So I have my first bike so I'm not very knowledgeable about them. My question is this. Why is it so hard to change gears when the bike is off? I drive a manual transmission cage and as long as the clutch is in I can goto any gear and back to neutral. But I have to play with the gears on my bike for a while to get it from N to 1st and vice versa. Is this a common thing with gs500's or most bikes? Like you can't change gears very easily while it's off? Thanks.

A wet clutch doesn't want to disengage when the oil is cool.

It's the nature of the beast.  It's due to the straight cut gears in the transmission not always being synchronized.  For a motorcycle transmission to operate properly it must be moving.

If you accidentally get stuck in neutral at a light, roll the bike back a bit while holding pressure on the shifter.  It should go.

You hardly have to ove the bike at all to get it to chnage gears really. If you hold in the front brake just slightly and give it a good heave you'll move maybe an inch, but it'll clunk into gear.

Just release the clutch slightly while pushing down on the shifter to engage first.  I find that works all the time.

Edit: To answer your original question, no.  The cbr has no problems shifting from neutral to first.  However, my wife's virago 250 is MUCH more of a pain in the arse to shift than the gs.  So each bike will have its own idiosyncrasies.

I'm a fairly new street rider myself, too, and what I've found to work the best is dependant on the situation... Okay, so let's assume the bike is 100% cold (first start from sitting all night) and it doesn't want to shift into 1st (or N.) Roll the bike forwards a few feet with the clutch pressed and try again. Sometimes on my 05 GS500F when it's 100% cold, it wants to lurch forwards and die when I go to put it in 1st for some odd reason... But when I roll forwards a couple of feet and then shift it's smooth as a whistle. I think this may be related to the oil being cold as RG stated but I'm not sure.
Okay, so let's assume you're stuck in neutral at a light and it refuses to go into 1st... Been there countless times, this is what I've found to work 100% of the time. Let go of the clutch and then grab it again and try shifting down into 1st. I'm not sure of the mechanical stuff that's going on but this has been very effective in remedying the problem. I used to shift down into N before I hit the red light and then shift into 1st after completely stopped, taking the advice of a fellow rider/board member and after much frustration of not being able to get it back into 1st after stopped I decided to NOT do this anymore. Anyhoo, after trial and error, releasing the clutch and squeezing it again resulted in a successful shift every time the clutch would refuse to shift.

''it wants to lurch forwards and die when I go to put it in 1st for some odd reason... ''

Have you tried adjusting the clutch lever free play, sounds like you have too much free play. The haynes manual will tell you how.

If i have to stop suddenly there is no time to downshift, so sometimes i am stuck in 6th gear and not moving. The gears ofcourse dont change while not moving. +1 on clutch release. Just dont release it fully, because you will stall. Just apply gentle preasure on gearshift lever and start releasing cluth. When you will hear the gear change disengage the clutch again.

Dont be afraid to swith to neutral at stoplights. Just remember if you shift from 1st or 2nd to neutral while you ar at halt. You should very easily switch to 1st if you havent moved.

When approaching stoplight i personaly engine break with the gear i am currently in, and then at about 10 mph i disengage the cluth and and downshift all the way to the bottom. Ofcourse apply the brakes if neccesary

Quote from: GeePIt's the nature of the beast.  It's due to the straight cut gears in the transmission not always being synchronized.  For a motorcycle transmission to operate properly it must be moving.

If you accidentally get stuck in neutral at a light, roll the bike back a bit while holding pressure on the shifter.  It should go.

I agree on that. Bigger budget machines and cars (gs doesn't fall into these categories ) have gear synchronizers that spin up the gear to match engine speed. That is why you dont hear any sound while changing gears in a car. GS's 1st gear has to catch up with engine speed by direct contact.

When you start releasing the clutch engine starts spinning gearbox and at some point of acceleration gear threads match and the gear is selected.

This is as far as my understandment goes. I me be wrong  :dunno:  

Quote from: domasIf i have to stop suddenly there is no time to downshift, so sometimes i am stuck in 6th gear and not moving. The gears ofcourse dont change while not moving. +1 on clutch release. Just dont release it fully, because you will stall. Just apply gentle preasure on gearshift lever and start releasing cluth. When you will hear the gear change disengage the clutch again.

Dont be afraid to swith to neutral at stoplights. Just remember if you shift from 1st or 2nd to neutral while you ar at halt. You should very easily switch to 1st if you havent moved.

When approaching stoplight i personaly engine break with the gear i am currently in, and then at about 10 mph i disengage the cluth and and downshift all the way to the bottom. Ofcourse apply the brakes if neccesary

Oops, forgot to mention not releasing the clutch fully...   You're right, you will indeed stall unless the tranny happens to be in a "false neutral." But, I've learned to shift the same way as you do. But as far as the synchro's go on cars and not being able to hear them... If you're at a high speed and attempt to shift into a lower gear, you will hear the synchro's spin up. That is of course if you don't just jam the stick into the gear. Try shifting into 1st from about 20-30mph real easy/slowly and you'll probably hear it spin up.

Quote from: ukchickenlover''it wants to lurch forwards and die when I go to put it in 1st for some odd reason... ''

Have you tried adjusting the clutch lever free play, sounds like you have too much free play. The haynes manual will tell you how.

Mine is an 05 and it does that too, only when it's 100% cold also. I haven't thought a lot of it, but it you do it and it dies I think it's just too cold. Let if warm up more. When I try to take off when it's too cold it will miss like crazy.

  Everytime a transmission query is posted the responses are all over the map because the trans has several idiosyncracies which, though similar, have different causes and explanations and/or techniques to deal with them.  Enough to fill a page.

Quote from: tusseyMy question is this. Why is it so hard to change gears when the bike is off? I drive a manual transmission cage and as long as the clutch is in I can goto any gear and back to neutral. But I have to play with the gears on my bike for a while to get it from N to 1st and vice versa.

Why is it so hard to change gears when the bike is off?   In this condition the manual transmission in your cage is easier to shift because a synchronized trans has a fine array of pointed clutching teeth which are self-aligning helping the gears to readily slide into engagement as long as the clutch is depressed and internal movement is possible.  

In contrast, each gear pair in a sequential MC trans has a handful of blunt gear dogs which, though loose fitting, must be in alignment before the gears will mesh.  As noted earlier, sometimes rolling the rear wheel a bit is needed to realign the gears making it possible to shift.

Other common idiosyncracies which have simple explanations...

Idling at a stoplight, sticks in neutral.  (Related:  What's with the "clunk" when shifting into 1st?)

Idling at a stoplight, won't shift into neutral.  (Related:  Hard to catch  half-shift to neutral.)

Hard to shift into neutral bike cold/motor off.

What's with the clunk when downshifting into 1st or 2nd while coasting?

Why is it easiest to miss the shift between 1st and 2nd?

Hard to push the bike in gear with the clutch in/engine off.

What is false neutral?