Just got the bike back from Honda and they have replaced the "gear change shaft". I don't think its a common issue or a fault, just what they thought would help to smooth things out and it was done for free under warranty. Maybe only a few of these bikes have a bit of a sticky neutral.

Now when shifting from 1 to 2, I don't feel neutral at all. It's straight from 1 to 2 now, nice and smooth. No other difference, no difference in pressure or position of the shifter, just not as sticky in between 1 and 2 (and it wasn't too sticky before either).

 

Just got the bike back from Honda and they have replaced the "gear change shaft". I don't think its a common issue or a fault, just what they thought would help to smooth things out and it was done for free under warranty. Maybe only a few of these bikes have a bit of a sticky neutral.

Now when shifting from 1 to 2, I don't feel neutral at all. It's straight from 1 to 2 now, nice and smooth.

Could you be more specific - Is the "gear change shaft" an internal or external part - what does it do? Is that the honda term?

Usually when a tranny jumps out of gear (on a car) it's worn synchros.

 

Go see your dealer right now, your gearbox is gone.

 

If what he says is accurate then it has nothing to do with the clutch cable, no matter how screwed up the cable is your bike should NEVER drop down a gear by itself.

 

This hasn't happened to me but I've found that the shift between 1st and second has to be purposeful or you end up in neutral - maybe the OP isn't getting it cleanly in gear.

 

All the gears should be smooth, unless you are a completely new rider and just paranoid I'd have it looked at. Shifting from 1st to 2nd and sometimes ending up in neutral is common for beginner riders, shifting from 1st to 2nd, being in 2nd for a little bit and the gears dropping down to neutral is NOT normal.

 

Mine has never changed gears, it just bounces off 2nd sometimes if I'm not forceful.

 

The only part I've heard of is from Gilles, "Shift Holder Kit", it supports the gear shaft/spigot to eliminate flex when changing gear. Although jumping out of gear doesn't sound to good and this product won't help with your problem.
look forward to hearing what Honda did……., once you pick up a gear and its under load it would be nearly impossible for it to jump out.

features
needle bearing
hard anodized
titanium color

functions
helps to eliminate gear shift problems
gear shaft stands too far out of the gear box, it bends elastically when shifting hard or quick which is the reason for imprecise gear shifting
the shift holder stabilizes the gear shaft and eliminates vague shifting

 

Or maybe your clutch needs adjusting. Where the clutch cable meets the clutch lever there is a cable adjuster with lock nut. Mine came loose and caused me trouble. I found that when the clutch didn't fully disengage, I could still change gears most of the time, bust sometimes my gearbox would stick. The main symptom I had was not being able to find 1st gear when rolling up to lights.

Have a look at your bike and make sure your lock nut isn't loose and if it is, you may need to readjust your clutch cable.

Otherwise goto Honda and get it checked out properly.

 

Mine did same thing...the clutch cable is stretched out...need to adjust. If it still "acts up" then see Honda ASAP.

 

I had this exact same issue not too long ago. I'm a new rider too but there's two things to check. One is the clutch freeplay, the other is your foot. Namely, make sure you're pushing it all the way up into second. If you accelerate with it partially in gear, it'll hold until you back off the throttle and then slip out to neutral cause it was never fully in gear.

Usually it drops out to N before you even get on the gas in my experience, but after tweaking the clutch cable and making sure I'm shifting fully (not lazy but all the way to the top) it should be fine. If it still drops to N even after you do both of these, definitely something else is wrong which you should get checked out.

 

I also feel now that maybe I should just tap it a little firmer for the gear 2 shift, but all having the dealer check just in case.

They got back saying they had heard about this issue with this model before and think there is a part available to fix it. They're not too certain yet so don't let this alarm anyone here but I'll get back with what they tell me later. Glad I had them checking it, might have found something...

 

Anytime I miss a shift it is usually just my foot. lol

Everyone misses once in a while. A lot coordination and muscle memory is in play in even the most basic aspects of riding motorcycles. Sometimes we just miss! I usually find it's more human error than mechanical.

 

1st to 2nd is always the most problematic because you have to go through neutral to get where you want to go. The clutch doesn't have anything to do with it - you can make the shift without using the clutch at all (you won't enjoy it, so you won't do it very often, but the clutch isn't at fault here).

You don't say how many miles you have on the bike, but this sounds like a new bike break-in issue to me. The trans and shifting will improve noticeably after you get a few thousand miles on it. If Honda sends you home empty-handed, just keep on riding and remember to stick it a little harder on your way into second. That shift is never much fun anyway. You don't have to spend much time in first, and the sooner you get out of it, the easier the shift will be.

 

The key point here is that it drops out of second all by itself...this should never happen, noob or not, bad shifts or not. Once its in a gear it should stay there! I'd get it checked out ASAP.

Dave

 

It is with Honda and as soon as I mentioned this issue (although not too bad, just a little sticky when passing from gear 1 to 2 sometimes), he immedietely knew of the problem. I think they're already familiar with it. He told me parts have been ordered to fix this which improves the shift from 1 to 2. I don't know what the part is or where they will fit it but I will keep you all up-to-date. Maybe this is a known and upcoming issue? Maybe it's just their own unofficial improvement. He said his colleague noticed this issue with another bike (possibly the same model - I didn't ask) and they knew of a part to fix it. We'll see...

 

Can't be 100% sure but it looks like the gear change shaft is the thing on the outside of the bike that connects the shift lever to the gearbox.

 

I'm going to guess it was the shaft on which the shift forks reside. I'll assume a defect allowed one of the forks to be loose or off a couple degrees, preventing proper rotation of the shift drum.
Glad to hear they took great care of you. This is how it's supposed to go!

 

This happens to me alot too. I think it's normal, also depends on how you shift, higher 1st RPM or not push the foot up enough makes this more frequent.

 

Thanks for the part number and image, now I can see what they said to me is true, that's exactly the part the Honda guy described to me. Nice to see it's a genuine part too.

I've had no problems shifting since, perfect shifts now.

 

Same here.......shifts from first to second fine at high revs.No more bounce back off second on fast take offs