change. It's always felt like it needed another gear between first and second (that wasn't neutral). All the other changes are great though.

[Jaglifter]

Hi gmly

Had my Storm from new and its always been clunky changing up. Works best if you do it clutchless.

[yellafella]

Seems to be a transcontinental pattern going on here ! Or is it a huge conspiracy ?
Anyway check out the states version of this excellent site, and on the same subject :
http://www.superhawkforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=1082
Also i seem to remember athread mentioning different oils/ viscosity, etc
Try a search. Am too busy getting tipsy after taking my newly set up storm back home on new bloody tyres !!!!

[iggy1966]

Yep, common trait with all storms, as said before it's better if you don't use the clutch.

Ian

P.S Thats a good looking storm you have there

[sirch345]

Hi Gmly,
As the others say changing up from 1st to 2nd is normally clunky, best tip I found is, to use the torque, change from 1st to 2nd as soon as possible, you don't need to rev it hard in 1st before changing to 2nd with all that torque, the lower the speed is in 1st the easier it changes into 2nd,
hope that helps,
cheers Chris.

[sparky750]

I've always found honda gear boxes to be notchy 1st to 2nd compared to other makes ie suzuki but the overall build quality makes up for it IMO

[banana man]

Yup - my Storm takes thighs of steel to stand the clunk, I was always worried about ripping the teeth off a few cogs...then I got better and moved to worrying about where my next beer was coming from...

[yellafella]

Excellent summing up there Banana ! Of the same mind myself !

[droid]

Sparky's right.
I've owned several Hondas, from the late 70's, and the 1 - 2 change has always been crap.
Don't worry about it.


Droid

[Seeker 77]

Add to that the fact that the bike stalls randomly every now and then and the nose dives under braking...... and what have you got????

Character!

Still love it though just for the noise and the torque.

[sirch345]

Still love it though just for the noise and the torque.

Well said mate

Chris.

[mrmojo]

Hi Gmly,
As the others say changing up from 1st to 2nd is normally clunky, best tip I found is, to use the torque, change from 1st to 2nd as soon as possible, you don't need to rev it hard in 1st before changing to 2nd with all that torque, the lower the speed is in 1st the easier it changes into 2nd,
hope that helps,
cheers Chris.

I agree... I am doing the same with my VTR, also did the same with my '94 CB500...

[sirch345]

Hi Gmly,
As the others say changing up from 1st to 2nd is normally clunky, best tip I found is, to use the torque, change from 1st to 2nd as soon as possible, you don't need to rev it hard in 1st before changing to 2nd with all that torque, the lower the speed is in 1st the easier it changes into 2nd,
hope that helps,
cheers Chris.

I agree... I am doing the same with my VTR, also did the same with my '94 CB500...

Thanks for that, its nice to know someone agrees with me

Chris.

[RAINMAKER]

for a really smooth change for 1st to 2nd, try this
load a little pressure on the gear lever, slide in the clutch until lever snicks up. This is really smooth and works for each change but only if riding quite smoothly