Gear change issues !!

Hi ladies and gents,

Recently (Sept '07) aquired a '52 plate VFR 800 VTEC.

Fantastic bike, one owner from new; covered just 1400 miles.

I have now done just over 2000 miles total and think the bike is great.

Just one thing puzzles me: 3rd and 4th seem very clunky and noisey when changing up and down ?

Any suggestion please?

ps. - Since i have owned bike i have given it two engine oil and filter changes, first with fully synthetic, second with mineral. Both 10w40, both with OEM filters.
Niether made any difference.

 

Mine too. But I played around with up shifting at different RPMs and my bike (crusing) likes 4200 the best. Even then still a little clunky. I guess VFRs just want to run in Vtec, 'cause when I'm on it WOT (7500-8200 or higher) it up shifts as smooth as can be.

 

Thanks, I would agree with that, when the power is on the change gets smoother !! (guess there's other things to think about !!)

I will keep experimenting.

Just seems to spoil an excellent bike ?

 

Thanks for info,

I dont get missed gears at all. The change is very positive, very secure; just noisey at times in 3rd / 4th.

I think it's worse when hot.

I have tried synthetic oil and mineral both 10w40 - but no improvement.

Perhaps it's just what i have to live with ?

The bikes ace, this just takes off the shine a little bit.

Thanks again.

 

I'll agree with the "when hot" scenario. Here's something to chew on. I actually switched back to dino oil in order to hopefully cure some of the shifting issues I was having. The previous owner who only put 2400 miles on it put synthetic in right away. I've changed the oil about 3 times now using dino oil and also been to the track with it. I've slowly increased my clutchless shifts on the street as well. My tranny has started to act a little more friendly.

This could be because of a few reasons:

• Cooler temperatures
• My first experience at the track with this bike has made me much more "in tune" with the bike
• The dino oil actually allowed me to break-in the tranny a little more. It's a stretch I know.

I think I'll use about 33% of each and call it a day.

The short answer is yet, these damn VFR's clunk like crazy!:biggrin:

 

Could be the chain is a little on the tight side ?

 

Not sure if your question was directed at me or not Rogue but that's a flat out NO! When I first bought the bike it was waaay tight. First thing I did was loosen it up. I've also experimented with different levels of slack to see if it helped the situation, no go!

At this point I am about 90% satisfied with the shifting. I have another track day on March 23rd. I'll reserve my next evaluation until the day is over. At that point, maybe I'll install the shift kit with the next oil change.

Good thought on being too tight!

 

When I purchased my 07 RWB I posted a comment about the shifting clunkiness. It seems common with this model. Mine shifts very smoothly when cold and as it warms up gets clunkier. I have gotten used to it now so it bothers me less.

 

Mine was pretty clunky when I first got it but it seems to have smoothed out somewhat as the miles have increase. If you match revs well it is a lot smoother. Hard to do with such a free spinning engine but I have got better with practice. Most of the time it is pretty good now and it doesn't really bother me anymore.