I have noticed lately when down shifting (comming to a stop) my bike now will sometimes try to grind the gears between the 2 - 1 shift. I'm assuming its because neutral is in between but I dont remember it doing this when I first got the bike. I really have not had the chance to really take a look at it but up shifting is fine. If it does grind the gears and its in neutral Ihave found if I let the clutch out and then pull the clutch in and down shift yo 1 it usually goes into 1 fine. Is this common or do I have some work ahead of me?  

Thanks!

Darren

like angie says, sounds like the clutch just needs to be adjusted a bit.  upshifting works fine without the clutch, but downshifting will be difficult/noisy/grinding if the clutch is not fully disengaging when you pull the clutch lever in.

if you have the owners manual or a clymer manual, the adjustment process is easy.  if not, plenty of people here can help.

Serowbot wrote on 08/04/11 at 09:47:02:


That could very well be.... I'll take a look at the adjustment tonight, otherwise i'll keep an eye out as to how fast i'm going when i do the last down shift.

Thanks all!!

Darren

Serowbot wrote on 08/04/11 at 09:47:02:


This exactly describes my situation also.  I "solved" the problem by waiting longer to downshift, <15mph now, whereas I upshift around 20mph.  Is this still caused by the misadjusted clutch cable, when it only affects 2-1 downshifting?

I havent tred this, but this is what Id try if I wanted to D/S into 1st at higher speed. Hand off the clutch, drop out of 2nd into N,goose it lightly in neutral, then see how it acts when it drops into 1st.

With any bike that has the standard shift pattern with neutral between 1 and 2, the shift will be smoothest if you shift to first just before you put your feet down when coming to a stop.  The idea is to put it into first while the gears are still turning (but slowly) and the clutch drag is minimal.