First Gear Problems?

[Farnham1]

Friend of mine (not computer literate so I'm asking on his behalf) has a problem with his newish Rocket with it springing out of first gear at low revs. Has anyone had this problem or is it a known problem? He has 2000 miles on the clock and the dealer has recommended that he runs it for another 2000 to see if it 'beds in'. Any suggestions or comments welcome.

[dougl]

On 2007-07-13 08:24, Farnham1 wrote:
Friend of mine (not computer literate so I'm asking on his behalf) has a problem with his newish Rocket with it springing out of first gear at low revs. Has anyone had this problem or is it a known problem? He has 2000 miles on the clock and the dealer has recommended that he runs it for another 2000 to see if it 'beds in'. Any suggestions or comments welcome.

4000 miles?? That's ridiculous. Sounds like it needs an adjustment.

[Classic06]

I had a problem with my '06 Classic popping out of first gear when I engaged it from neutral. It got better with more miles but after 11,000 miles it still would pop out about 10% of the time. They pulled the motor and replaced all the components related to 1st gear under warranty which helped some.
The '06 Classic I had was a lemon and had several problems. The '07 Classic I have now seems to be a good one.

best of luck to your friend

[felixEOD]

I have the same problem but dropping from 2nd to neutral when I back off the throttle.. clutch was adjusted wrong.. and I was trapping my pinky under the clutch(newbie crap, I know).

hope this helps.

felix

[slowry]

Originally Posted by Farnham1

Friend of mine (not computer literate so I'm asking on his behalf) has a problem with his newish Rocket with it springing out of first gear at low revs. Has anyone had this problem or is it a known problem? He has 2000 miles on the clock and the dealer has recommended that he runs it for another 2000 to see if it 'beds in'. Any suggestions or comments welcome.

Mine's at 5500 miles and still does it occasionally.

1. From neutral, double clutch works to catch first.
Release the clutch, goose the gas a touch, engage the clutch and shift.
Or ... release the clutch slightly & shift to first.

2. On downshift, double clutch going into first gear before stopping. Otherwise see 1.

At 5500 miles it's much, much better but now it's also second nature to use the routine above.

[rndtaylor]

I always manhandle my bike into first gear. I never trust it to be engaged until I ease out on the throttle with the brake held, just a little bit. Upshifting is never a concern, but down shifting to second, or first, is something I dont trust until I verify with the pull I feel from releasing the clutch.

This bike is the greatest thing I have ever straddled, even with the crude transmission. It will never be honda smooth, but then again, it will never be honda slow either.

I love it, even the warts.

[Touko]

Thought it was just me who had this problem. I have an 06 Classic that once and a while would jump out of 1st gear just after take off. This would happen after shifting from neutral into first. At first I just felt the shifter and when it seemed as if it didn't push down far enough I would start to take off and then pull the clutch in and push down on the shifter peg. The question was how come sometimes it went right into gear no problem and other times it didn't? So it dawns on me that when I start the bike I have to pull the clutch in and if I keep the clutch in then that is when it has a problem with going into first gear. So now before I put it into first from neutral I let the clutch out and when I pull it back in I immediately shift into first. You can tell right away that it is solidly in first gear. In fact if I do this quickly the bike will sort of jump into first gear. It seems those big gears need to be spinning a bit to mesh so if you keep the clutch in too long they don't get the chance to do that. I have not had it happen since using this tecnique. There's almost 3 thousand miles on it now and have not had a bit of trouble with it. Best money I ever spent. Cheers, Touko