Am getting a false neutral between 4th & 5th

[Guest]

every so ofter (twice yesterday & twice a couple of days before, in particular) I miss the shift into 5th & get a false neutral. Then, it goes right into 5th with a little deliberate effort.
Could this be the beginning of a bent shift rod & a couple of worn dog teeth on the 5th gears?
Seems strange to me. Typically, I would think that gearsets would go on lower gears first, where acceleration stresses are more frequent.
Since this occurred, I am just being more deliberate with my shift into 5th, to make sure it is fully engaged before I let out the clutch. Maybe, just lazy shifting on my part (or alot worse).

[hjfisk]

Try changing the oil. I have had issues like that before
Also what oil are you using?

[rustybronco]

Could be that you need to be a little more 'positive' on your 4~5 upshift. It happens to me if i'm not firm enough with my foot.

[dorkburger]

I get that on occasion if im lazy with the shifter. + 1 on fresh oil. It makes a noticeable difference in mine.

[bbjumper]

What Dorkburger said, it happens to me too. These things slip into gear so smoothly it's easy to get a little lethargic on the shift leaver.

[LarryJ]

Thanks guys for the reassurance. I just changed the oil & use Shell Rotella T 15W40.

[tkent02]

For the top gear they use larger dogs, or smaller holes. Not sure exactly what they do, but you can notice the top gear takes a little different shift than the lower ones. A lot of bikes do this, maybe all of them, dunno. I think they do this to give less driveline snatch in the gear you spend the most time in. They can get away with it because as you say there are no acceleration stresses, no speedshifting, nothing difficult.
The result is it takes a slightly more deliberate shift into the top gear to make sure it is in gear. Especially if you are just putting along slowly and lazily move shift lever while not really thinking abut it, it is easy to miss and get a neutral.
Not a problem, just get into the habit of not being lazy on your shifts.

[alke46]

how about shifting without the clutch? just a slight release of the throttle and at the same time using the gear shifter always works for me.

[Turtleface]

how about shifting without the clutch? just a slight release of the throttle and at the same time using the gear shifter always works for me.

I used to do the same thing, until I sheared the starter clutch bolts on my bike. Using the clutch isn't all that difficult, and saves you wear on your engine and transmission.

[rustybronco]

Clutchless shifting wasn't the cause of your starter clutch failure.