Hard shift to first

D

denraf

New member
Have a 2011 FZ8 with just a little over 4000mls now.
The shifting to first seems very hard and clunky. When shifting from neutral to first it will actually jump a little.
When downshifting during riding, it shifts definitely harder down to first than any other gear.
All other gear shifts are pretty smooth, it's just getting in to first is pretty difficult.

I've done an oil change, checked clutch cable slack and adjusted the lever knob in any direction, but it didn't make any change so far.
Any guidance?
 
B

Bagman

Member
It's normal with the clunk at a stop and going from Neutral to 1st - though sometimes it's more pronounced than other times. I personally (like in a car) avoid shifting to 1st unless stopped or nearly stopped (moving rather slow).
 
Gem rod

Gem rod

New member
Sometimes it feels as if my entire box is about to drop onto the floor when I initially put her into 1st. It's obviously worse when cold and I notice that there is quite a bit of clutch drag too. I feel this if the bike is cold and rolling say at 3-5mph then if I put it back into first there is a slight jolt with the clutch in as if the clutch has not totally disengaged the engine from the gear box. The bike has done 11K trouble free miles, but I do change the oil and filter every 2300 miles. It seems to be a quirk with the design but overall I think the bike's reliability and robustness is superb.

Plenty of power and good handling. It's a very good all rounder and totally under-estimated. I believe Yamaha made a mistake by discontinuing it; they should have done small upgrades and maybe uprated the HP slightly instead of bringing out the MT series. Having said all that the MT-09 Tracer is highly popular here in the UK.
 
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