Dropping into N after shifting to 2nd.

[Mountain Dew]

My gearbox will sometimes (as much as 10 times a week) drop from 2nd into N.

I first noticed it at about 1500 miles, where a particularly hard bump would knock it into N, but only if I didn't kick the shifter up hard enough to hear an audible click.

It started getting worse at about 2500 miles where it would drop into N if I didn't kick the shifter up hard enough to hear an audible click.

And now at about 4000 miles, it's getting even worse and dropping into N regardless of how hard I kicked the shifter up.

This sounds like the teeth on the gear are getting worn down, right (I'm not a mechanic and not exactly sure how it works in there)?

The parts will be covered by warranty, I know that for sure. But I stopped by my dealer and they said labor wasn't covered under warranty. Is that correct?

[azimmer11]

Originally Posted by Mountain Dew

My gearbox will sometimes (as much as 10 times a week) drop from 2nd into N.

I first noticed it at about 1500 miles, where a particularly hard bump would knock it into N, but only if I didn't kick the shifter up hard enough to hear an audible click.

It started getting worse at about 2500 miles where it would drop into N if I didn't kick the shifter up hard enough to hear an audible click.

And now at about 4000 miles, it's getting even worse and dropping into N regardless of how hard I kicked the shifter up.

This sounds like the teeth on the gear are getting worn down, right (I'm not a mechanic and not exactly sure how it works in there)?

The parts will be covered by warranty, I know that for sure. But I stopped by my dealer and they said labor wasn't covered under warranty. Is that correct?

my friend who also has the 2011 SE has the exact same complaint. Never happens with my 2008

[Vampyre]

Make sure you are "fully" engaging 2nd. Happens sometimes to me, and I noticed that the times it fell out, it seemed not to click in as surely.

[Trailerboy531]

That was happening to me on my 2010, I noticed it stopped when I started fully paying attention and kicking all the way in to second with good form. I wanted so badly to blame the bike too haha

[Mountain Dew]

It's been happening more recently even after kicking the shifter up and hearing an audible thunk. Sometimes it'll drop into N after a second, or after ten seconds. Before I wasn't too worried about it, but I've almost dropped my bike twice because of it :/

[azimmer11]

Originally Posted by Mountain Dew

It's been happening more recently even after kicking the shifter up and hearing an audible thunk. Sometimes it'll drop into N after a second, or after ten seconds. Before I wasn't too worried about it, but I've almost dropped my bike twice because of it :/

why would it cause you to drop your bike?

[LazinCajun]

Adjust your shift lever, and make sure you're making a solid shift into 2nd.

[Bols]

Had the same problem, adjusted the shift lever with the boots i use for riding, and the problem is gone. The shift lever was simply too high. If i ride with my other lower boots, i get the same problem again, so adjust and test with the boots you use most!

Here's a nice guide:

Link to original page on YouTube.

[EsrTek]

My 2011 is at about 1800 now and I been noticing same thing.. it never has a problem w any other gear and I up shift the same way.
However, I will adjust my lever see how that helps (thanks for youtube vid).

Edit: All adjusted, I can now just slide my toes down instead of out and down, then back in

[Cuongism]

Adjusting the shift lever generally solves the problem. If it's only happening from 2nd to N, I doubt it would be from worn teeth (esp on an '11).

[rockNroll]

I'm glad we got this all sorted out. Now I won't have to post that he probably needs to adjust his shift linkage. Whew!

[Mountain Dew]

Hm.. So the problem is likely caused by my shift lever being.. too high, or too low (I can't really picture it in my head)? And adjusting the lever should fix the problem of it dropping out of a fully engaged 2nd gear , even after it being in gear for 5-10 seconds? I'll try adjusting the lever next time I take it out for a ride.

I've almost dropped/fallen twice because I'll shift into 2nd, and start accelerating to get into 3rd, then it'll drop down into neutral. The force of that feels like downshifting without blipping the throttle, except twice as much because you also have the throttle open from acceleration. The last time it happened, I shifted forwards quite a bit and thought I was going to slip off the tank or go over the bars; that's how jerky it was.

[TheJimmyEnglish]

Mine does the same but only cause I didn't fully engage the gear...

[LazinCajun]

Originally Posted by TheJimmyEnglish

Mine does the same but only cause I didn't fully engage the gear...

The point of adjusting the shift lever is to make it easier/more comfortable to fully engage the gear.

As far as I know, the bike staying in 2nd for a few seconds before shifting generally means you're not fully engaging 2nd. Try the shift linkage/lever fix and give it a little extra oomph when shifting next time to see if your problem goes away. You'll want to move your lever down a bit (ie, you want to have to move your toe down a little further to get under the shift lever, so that you don't have to pull as far to reach the top of the travel).

[greatwhiteninja]

i never noticed a issue with my 11, but when i swapped pegs to aftermarket ones they actually sat lower so i had to adjust the shifter down some, id say that sounds like the problem and you need to adjust the shifter down slighlty.

[alex.s]

adjust the shift linkage? ... that would be convenient. i say adjust the rider.

[Lou]

Use to have the same problem, personaly just needed to pay more attention on getting the shifter all the way up. And it did almost cause me to fall over, was going into a turn, shifted before i leaned, had it slip into neutral about a 1/3 into the turn felt scary and had to pick her up and redo shift!

[Mountain Dew]

Well, I adjusted the shift lever, and it stopped it from dropping into N after not shifting up hard enough. But the problem still persisted, even when I did kick up hard enough. Since I don't really know too much about it, I've decided I'm going to take it in (not only for that, but my front fork seems very loose, front to back motion only, and makes a lot of noise on potholes, bumps, etc) and get my problems addressed.

My only concern right now seems to be the labor cost. I read on the Kawi warranty FAQ that it covers labor, but I asked my dealer and someone said it doesn't cover labor. I'm assuming I talked to the wrong person?

[Alex]

There's a year warranty that covers just about everything other than wear items. If there is a true mechanical problem with your bike, it will (should be) fully covered.

[azimmer11]

heh heh

[JA-Moo]

You either have worn gear dogs and or bent/burned shift forks. It only takes a few "kick outs" to do damage.

And when shifting a great habit to get into, is when you up shift, pull all the way up on the shifter, and hold it up with your foot until the clutch is out and you are back on the gas. This holds the gear fully engaged.

[Timr]

change to gp shift, wont have the problem of not engaging properly any more and once your used to it it makes more sence that way any way.

also i agree with ja-moo it doesn't take to many times doing this to cause damage, especially if it happens under heavy acceleration i have also done the dogs and second on my 08 track bike 3 times but thats using a manual activated quick shifter which can be pretty brutal on gears.

its probably worth noting also that second is the most likely gear to damage as it can slip to netural where as in other gears it needs to go into another gear to slip out the one it is in, and that basicly holds it in gear therefore damage is less likely but not impossible especially if you like to clutchless change.