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TrueFaith · May 4th, 2009, 07:24 AM

I've tweaked about everything I can to make the shifting smoother. Between that and switching to synthetic oil there has been some improvement, but it's still pretty "clunky". The fact that I could notice the slight difference in shifting with the synthetic oil makes me think it's the design of the transmission itself that's the problem. This is my second '08 Ninja and I had the exact same stiffness and clunkiness with the first bike. My previous 2 bikes were Yamahas (250 & 400) and they were very smooth. The shifting on the Yamaha 250 compared to the Ninja 250 was like night and day. The shift lever easily popped into the next gear with just the slightest of input and I never had the problems downshifting that I have with the Ninja. Not that it happens every time I shift, but it happens enough that it's noticeable and distracting. I'm hoping that things will improve as the transmission wears in a bit. This is a comparatively inexpensive bike and it's never going to shift quite as well as a top of the line F1 or CBR1000 with a slipper clutch, but it would be nice if it shifted at least as smoothly as my old Yamaha 250.

May 4th, 2009, 07:24 AM	#34
TrueFaith ninjette.org sage Name: Wayne Location: Brookfield, MA Join Date: Nov 2008 Motorcycle(s): 2011 Honda CBR250R Posts: 585	I've tweaked about everything I can to make the shifting smoother. Between that and switching to synthetic oil there has been some improvement, but it's still pretty "clunky". The fact that I could notice the slight difference in shifting with the synthetic oil makes me think it's the design of the transmission itself that's the problem. This is my second '08 Ninja and I had the exact same stiffness and clunkiness with the first bike. My previous 2 bikes were Yamahas (250 & 400) and they were very smooth. The shifting on the Yamaha 250 compared to the Ninja 250 was like night and day. The shift lever easily popped into the next gear with just the slightest of input and I never had the problems downshifting that I have with the Ninja. Not that it happens every time I shift, but it happens enough that it's noticeable and distracting. I'm hoping that things will improve as the transmission wears in a bit. This is a comparatively inexpensive bike and it's never going to shift quite as well as a top of the line F1 or CBR1000 with a slipper clutch, but it would be nice if it shifted at least as smoothly as my old Yamaha 250.