Shifting 2 gears at a time

Finnigan

Finnigan

Over 1,000 Posts
First real ride today was to work and i was having all kinds of trouble selecting gears, especially neutral. Is this a common thing with old bikes or do I need to adjust something?
 
Need a little more info....

If youre having a hard time finding neutral its generally a clutch adjustment issue.
And "shifting 2 gears at a time" which gears? You shouldn't be able to hop 2 gears with one shift, unless its from 1st over neutral to 2nd......
 
Many don't realize there are in fact adjustments available on the shift linkage. At least there is on the XS650. Read the manual - there might be some things you can do. But at the end of the day, selecting neutral is difficult on many of our old bikes. There is usually a detent / spring setup on most that clicks in to hold the transmission between 1st / 2nd (i.e. in neutral) so a weak spring might make it easier to skip past. This is also often part of the neutral light indicator.
 
Thought I'd add:
If its hard to get into neutral while running, but easy when its not running, its an adjustment issue.
If its hard to find neutral when its off as well, then its something else :o
 
The 360s have a very short throw compared to a lot of the other bikes I've ridden. They also won't often shift unless the engine and/or wheels are turning. Hard to say if the behavior you're seeing is "normal" until we get a bit more of a description of the problem though.
 
When the bike is not running its much easier but still not perfect. I assumed that one press would select one gear and then ratchet back. I've adjusted the clutch so many times I'm sure it's not perfect.
 
One push or pull, one gear. If you're getting more or less than that, it's probably not a clutch issue.
 
Every bike I've ever owned has to be rocked back and forth if you are trying to go through the gears while parked with the engine off. If you are setting still with the engine running still can be tricky sometimes, depending on the bike and how used it is. If you having problems while driving then yes, you need to adjust your cable more than likely. Could also be worn or bent shift forks if you or previous owner liked/likes to shift aggressively without the clutch.
 
SONIC. said:
Can you clarify on the 2 gears thing?
Click to expand...

Any time i'm shifting (while moving) i struggle to shift in one gear increments, and near impossible to get neutral on the 1st 2nd or even 3rd attempt. Shifting from 2nd gear to 4th is common and 4th to 6th is even easier. I have to very lightly tap down to select the gear i originally wanted.
 
ILoveThumpers said:
:o

A light tap gets you there but a full lever press skips a gear?

That's a new one for me.

-Deek
Click to expand...

Yeah I'm trying to figure out how that could work..?
 
The only thing I could come up with is that during a full press, the lever is selecting the gear (early?) and there's some kind of bounce back where the shift fork is re-set and the next gear is selected during the remaining travel.

How that could happen? Who knows. I don't know enough about the 360's. Sonreir says it's a short throw, so maybe Finnigan isn't noticing the lever return in a full press.

It's going to have to come apart in any case. I can't think of an adjustment that would remedy this one.

-Deek
 
Actually after I checked the thread again, You really should pull the clutch cover and look at the shifting mechanism, see what it's doing when you press down on the shifter.
 
A 360 shift mechanism can only turn the shift drum enough for one gear. Out of adjustment, it may do a half-shift, but the mechanism cannot be turned by the pawl more than one gear.

Having said that, there is a star wheel and roller to keep the drum in the proper location. If the star or wheel is worn or broken, the drum could turn more than it is supposed to.

Those parts are behind the clutch on the right side. Worth an inspection.
 
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