Shifting Question

[prs3]

I have a 04 SE with 900 easy break-in miles on it, following MOM. My question is, have any of you experienced the following? When coming to a stop, I pull in the clutch (all the way) and shift down, it does NOT shift. I then let the clutch out a very small amount, pull it in all the way and then it will shift down. It does not do this all of the time. Is this normal? What might be the cause?

Thanks,

Paul

[SlvrSurfr]

I believe thats normal. I used to have the same problem w/ my 2002 CBR Honda. I think its callled a false neutral. I now have an 01 S3 and soo far have not experianced it. I believe you can easily fix the problem by down shifting while slowing down before the final stop. It will allow the internals in the tranny to be moving during the shifting process.

Yup. Happens with other bikes I've owned too (even jap)

[Captain_Rat]

Has happened with my 2002 S3 as well. Downshifting while the bike is still in motion does the trick.

Capt.

[fwhite]

Yep, seemed to happen to me more often during the first 1000 miles or so....but that might just be me getting used to the bike. It never really bothered me b/c I've always heard that it's nothing to worry about. What I do hate (this has happened to me two times now), is when up-shifting from 3rd to 4th and the bike seems to slip into neutral. I think this might be due to not lifting up far enough on the shifter but when it has happened to me my RPMs have jumped all the up to redline. Has this happened to anyone else? I suppose it could happen up shifting into other gears as well but I think both times it was between 3rd and 4th for me.

Thanks

- Frank

[prs3]

Thanks for the replies. It does happen only while slowing down. Since it seems to be a normal thing, I'll not be concerned about it.

Thanks

Paul

[97TB]

Upshifting and hitting a false neutral has happened to me a few times on my tbird. I agree with you that its from a lazy shift.

Dan

[ken750f]

Just to add my 2 cents...................just got my '04 S3 and have the same issue. Had it with other makes of bikes in the past as well. Same solution as has been stated, just down shift prior to coming to a complete stop.

It helps to blip the throttle on downshifts too.... (Am I stating the obvious here?!?!? :wink: )

[miker]

PRS3,
As the others have said it is completely normal. It's caused by the gear sets not being quite aligned enough to drop into place when you finally come to a stop.

There is no need to worry, dropping in while slightly rolling is one way, but sometimes you can't do that if you're stopping in a hurry, or in heavy traffic and sitting in neutral.

When you let out the clutch that little bit, with pressure on the shifter it will drop straight in because it's helping line up the gear sets. Your manual car may do it as well, especially into reverse.

So there's the mechanical $0.02!
Mick