Question for all you motorcycle mechanic type people

[Whisper]

Ok, I made this post at another forum as well, but figured I'd ask here also...can never have too much input (well, almost never):

Ok everyone, here's the question:

I've noticed that over the past few months, my bike (2001 Ninja 500R) has slipped out of gear a few times. It might just be my imagination, but it seems to be getting a bit more frequent nowadays (nothing that causes me to fear for my immediate safety, but it is a bit disconcerting). Also, coming home today I noticed that as I pulled up to a stop light and coasted to a halt in neutral, I heard a 'clunking' sound coming from around the gearbox. I've also heard a similar-but louder-clunking sound while driving, almost like my front tire kicked a rock up into my fairing (but coming from the side of the bike, so I know it wasn't that).

What I'm wondering is what do you all think the problem could be? The bike has 12k miles on it, and has had regular maintenance...but I'm beginning to think that something might be wrong with the gearbox itself. Any thoughts?

 

[alembic5]

Definitely take her in and have her checked! I ride a 2001 Suzuki GSXR1000, but have yet to have any problems. A good friend of mine had similar things happening in his CR250 dirtbike, and one of the main bolts holding the clutch basket in place had come lose. It eventually came out (20 miles out in the woods, mind you...) and I had to tow him all the way back to the truck. Nothing was damaged on his, but it could have been quite costly. Better safe than sorry... get it checked out, IMO. Good luck, and keep the rubber side down!

 

[Whisper]

Yeah, that's what I'm hoping...that something's just come loose and needs to be tightened. I'm taking it up to school in about a week and a half, and there's an authorized mechanic up there that I bring it to for its regular maintenance. I'll try to ride it as little as possible till then, seeing as how I don't know of any places around here to bring it to.

Thanks for the input.

 

[Bulldozer]

Definately get it looked at. Tranny work costs a fortune cuz usually the whole engine needs to be torn down.

A tranny can slip out of gear when dogs are worn (notches on the sides of gears that engage two gears that are on the same shaft). Bent shift forks are also a common source of tranny problems.

 

[The Stigenator]

Whisper..

First thing first, when was your last OIL CHANGE..and did you check your oil?

These bikes use a unified engine oil / tranny system? If you did do an oilchange recently what oil did you use? Friction modifiers in newer high performance car oils wreck havoc on our clutches and gearing systems. On my GS if I am low on oil it actually has a weird shifing problem.

How many thousand miles have you got..

And oh yeah post it at www.gstwins.com/forum I know its a GS500 site but just post it there.. maybe someone can help you with a solution. Say TGG sent you that way.

 

[Whisper]

Oil was changed just over 3k miles ago. I'm getting it done again when I head back to school in a week and a half. Don't remember what oil the dealer uses, but I don't think they're going to put in something that would void a warranty on me. I do know it was motorcycle oil, but forget the brand. Might've even had a Kawasaki sticker on it.

As far as a unified oil/tranny system...are you asking whether my gearbox/clutch uses engine oil? If so, yes, it's a wet clutch/gearbox. Fluid levels are fine, but I'll check again in the morning.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: The_good_guy
Whisper..

First thing first, when was your last OIL CHANGE..and did you check your oil?

These bikes use a unified engine oil / tranny system? If you did do an oilchange recently what oil did you use? Friction modifiers in newer high performance car oils wreck havoc on our clutches and gearing systems. On my GS if I am low on oil it actually has a weird shifing problem.

How many thousand miles have you got..

And oh yeah post it at <a href="http://www.gstwins.com/forum">www.gstwins.com/forum</A> I know its a GS500 site but just post it there.. maybe someone can help you with a solution. Say TGG sent you that way.

This is basically what I was going to suggest.