Occasionally sticks in second gear?

Monday I was accelerating onto the freeway and when I went for third gear it wouldn't shift, no false neutral just stayed in second. Wouldn't downshift either! Shifter feels like it didn't come up all the way. Anyone experience this before? It's a 03 1300 with 74k on the clock.

There's a small bit of the wiring harness that's been known to get stuck around the shift lever and cause difficulties for some people.

You might also check the linkage that runs from the pedal to the engine case and make sure it's clean, lubed and free of undesirable debris.

--Mark

squirrel Hunter said:

Monday I was accelerating onto the freeway and when I went for third gear it wouldn't shift, no false neutral just stayed in second. Wouldn't downshift either! Shifter feels like it didn't come up all the way. Anyone experience this before? It's a 03 1300 with 74k on the clock.

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Mine will do this also! and mine only has 7k on it! I'm STILL trying to determine if it's oil related, my shifting technique, or what.

For me it's when I'm on it hard and when going for 3rd the shifter doesn't index, it's stuck in 2nd. If I roll out of the power I can feel a subtle click in the shifter THAN I can get 3rd.

I even brought it to the shop last fall and had 3 different techs ride it, one of them twice and none said they could make it happen. I think they don't want to pull the engine to work on the shift forks or drum. Oh well, the problems is logged and I still have 2 yrs of warranty left.

Can you elaborate on the wire harness that gets in the way? I checked last fall and didn't see anything wrong from the shift lever, to the rod, to the trans.

I've had the same problem, but I'm sure its my left foot being lazy.

Rick Gibson said:

I've had the same problem, but I'm sure its my right foot being lazy.

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Uhh, right foot? I think you mean your other right.

I have had the same issue, What I figured out is happening is I am not letting the shifter drop back down all of the way between shifts. If I make sure to drop my toes down far enough for the shifter to reset then it works perfect every time.

I think Rick is correct, except for me, it is my left foot that is being lazy :

I was just seeing if you guys were reading this. I changed it, I did have a Ducati that had the shift on the right.

Pete in PA said:

Can you elaborate on the wire harness that gets in the way? I checked last fall and didn't see anything wrong from the shift lever, to the rod, to the trans.

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I'd have to dig for it, but I seem to remember there being a thread where somebody discovered that some bit of the harness wasn't always routed properly and would get hung up after awhile. I'll go look under my bike when I get home tonight.

--Mark

I just picked up a new set of boots that are a little stiffer than my older boots. I've had an issue with shifting in that the new boots resist going back down and as previously stated don't let the shifter fully reset.

My 03 refused to shift a couple of years ago and it turned out to be the ball joints on the shifter linkage under the engine. The ball joints were full of dirt and road crud and had frozen up. The linkage was easy to remove and the ball joints freed up real nice after cleaning and lubricating.

I've just had a problem with my 04 bike on first ride out for 3 months I could only get 1st and 2nd gear. It was easily fixed by squirting releasing oil on the gearchange linkage and ball joints and then squirting with spray grease.
This linkage can get really mucked up by crap from the rear wheel. I only just stripped the linkage last september and greased it well. Maybe it needs waterproof grease on it. It could do with a guard really to stop it getting so messed up. I'll be looking to do something about that before next winter.

Thanks guys for the quick responses, I'm feeling good about your suggestions of possible crud in the linkage because we experienced it all in death valley this weekend! Sandstorm, snow and rain. Bike is really dirty and of course road sand is all over the bottom of the bike. And just recently I started experiencing starting problems with the side stand up and the clutch pulled in. I'll clean it lube it and check the harness

Thanks again everyone I knew I could count on this group to come up with some solutions.

Mike

st_james said:

I have had the same issue, What I figured out is happening is I am not letting the shifter drop back down all of the way between shifts. If I make sure to drop my toes down far enough for the shifter to reset then it works perfect every time.

I think Rick is correct, except for me, it is my left foot that is being lazy :

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I suspect this with me also but it's not like I just started riding. Add up the mileage on the Hondas I have listed below I've got 1/2 a million miles of shifting.

All the tests I've read (I think I've read all of them) always praised the gearbox on the ST1300. I'm not too impressed. There must be some really terrible shifting bikes out there.

I've got fresh clutch fluid in there.

At the risk of starting an oil thread, what oil shifts the best?

Pete in PA said:

All the tests I've read (I think I've read all of them) always praised the gearbox on the ST1300. I'm not too impressed. There must be some really terrible shifting bikes out there.

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Mine has always been a somewhat clunky shifter, I have never been too impressed with the shifting action. It works OK, but nothing special.

I won't touch your attempt at a new oil thread!:

Well I took it to a second dealer and one tech rode it and came back and it didn't do it for him.

The whole way there I'm purposefully doing all the right things to make it happen and I can do it about 90% of the time. I also made SURE I rotated my foot back down, not touching the lever each time.

What sucks is if I get a tech to finally find the problem I'll be out the bike for a couple of weeks when they pull the engine. What good is a cassette type trans if you still have to pull the engine to get it out?

Have you looked at the linkage????

alan said:

Have you looked at the linkage????

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Yes I have but not this year yet. It can't be messed up with such low miles.

I'm serious about what oil to use, especially what weight since apparently 10-30 on up to 20-50 is OK. Which will shift the best?

Since NO dealer near me has an ST on the floor can someone check something on their ST1300? In neutral, engine off if you slowly move the shift lever up and down are there any clicks and notches felt/heard right when the lever passes through the center position?

EDIT: I just checked again no binding of linkage, ball joints smooth and rotate fine.

Sorry about this delayed update on my shifting issues. Sprayed WD40 all up in those joints on the shifter rod, and she shifts like a new bike! Guess I shouldn't wait another 70K before the next lubing.


Thanks again everyone:capwin:


Mike

Glad to hear you've it all freed up!

Just remember you haven't lubed them yet (wd40)...
You might want to hit the area with a spray of lubricant...

Mark

Well I've got her back! Water pump seals replaced under warranty. I again explained the shifting problem, they rode it, and again they couldn't replicate it.

I gave her a quick visual and everything looks good. Of course I rode her the 40 miles home, and close to home I tried to make the shifting malfunction and of course I could do it the first time. I don't understand why 4 different techs between 2 dealerships can't replicate my problem. I can do it almost 100% of the time when I want to. It can be avoided easily by NOT taking 1st gear hard to near redline, something that doesn't make for a smooth/easy shift anyway. I "could" live with it for the life of the bike, (may have to) but should I?

I STILL THINK THEY DON"T WANT TO PULL THE ENGINE! So don't "find" the problem and you don't have to fix it.

The service writer did say that the water pump paid 1.9 hours under warranty, but it took much longer. Multiply that with an engine R&R and trans. fix and I maybe can see why they don't want to "find" the problem.

I'm going to inspect/disassemble everything from the shift lever to the trans. I'm NOT pulling the engine on a bike under warranty.

The final thing I'm going to try is Amsoil, the TOP 10-30 stuff. A guy at work sells the stuff. Be good for the bike anyway.

Does anyone here know transmissions well and maybe know what's going on?