Clutch Slipping, Popping Out Of Gear

Seeing if anyone has experienced this on the 7th gen manual.

On several occasions this past Sat and Sun I had the clutch do something I haven't experienced before.  I was shifting from 4th to 5th and the - symbol came on the gear indicator and the bike wasn't on the gas any more.  I've also had several times where it was very difficult to find neutral.  Just seeing if anyone has had issues with the clutch.

this has happened to me on a few occasions, i have just under 13k mileage on my bike and just had the 12k tune up done. It never happened before the tune up but just odd.. doesn't do it often, just a few times.. 

I've put 7,600 miles on my '12 since I got it a couple months ago.... I've only seen the dash do that once, when I missed a downshift. 

It's a slick transmission shifting up....but not the smoothest downshifting. Smooth enough, but there's not a good indication you've actually caught the cog. 

Bleed clutch system?

Occasionally I'll get a botched shift and the - indicator... but I seem to attribute it to my error in not fully engaging the lever. 

No power issues though... that's odd

Mine does, or did, that. I could get it to do it going 4--->5 and 5---->6 pretty regularly. Definitely a false neutral in my case, got the - symbol and it popped out of gear once while under power. It usually just acted normal until I noticed the - on the dash, then I just pulled up on the shift lever again to get it all the way in. I started just holding the lever up until the clutch engaged to be sure it went in, but it was mildly annoying.

I planned to change the oil to see if that helped, but never got to it before it was stolen. The shop still has it right now, but they're going to change the oil while it's there and we'll see. 

I had the bike jump from 6th back to 5th, but i wasn't using the clutch, just shifting up as i blipped the throttle. It's never done it again since, so i put it down to user error.

Not experiencing much in the way of false neutrals but I seem to be developing what I'll refer to as a "sticky" gearbox , mostly up shifts from 3rd-4th , 4th-5th and 5th-6th , occasionally on some downshifts too . It takes some added finesse to get it into gear , just changed oil and filter without much if any change , going to see what happen throughout the rest of the summer and make a decision on what to do then .... Its a 2010 early VIN

Anyone else having an a similar issue with "Sticky" shifting ?

(not trying to highjack )

IMO, it's more how you shift than something mechanically wrong with the powertrain.  I find that adjusting the shifter pedal downward a bit lets me move my foot up less on upshifts.  Same applies to levers and brake pedal.  I am installing a set of ASV levers that are a lot more adjustable than the stock levers.  I've had good luck with ebay CNC levers on other bikes, but the VFR is such a fine package I figure I'd splurge a little.

Every rider fit the bike differently, sometime by quite a bit.  It is only reasonable that each rider should finesse the bike's controls to suit their fit.

I get the occasional false neutral going from 5th to 6th. NBD

IMO, it's more how you shift than something mechanically wrong with the powertrain.  I find that adjusting the shifter pedal downward a bit lets me move my foot up less on upshifts.  Same applies to levers and brake pedal.  I am installing a set of ASV levers that are a lot more adjustable than the stock levers.  I've had good luck with ebay CNC levers on other bikes, but the VFR is such a fine package I figure I'd splurge a little.

Every rider fit the bike differently, sometime by quite a bit.  It is only reasonable that each rider should finesse the bike's controls to suit their fit.

I've owned a lot of bikes over the years and think I know how to shift.  I don't get these falses or issues with my R1, ever, so I know it isn't me.  And I have ASV's ;)

I just figured I'd throw my experience out there.  By the time most riders get to something like the VFR1200, they are for sure proficient riders already.  Mine came to me with the gear shift lever set too high for me.  Might have been cus the previous owner was a big guy and rides with army combat boots... literally (US Army Captain. I thank him for his service... and a good deal on the bike :wink: ).  I kept missing upshifts and popping false neutrals.  Downshifts were no problem, since I'm just stepping directly on the lever.  Once I re-adjusted the lever down to where it is resting pretty much right on top of my left boot, upshift precision improved dramatically.

What oil are you running?  This might be a long shot, but a while back I switched to convention oil on my C14 and the shifting became appreciably knotchier.

Which ASV d'you get?  I found a couple of good deals on fleabay and ended up with long/short combo.  I've been wanting to try this setup.  The VFR1200 is a great candidate for this, since the front brakes are so powerful, most of the time it's one or two finger only.

Also, 

[image: 8B9590A5-215E-4908-A5CF-0CC38E8D1F64-667]

I think this is Honda #6 and the 12 is the only one with shifting issues.  I'm just going to pull the clutch plates and see if they are glazed up. 

I have that Puig screen on mine too.  :cool:

Let us know what you find out about the clutch plates.  If your clutch is sticking, you should be able to check by putting the bike on center stand (or rear stand) and watch/feel the rear wheel while clutching/shifting.  Not exactly the same as on the road at speed, but a good quick check.

It's not you...it's the bike

Owned a dozen motorcycles in the past and my brand new vfr800 was the 1st bike to have a hidden neutral between 5th and 6th. Called the dealership within a week of ownership, and they said it was the way I was shifting (normal answer given it seems..BS none the less). Not sure if there is a fix, but mine was to get rid of the bike. Thankfully my 1200 doesn't have that problem.

Also experienced the "-" gear indicator about once a year between 2nd and 3rd, but the bike remained in gear and self corrected on my next shift.

I have that Puig screen on mine too.  :cool:

Let us know what you find out about the clutch plates.  If your clutch is sticking, you should be able to check by putting the bike on center stand (or rear stand) and watch/feel the rear wheel while clutching/shifting.  Not exactly the same as on the road at speed, but a good quick check.

I don't ever run the bike while on the stand.  Saw a guy online, in a legendary forum thread, that took off a few fingers trying to lube his chain while running it in first.  I decided when I saw that many years ago that I will never do this for any purpose whatsoever.  Over the years I've had a few garage accidents while modding/maintaining so it's like a surgeon's table when I'm working on the bikes these days.  If my mechanic friend is slow I might have him do it when it gets pulled apart in November.  Going to try and finish it then.  The R1 is getting its' final mods right now so don't want both bikes down at same time.   

Happened three times yesterday going from 5th to 6th.

Happened three times yesterday going from 5th to 6th.

Do you ever "preload" this shifter when upshifting in the higher gears?  On my ST1300 doing that will provide smoother upshifts if I'm getting to the end of oil life and the shifting is getting a little notchy.  I'm sure with your experience you know what I'm talking about, but for those that don't, the technique is to put some upward pressure on the shift lever before clutching or intending to shift and then when you pull the clutch in, very slight pressure on the shifter makes it snick into gear ultra smooth.