Competely noob towards all things bike

[bosslady]

Ok went for a ride today and noticed two problems with the bike.

First was that sometimes (all times have been when i have been stopped) I try to downshift back to first gear and cant find gears. Got stuck at an intersection today because i got stuck in 4th gear. I found that when i nudged the gear lever inward it worked again. Anything i can look at adjusting or changing to stop this from happening??

Second i noticed that there was a small scraping noise coming from the back ( I think) at certain parts of the wheels rotation. My guess (if its anything like a car) its break related and the disc is warped or uneven. Or could be something like a wheel out of alignment or something???

Someone more educated answer my questions!!

Cheers

My bike has this problem when shifting down to 1st. I have to have the clutch at a CERTAIN SPOT before it will LET me... Further to that and speaking only for my bike, of course, when coasting up to an intersection/lights to come to a stop I do try to at least be in 2nd before I stop. Whether that's the done thing I've no idea. I believe you can change the height of the gear shifter, you can on my bike. I used to have trouble changing up, kept missing gears. Turns out my foot was just being lazy... not the prob you're having though of course. I'd suggest practicing gear changes whilst stationary? find right spot for the clutch?

[Subike]

Ok went for a ride today and noticed two problems with the bike.

First was that sometimes (all times have been when i have been stopped) I try to downshift back to first gear and cant find gears. Got stuck at an intersection today because i got stuck in 4th gear. I found that when i nudged the gear lever inward it worked again. Anything i can look at adjusting or changing to stop this from happening??


Cheers

Where you holding the clutch in the whole time you were trying to go down the gears while stationary? If you were, then each time you go down a gear, release the clutch a little to allow the gears to move. a fraction, allowing the gates to open.
But apart from this, you should be changing down all the gears coming to a stop at any time, using the engine braking to assist the bike stopping, get into this habit now. it is part of controlling your bike. Rolling to a stop in top gear clutch in, is a NO NO NO< you can loose control, stall, fall of, lots of nastiness.
Right gear right time acceleration or decelerating...learn that your gearbox and engine are as much part of the braking system of your bike as the brakes are.
Learn this now!

[xXGIBBOXx]

Amen to that , if you need to gun it to get out of the way of a dick who didnt see ya a hand full of clutch and a box full of neutral isnt fun . And down shifting is how i get a feel of my chain tension ( if it doesnt go in nice thats the first thing i check ) Or try rolling the bike forward a bit when it wont go in to gear it sometimes helps .

[Cam_NZ]

Amen to that , if you need to gun it to get out of the way of a dick who didnt see ya a hand full of clutch and a box full of neutral isnt fun . And down shifting is how i get a feel of my chain tension ( if it doesnt go in nice thats the first thing i check ) Or try rolling the bike forward a bit when it wont go in to gear it sometimes helps .

Hah! sounds like i need to get someone that knows abit to give my bike a once over. Gears are smooth through shifting up and down, but gets a bit rough sometimes going from neutral into first

Probably just me being paranoid. Might just get a decent service done to it just to give me some peace of mind

[TheTengTheory]

Ok went for a ride today and noticed two problems with the bike.

First was that sometimes (all times have been when i have been stopped) I try to downshift back to first gear and cant find gears. Got stuck at an intersection today because i got stuck in 4th gear. I found that when i nudged the gear lever inward it worked again. Anything i can look at adjusting or changing to stop this from happening??

Second i noticed that there was a small scraping noise coming from the back ( I think) at certain parts of the wheels rotation. My guess (if its anything like a car) its break related and the disc is warped or uneven. Or could be something like a wheel out of alignment or something???

Someone more educated answer my questions!!

Cheers

You'll find this site might explain better.

http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/Why_is_...27clunky%27%3F

End state. shift gears progressively (up and down). Adds a smoother ride and lets you learn to use your gearbox properly. Plus you'll find that you're always ready to take off at any time which would be considered safe riding. Nothing worst then seeing a car behind you not slowing down because he's tunnel visioned on the big truck infront of you. Motorbikes have a small profile and are therefore harder to spot.

My front brakes (not breaks ) scrape slightly, doesn't affect the handling in anyway (that I can tell). Unless its affecting the bike handling. it shouldn't be an issue.

ride on!

Edit: Apparently my computer failed to show me the previous posts. Ignore me as I have repeated what the above have said.

My hornet has trouble finding neutral sometimes. Its abit of an art I'm slowly discovering, apparently a very common issue. Nothing to worry about.

[bosslady]

My hornet has trouble finding neutral sometimes. Its abit of an art I'm slowly discovering, apparently a very common issue. Nothing to worry about.

I hear you on this one!!!!!

[arcane12]

You'll find this site might explain better.

My hornet has trouble finding neutral sometimes. Its abit of an art I'm slowly discovering, apparently a very common issue. Nothing to worry about.

I hear you on this one!!!!!

