Hi, this is my first contribution to the forum. I own a 1999 vfr that has suddenly developed a major problem. The transmission is stuck in 5th gear! This happened during a transition from 4th to 5th gear on the highway. The gear went in then there was a clunking noise that seems to have been from the front sprocket area. After that I was unable to shift up or down, the lever feels as if it's in 1st trying to go down or in 6th trying to go up.. I managed to get the bike to my house but the problem persists. The clutch operates normally, it disengages the transmission from the engine. I drained the engine oil and cut open the filter, there were minuscule metal shavings. There was no excessive noise while I was stuck in gear rolling on the highway.
I took apart the left crankcase cover so as to gain access to the shifter mechanism but everything in there seems fine. I tried rotating the shift drum by hand but it's still stuck.
SO my questions are; broken shift drum, shift fork??
Is it acceptable to find tiny metal shavings (so small you cannot feel it between your thumb and index) in the filter if you've had clunky shifts in the past??
If someone could help me I would be very grateful, trying to ride before the summer ends once more
I know you have probably looked at everything but before you tear into the engine, double check that both sidestand bolts are in position and not backing out to interfer with the shift lever.
When you rotate the shift drum, are you also moving the countershaft? You normally need to rock that back and forth so the gear dogs and slots get a chance to align. However if you still can't get the gears to shift then my guess is you've broken either a shift fork or a gear dog. Sadly that is an engine out and split the cases job to repair.
Terry, I will try rotating the counter shaft tomorrow. Should I be able to shift the gears by hand when I rotate the drum even if the lever and spindle are disconnected? Thank you for the answer, much appreciated
Yes the shift drum acts directly on the shift forks, you should be able to rotate the drum and go consecutively through the gears. As I said, you will need to rotate the output shaft a bit in either direction to get the dogs and slots to align and allow a gear change. I'm assuming the shift star is still attached so that will allow the gears to advance one notch (gear) at a time.
Made some progress on the bike. After further diagnosis it seems that the gearbox is shot. I've received a full gearbox set that I ordered online and plan to pull the motor and replace it. I'm almost done dropping the engine Im just trying to figure a way to raise and support the rear of the bike in to lower the engine out. Wish me luck!