The dreaded 2nd gear problem | GTAMotorcycle.com

The dreaded 2nd gear problem

kcalB

kcalB

Well-known member
First, I'd like to say I've been away from the site fro a long time.... Work.....

So that being said, I did a bit of work to my 04 Yzf600r over the winter. Runs great except for the 2nd gear 7k rpm where it seems liek the transmission stutters. Its onyl 2nd gear therefore i'm certain its the tranny. I remember a lot of people work on bikes here, and this is a time consuming project, that I A: Don't have the know how to do, and B: Can't even try to do it because i don't have the tools or the space. So I figured if any one was looking for a bit of work, I may be able to provide. It was not slipping at the end of last season just now that i took it out. So annoying lol. I thought I would try here first. I plan on having this done in a little bit of time, as i need to find the funds for this project.

So any one willingt o help, would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks all
 
Oh boy. YZF600 = FZR600 = FZR400 as far as the amount of work here is concerned.

If the problem is a bent shift fork or rounded-off engagement dogs, the crankcases have to be split, and on those engines, the top end has to come apart in order to access 2 crankcase bolts that can only be reached with the cylinder block off. It is a good 8 hours to disassemble the bike to the point of getting to this and another 8 hours to put it back together again, plus several hundred bucks in parts.

Given that those engines aren't as rare on the ground as the 400 engines, it might be best to get another engine ... IF you can confirm that the replacement engine doesn't have the same problem, which it could very well have.

"What's the bike worth to you" is a question you seriously have to ask at this point.
 
Problem with that bike is it will eventually pop out and lock the transmission up. Ask me how I know


This used to be my signature, but Paulo didn't like it.
 
Ahaha i forgot how good this community is!

I'm well aware of the steps to do the job, I A don't have the proper tools, B the space, C the know how. Now i can pretty much do almost anything that's not engine work. So all teh cheap fixes i can do myself but if its anyting on the engine, i have no idea. :s I'd love to fix this myself, but there is no way i can actually do it. No doubt i can take it apart, the rebuild is the hard part. I don't actually know how hard it is to replace teh 2/6 gear, and i doubt i'll find out.

What up rice burner. I've seen you on the YZF forums (or some one with the same screen name)

Factory pro shift kit is a must. If the shop won't install it, I'll find another shop.

How much is the bike worth to me? Well the two grand I've been quoted (including parts) is steep for me as I'm not swimming in dough, but the alternative is to spend 3-4 k on a new bike. The engine sounds great on this one, it was well taken care of. I'm sure its those dam false neutrals. God i hate those most annoying thing ever...... Not to mention the grinding of the tranny when you have to shift out of the false neutral.... Thats probably the reason 2nd is gone. I believe the pro shift kit helps a ton with the false neutrals :S. So overall i guess to me its worth putting in teh 2k. I just got a second job so it may not be all that bad :s. Hopefully i'll have the funds in the beginning of summer, and I'll be able to get it done.

The main idea of this post was to see if any one on here wanted to take the project. But that looks like a no, so i think I'll end up going upto GP bikes to get it done. Although I plan on reconciling with my old boss at 22 Customs, but not sure if he will want the job :s I guess you could say i didn't leave on the best of terms (sorry jason, i'll be stopping by this weekend, plz don't kill me LOL)

Thanks for all your input guys! Much appreciated.

Oh and there is a bit of top end engine work and seals that probably needs to be done, so It could be a little "less" expensive to get that done when its all pulled apart.
 
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You must really love that bike to spend 2 grand fixing it


Jusy buy an engine for 400 bucks
 
Then pay to have it installed (as i said I don't really know anything about engine work, I couldn't even put my 2 stroke engine back together), and Hope and pray that the transmission is good? Is there a way of checking a pulled engine with out splitting the case if the gears are still good. I mean sure i could buy another engine, but it could be worse for wear, and teh 2nd gear problem could be right around the corner. I really love BIKES, i mean hell if i could find another one for 2 grand, i'd probably buy it (obv pending condition) but it comes down to, there is no real way of checking the dogs on the 2nd gear with out splitting the case..... All i want to do is ride (a 600 sport ) lol.

