Having difficulty changing gears? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Having difficulty changing gears?

Mukala

Mukala

Well-known member
Forum Sponsor
I am a newbie rider with a 2012 cbr250r (first full season riding), got my bike in late august of last year. The bike has 3k kms on it.

At random times while i'm riding the bike has trouble going to 4th gear from 3rd. I will have to try a few time to get it into 4th. I find this kinda dangerous, because I need to be in last gear to do anything over 80km lol.

I told a friend of mine, who has been riding a bit longer than me and he said, maybe an oil change will help? I got a oil change done at 1.5k last season and now the bike is at 3k, does 1500 km and a winter wait, require a oil change?

What do you guys think is wrong with it? Also anyone recommend a Honda Dealer or Honda Authorized Shop, that you guys have good experience with doing maintenance etc?
 
Mukala said:
I am a newbie rider with a 2012 cbr250r (first full season riding), got my bike in late august of last year. The bike has 3k kms on it.

At random times while i'm riding the bike has trouble going to 4th gear from 3rd. I will have to try a few time to get it into 4th. I find this kinda dangerous, because I need to be in last gear to do anything over 80km lol.

I told a friend of mine, who has been riding a bit longer than me and he said, maybe an oil change will help? I got a oil change done at 1.5k last season and now the bike is at 3k, does 1500 km and a winter wait, require a oil change?

What do you guys think is wrong with it? Also anyone recommend a Honda Dealer or Honda Authorized Shop, that you guys have good experience with doing maintenance etc?
Click to expand...


Have your buddy who's been riding longer take it out for a spin and see if he can recreate the same issue you're having. Your rear sets may need adjusted.

If the bike wasn't started up at least once a month through the winter, change the oil. The crankcase will be full of moisture and condensation which leads to oxidization and rust.
 
MLadin said:
Have your buddy who's been riding longer take it out for a spin and see if he can recreate the same issue you're having. Your rear sets may need adjusted.

If the bike wasn't started up at least once a month through the winter, change the oil. The crankcase will be full of moisture and condensation which leads to oxidization and rust.
Click to expand...

If there is minimal mileage on the oil that would be a waste. As soon as the bike is brought up to temp the first time any moisture will burn off.
 
possibly combination of boots and shifter a bit too close to the case???
Easy enough to get bent just a tad and hitting sometimes.

Sounds like an exterior type of issue.
 
I'm betting boots too - in my running shoes it's much harder to shift than in my Alpinestars boots.
 
+1 for getting your buddy to ride the bike around the block a few times to see if he experiences the same problem. Let us know how it goes.
 
Mukala said:
At random times while i'm riding the bike has trouble going to 4th gear from 3rd. I will have to try a few time to get it into 4th. I find this kinda dangerous, because I need to be in last gear to do anything over 80km lol.
Click to expand...


The bike has six gears, you can almost pull top speed on these bikes in fifth, sixth is geared generally for fuel economy reasons.

Only issue i had with mine(very minor) was shifting from neutral to first if i was at a traffic light, i use to blip the throttle and found it was better.
 
I don't know if its relevant to the CBR250R but one of my instructors was telling me about the CBR125R transmission locking in neutral if you downshifted from high speed too quickly. As it is more of a learners bike than the 250, maybe it was different. If not, that may be the problem but I notice every time I downshifted from 4 to 1 while clutched in and coasting to a red light, it would often get stuck in neutral and I'd stall it, downshift, start up and go but apparently you can just roll the bike forward.

http://cbrforum.com/forum/street-skills-89/downshifting-query-126845/
 
Last edited:
Do those things have 4th gear?

:D


I'm just ribbing. Like someone stated, have an experienced rider give 'er a try to see if they can replicate.
 
Jayv said:
Only issue i had with mine(very minor) was shifting from neutral to first if i was at a traffic light, i use to blip the throttle and found it was better.
Click to expand...

Rolling the bike while pushing down on the shifter does the trick, too.
 
MLadin said:
If the bike wasn't started up at least once a month through the winter, change the oil. The crankcase will be full of moisture and condensation which leads to oxidization and rust.
Click to expand...
This is a total crock! If you start your bike repeatedly in the winter it will surely get moisture and combustion blow by. Let it sit until it is time to ride.
 
I think a key piece of the puzzle is the comment "at random times". What is going on at these random times that is NOT going on the rest of the time? My first guess would be the lever does not return to the center position after shifting into 3rd, then it cannot rotate the shift drum when you ask for 4th. Try putting the ball of your foot on the footpeg after each shift, to ensure that your foot has cleared the lever. You can change the oil too and check the lever to see if it's bent. but "random" sounds to me like a rider not machine issue. But hey, I've been wrong before. Let us know.
 
Is your clutch engaging properly? If the cable is too loose, you might not be able to slam it into gear properly

Sent from my tablet using my paws
 
Try preloading the shifter before you need to change gears. Often you will find it soft / moves a bit more than when preloaded. Simply lift up on it before you intend to shift, keep slight pressure and once you roll off the throttle it will want to go by itself - with our without the clutch, depending on how much pressure, and your RPM's.
 
my experience with the cbr250 this doesn't surprise me. sometimes needed to rock it a bit to get into neutral, sometimes needed to kick it harder to go up/down depending on gear/speed. sometimes stalled out just pulling in the clutch lever.... that's a separate issue though. I think it's just the nature of the bike.
 
On my Kawi for some reason when I shift to 2nd it drops down to neutral after a few seconds.

Doesn't happen often but it always scares the **** out of me.

Probably my fault too.
Forum Sponsor
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom