| Author | Message | ||
     Pwillikers |
My '09 CR used to be the slickest shifting bike I'd ever ridden with virtually effortless shifts. Recently it has become noticeably stiffer shifting, both up and down, requiring a lot more effort to change gears. It's also a little harder to get it into neutral when stopped. The clutch is not dragging, it does disengage completely when I come to a full stop with no dragging. I've changed the oil twice from whatever it was to Rotella T6 Full Synthetic then to Valvoline 10W-40 Full Synthetic Motorcycle 4-Stroke Oil which hasn't made any improvement. Any similar experience or suggestions? | ||
| Two_seasons |
Check your belt tensioner. The bearing may be hanging up. | ||
| Two_seasons |
May i also suggest you start running 50w oil as well, maybe even 60w if you are still in TX. | ||
| Pwillikers |
Thank you for the suggestions. I have run Mobil 1 20w-50 4-stroke MC oil in the distant past, however, for the past ten years or so I've settled on Shell Rotella T6 Full Synthetic 5W-40 for all my bikes because it's JASO MA/MA2 compliant (approved for wet clutches), relatively cheap and readily available. I'm happy with its performance. I've run through the following diagnostics trying to discover why it's difficult to shift but I haven't discovered any obvious faults: The shift lever moves freely with no binding. It's not bent. With the engine off, I can easily shift by hand up and down through all gears - no sticking. With the engine running and the clutch pulled in, I can easily shift by hand up and down through all gears - no sticking. With the rear wheel off the ground on a stand, there is no resistance to rear wheel rotation, the idler pulley makes no weird noises and has no discernible radial play. The pulley seems to spin freely but I can't definitively confirm this until I remove the belt etc. which I'll do if I have to after I rule out other potential causes. So, it seems to be difficult to shift when the bike is underway and the engine is up in its operational rev range. I'm not sure what to look at next. Any experience or suggestions? Thanks, Paul. | ||
| Oldog |
could the vacuum slipper clutch not be disengaging completely? possible vacuum leak ? you would have high vacuum at idle tranny will shift easier under light load |