I have a rough idea of how this happened, but the funny thing is, there was no issue at the end of last season at all. No "surge" or jerking at 7k rpm. Then i pulled it out on tuesday and bam, the 2nd gear is gone....... I don't understand :S
 
Have you at least looked for a good motor? A motor swap would be easier and doable. Do you have the shop manuals?
 
yeah man I've been looking for the past few hours. Ebay has some good looking motors but no one wants to ship to canada for a decent price (well maybe a grand is a good price, but at about $500 difference i may as well just have the rebuild done and know the motor is in good shape with new 2/6 gears.) Is there some sort of secret place to buy motors in ontario lol. I am very skeptical of buying a motor off kijiji, because who knows if the trans is good or not. Put in a new motor to have the same problem again the next year.

i've had such bad luck with bikes lol. This is only my second bike (i'm only 26) and the first one was an rz 350 which spent more time in the shop then on the road.(two engine rebuilds, i actually had the sleeves boared out i doubt i could have done it again with out buying a new engine case lol, i loved that rz though, i'm surprised i didn't kill myself on it) So i figure, if i drop the 2k on the rebuild, i know pretty much everything else is in good shape. Its cheaper then buying a new bike, and with the factory pro shift kit, i can extend the life of the tranny long enough to justify buying a new bike when it goes again. But dam man. Out of 5 seasons, I've had 1 where i didn't spend months in a shop. Granted I now can do all the small stuff myself but dam..... I love riding to much to give it up lol.


Urrg, life eh.....:)


Maybe i'll win the lottery and can get an r6. HAH
 
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Part out the bike you have, you'll be able to make at least $1000 off it no ? Put that $1000+ you make out of it and put the $2000 you're willing to put on fixing the engine, on another bike. You can buy a pretty decent early 2000s 600-1000 cc no problem for 3 grand
 
Rossi86 said:
Part out the bike you have, you'll be able to make at least $1000 off it no ? Put that $1000+ you make out of it and put the $2000 you're willing to put on fixing the engine, on another bike. You can buy a pretty decent early 2000s 600-1000 cc no problem for 3 grand
Click to expand...

The only problem with that is the OP wants another r6. Buying another $3000 r6 will likely wind up with same 2nd gear issue. If you like the bike that much, fix it and ride. At least you won't have the gear issue again...


"You lost 15 friends on motorcycles? and you have only been riding since 2008? was this a group ride that fell off a cliff or are you being serious?"-ZX600
 
Iceman said:
The only problem with that is the OP wants another r6. Buying another $3000 r6 will likely wind up with same 2nd gear issue. If you like the bike that much, fix it and ride. At least you won't have the gear issue again...


"You lost 15 friends on motorcycles? and you have only been riding since 2008? was this a group ride that fell off a cliff or are you being serious?"-ZX600
Click to expand...
It's not an R6....but 99-02 R6 were prone to the same issue
 
[Q UOTE=kellen;2281957]It's not an R6....but 99-02 R6 were prone to the same issue[/QUOTE]
Yeah sorry, I have a tendency to refer to the yzf as an r6 as well. Lol



"You lost 15 friends on motorcycles? and you have only been riding since 2008? was this a group ride that fell off a cliff or are you being serious?"-ZX600
 
OUch man, saying i can't shift.....;) lol. So you have NEVER had a flase neutral? I don't think it was my shiffting. I suppose i probably screwed upa few shifts at the begining of last season, as I had been off two wheels for a few years, but not enough to round out the dogs :s
 
Yeah this is what i'm currently looking into. That or a motor swap. I'd love to fix the issue myself, and taking the engine apart would not be a problem, but putting it back together is a whole nother story lol....
 
If you weren't the first owner it could be a previous owner's bad shifting. And yeah it's been found that the 2nd gear issue on the Cat is strongly due to bad shifting.
 
Iceman said:
The only problem with that is the OP wants another r6. Buying another $3000 r6 will likely wind up with same 2nd gear issue.
Click to expand...
I posted in his other thread about scoring a deal on a newer R6 (2006 and up) from the police auction (they sell dirt cheap with no keys because it's usually $2800 for a new set of keys from Yamaha).
 
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