Weird thing happened...

Hey I was riding today and this is the first time it happened to me on any bike - Started to downshift in a left turn lane and it was almost like I was in neutral even after letting the clutch out. I did it for another downshift or two and decided to just come close to stopping, put in down to 1st and i noticed it was at about 3k rpm's then it dropped to normal then I was able to pull out again in 1st. Everything fuctioned perfect before and after that. Kind of weird! Anyway just wanted to see if I did anything wrong or if anyone has had this happen to them. I dont know if it matters but I was cruising in 4th for about ten minutes, riding at about 45-50 between 3-3.5k rpm's. 1998 vfr800fi.

 

sounds like your clutch did not engage properly or got stuck. did you change oils recently (brand x for brand y? or viscosity?) how many miles (clicks) and do you know if its the original clutch? has it been adjusted latley?

did the tranny make any complaints? (odd noises, felt different shifting) did the clutch feel spongy?

do you have excessive clutch slip? thats to ask if you are going about 10 or 15mph in second and you gun it, does it slip at all?

Need more info!

 

27650 miles, I just got the bike and was going to do an oil change today but had a change of plan. Im not fully sure when the last oil change or clutch adjustment/replacement was done. No unusual noises or complaints at all, and no the clutch doesnt slip. Thats why it was kind of a weird thing. I will do the oil in the next couple of days and look into a clutch adjustment.

 

I ride a 6th gen and never found one of those fabled false neutrals, so it is possible. if it happens again and your firm with your shifting then i would suggest that there may be an internal part thats bent or not quite moving the way it needs to.

 

Flushing and replacing the clutch hydraulic fluid followed by as proppa bleeding might help.

 

Ive always been pretty good about shifting, but yea I admit I sometimes hit it light. I will start maintenance projects on the bike and in the meantime take the advice about being conscious when shifting. Ill be sure to hit it like it should be hit! Thanks.

 

it could also be caused by older or worn out oil as well. I know on my old bike changing the oil made the difference.

 

this happens to me sometimes, i find that if im not firm with the shift it does happen to me..

 

Cool guys, well today im making a run out to wally world aka wal mart for some oil and oil filter and get that changed up when I get back home. Im excited about it, cause like i said I just had the bike for a little over a week and have no idea when the oil was changed last. I got it from 2 old guys who wrench on planes, cars, and bikes everyday at their house so I would figure maintenance is more or less up to date, but still I want to get it done.

 

fingers crossed it helps..

 

A good mechanic would have told you that the oil was comming due soon,

I have bought lots of cars, engines for other cars ect. and everytime i have always changed the oil and filter before testing/using. Just makes sense to stop the most common problems that one would almost never think to suggest it.

Hope your problem goes away with a simple oil change

 

Yea hopefully its good..Ill be doing the oil change tomorrow. Got all the stuff at wal mart today and ready to go but i ended up driving to the other side of the island to get my son for a couple days so ill save it for tomorrow. Im sure it will help and even then I think its just like some guys said, I may have been a little light on the shift - I do that sometimes, trying to be quick and slick lol.

 

if you think the oils been in there a while, make sure you ride it for a bit, like 20 miles, before you change it. not only does it flow better, but the sludge is more willing to come out when hot.

theres also products that help with this: Seafoam, lucas(make sure you get the motorcycle safe version). I like the Seafoam as an oil additive before draining, usually about 100miles of riding before planned oil change. sofar it works great, and my filter is usually full, I would not suggest going longer as it will cause your filter to bypass as it helps collect the solids that become suspended. I dont use Lucas products on my bike as its hard to find their bike safe products, but I do run the lucas oil additive in my car and in other older cars. flows like peanut butter but it does work. even tested it on an old lawn mower(1960 something) this thing was ready to either be resleeved or retired to a life as a boat anchor. Added the Lucas(straight for engines this old) and it ran/cut my lawn for another two years.

But thats what I do.

 

Got the job done..Wasnt able to ride 20 miles cause I have my 6 year old son with me for the weekend. But I did let it heat up for a bit and rode it through the parking lot a couple of times. lol. The job went well and I went for a little test run last night when my girl got home and it is shifting a little smoother. One thing I did find when I removed the fairings was the coolant reservoir was completely dry so I got all paranoid that it was low so i went ahead and drained it - the was a decent amount but no reserve at all. Now its all filled and the reservoir isnt dry so that makes me feel a lot better about things. I found 2 threads about changing both the oil and coolant on vfrworld, and in conjunction with the honda service manual I was able to do these things with confidence. Ive never done any kind of maintenance on a bike so thanks to you guys and this site!