Why is it that if you want to find neutral in a hurry it keeps jumping from first to second, and if you want to find first it refuses to go in? (ok, I have mostly gotten over it now, but it used to be a PITA. On the Boulevard I find it helps to double clutch to go from neutral to first)

[The End]

Why is it that if you want to find neutral in a hurry it keeps jumping from first to second, and if you want to find first it refuses to go in? (ok, I have mostly gotten over it now, but it used to be a PITA. On the Boulevard I find it helps to double clutch to go from neutral to first)

I'd say most of the time it's trying to get to neutral in a hurry and clicking up too hard. It only needs a slight amount of upward pressure for it to slot into neutral (on my bike anyway) and anything more than that will push it into second.

[TheTengTheory]

I'd say most of the time it's trying to get to neutral in a hurry and clicking up too hard. It only needs a slight amount of upward pressure for it to slot into neutral (on my bike anyway) and anything more than that will push it into second.

A solid change into first from second usually gives me good results on the shift into neutral but if it skips into 2nd I can usually get into neutral from there as well.

[Cam_NZ]

Yeah will work on my changes then. I do usually use engine braking, just every now and again just dont do it for some reason.

[arcane12]

I'd say most of the time it's trying to get to neutral in a hurry and clicking up too hard. It only needs a slight amount of upward pressure for it to slot into neutral (on my bike anyway) and anything more than that will push it into second.

Yup, more evident when I was still getting used to thick motorcycle boots. These days I have it down pat, though I sometimes(very rarely) go the other way and am too gentle with my kick up into 2nd after taking off (often when doing that slow crawl up to second in heavy traffic, you get in the sway of the slow gentle taffic and whoops, neutral! heh).

[Glowerss]

Why is it that if you want to find neutral in a hurry it keeps jumping from first to second, and if you want to find first it refuses to go in? (ok, I have mostly gotten over it now, but it used to be a PITA. On the Boulevard I find it helps to double clutch to go from neutral to first)

It's easier to go from second into neutral then first into by and large. The shift up from first is quite........... heavy? On most of the bikes ive ridden anyway. I can get it into neutral from first most of the time, but it's FAR easier to go from second into neutral with a real gentle tap downward.

Conversely, ya'll could just buy a kawasaki Kwackas have "positive neutral finder", which when the bikes moving less then say 10-15kph, it will ONLY go into neutral from first. Quite a nifty thing to have! It was one of the things I really liked about the ZZR250

[Maha]

Where you holding the clutch in the whole time you were trying to go down the gears while stationary? If you were, then each time you go down a gear, release the clutch a little to allow the gears to move. a fraction, allowing the gates to open.
But apart from this, you should be changing down all the gears coming to a stop at any time, using the engine braking to assist the bike stopping, get into this habit now. it is part of controlling your bike. Rolling to a stop in top gear clutch in, is a NO NO NO< you can loose control, stall, fall of, lots of nastiness.
Right gear right time acceleration or decelerating...learn that your gearbox and engine are as much part of the braking system of your bike as the brakes are.
Learn this now!

+1 to all of this....
If you are stationary and trying to select a lower gear, release the clutch a tad, you will feel a click, thats a false neutral finding a gear. Should be sweet after that.

@ Cam...Wait till you find a false neutral just before you go around a down hill corner!.....Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh pucker pucker

[TheTengTheory]

It's easier to go from second into neutral then first into by and large. The shift up from first is quite........... heavy? On most of the bikes ive ridden anyway. I can get it into neutral from first most of the time, but it's FAR easier to go from second into neutral with a real gentle tap downward.

Conversely, ya'll could just buy a kawasaki Kwackas have "positive neutral finder", which when the bikes moving less then say 10-15kph, it will ONLY go into neutral from first. Quite a nifty thing to have! It was one of the things I really liked about the ZZR250

I only use neutral when I'm getting of my bike or on the side of the road...all other situations I just hold the clutch in.....quite tiring at first but now my fingers are meaty little bastards.

When I'm shifting up it occasionally goes into a false neutral (I generally don't clutch on my upshifts), nothing more embarassing then hitting the rev limiter in town pulling outta an intersection ...Good way to catch someones attention. or scare the shit outta the muppet cager infront of you

[Glowerss]

I only use neutral when I'm getting of my bike or on the side of the road...all other situations I just hold the clutch in.....quite tiring at first but now my fingers are meaty little bastards.

When I'm shifting up it occasionally goes into a false neutral (I generally don't clutch on my upshifts), nothing more embarassing then hitting the rev limiter in town pulling outta an intersection ...Good way to catch someones attention. or scare the shit outta the muppet cager infront of you

Even when getting off the hornet I typically go 1st second neutral. It's just easier. If i get neutral going up wahey great! But doesn't normally happen

By the way, you really should clutch your upshifts. There's no reason not too. It's generally not good for your clutch/gearbox ect (Honda put the clutch lever there for a reason!). It's just lazy, a bad practice to get into, and wholly unnecessary, clutchless upshifts. Unless you're at a track or trying to outrun the devil or something, you should really be using your clutch for every gear change.