Hey guys,

I just got a gsf about a month ago, and I was beginning to notice that when I quickly downshift from a pretty high gear all the way down to first at a stoplight, it makes this awful grinding noise in the shift between first and neutral. I'm pulling the clutch all the way in, but if I do this at above say, 25 mph or so, it grinds. I did a search, but it doesn't seem that anyone has the same problem.

I'm guessing that if the bike's transmission is anything like a car's, it could be the dog teeth grinding into each other since I'm not giving the synchronizer hubs enough time to mesh, but it doesn't do this for any of the other gears.

Is this something wrong with the transmission, or am I doing something wrong?

Thanks!

No, nothing wrong, it just doesn't like that    My suggestion: Don't f%$king do that!!!!!  shift down to first at about 10-15 instead of 25

patient:"doctor it hurts when i do this"
doctor:"then don't do that"
yeah jsut slow down some more b4 going into 1st- i still do it occasionally.

yea nothings wrong with it now...but keep it up and there will be....thats like saying everytime i stomp on my back break it locks up and i slide...whereas if i apply a little bit of pressure i start to decrease my momentum.

This is one of those things where like the guy goes to the doctor, puts his ankles behind his head, and says "when I do this it puts a terrible hurt on my groin."  To which the doctor responds by kicking the man in the nads and leaving.

Quote from: makenzie71 on June 30, 2007, 11:28:18 PM
This is one of those things where like the guy goes to the doctor, puts his ankles behind his head, and says "when I do this it puts a terrible hurt on my groin."  To which the doctor responds by kicking the man in the nads and leaving.

Kinda like when I bitched about the pins itching.......Doc said " OK I'll schedule surgery for amputation of the thumb tomorrow, those f%$king pins won't itch then"

BTW: my surgeon is a little whacked out but he does a damn good job

How fast are you approaching these stop signs? If you've got time it will help to click through each gear, but if you're coasting in from third or so it shouldn't really hurt. Are you feeding out the clutch slowly, so the engine has time to match revs?

Yeah... It's definitely a problem with me then... I got this really bad habit of just pulling in the clutch and shifting down all the way immediately.

Thx!

Quote from: 510 on July 01, 2007, 12:28:26 AM
Yeah... It's definitely a problem with me then... I got this really bad habit of just pulling in the clutch and shifting down all the way immediately.

Thx!

downshift each gear and release shifter slowly/moderatly if your tach read 4K and under... you will grin alot less gears that way and wont cause rear wheels to "squeek!" either. practice make perfect.

Quote from: 510 on July 01, 2007, 12:28:26 AM
Yeah... It's definitely a problem with me then... I got this really bad habit of just pulling in the clutch and shifting down all the way immediately.

Thx!

Yeah, that's a bad idea.   The idea (with good riding) is to make smooth transitions when riding the bike so that you don't unnecessarily stress the engine or upset the chassis.

Downshifting abruptly and/or without rev matching isn't good riding.... it can even break the rear tire loose in certain situations and certain bikes (that is bad)

Learn to feather the clutch

I had a old VW Bug when i was younger ... I downshifted to first while still going about 30 and it ripped the splines out of the rear wheel . something to do with 1st gear not synching , or meshing or something . would this apply to bike trannies ? I've always avoided skipping too many gears due to that experience anyway , let alone how high of an RPM you'd have to hit to match the revs

Quote from: 510 on June 30, 2007, 10:52:13 PMsince I'm not giving the synchronizer hubs enough time to mesh,

Bikes don't have synchros typically.

A wise man once said," Stupid is as,Stupid does." I believe that wise old man was Forrest Gump.
Run Forest run.

If you down shift to fast you can lock the transmission up on some bikes causing the tire to lock.
The clutch can still be pulled in for it to happen.Our little GS's are tuff,but they still can break.
Try letting the clutch out in every gear to keep the engine and tranny spinning closely to the same speed.
Don't just pull in the lever and down shift streight to first gear,unless you're stopped.The more
you do that, it will round the gear teeth and start poping outta gear when you get on it hard.

Brakes for slowing gears for going.....

Dont engine brake bikes dont like it!! + unexperience = compression lock of rear wheel and BANG!!!

There is a bit of a trick and a knack to "bulk" downshifting, if you are on a quickish bit of road but approaching a junction, roundabout or hazard it may not be appropriate to go smoothly slowing down through the gears (which is always best)

As you come to the hazard obviously you brake, downshift by gently tapping your gears, like a soft-shoe dancer, sometimes a second or third jiggle on the clutch is required to keep it smooth, in 95% of situations you only need to drop to second anyway so don't crunch into first, bit of practice, it's dead easy.

Thread came at a perfect time, i was wondering about this too just yesterday ...

Cheers,
JG

Yeah, I get the crunch too.  In the MSF course they tell you to be in 1st before you're stopped at a light so thats why I do it but I dont think the GS likes it.

sorry this is just too funny to let sink into the abyssmal archives,..

There's nothing funny about beginners learning lessons the easy way! Much better to learn by asking the question on here than by the "ohh shaZam!" moment when the rear tire locks up at 25mph!