I changed the secondary gear oil

[Guest]

And I am ridiculously proud of myself! I haven't done anything like this before - I was just following BikeCliff's guide and it turned out fine
I realise this probably seems exceptionally amateur in the eyes of most people here but these are my first steps.

I made a video so I can remind myself what to do for next time

[Brendan W]

Nice bike. Excellent vid. Amateurs always forget the tea
In passing, the oil frequently comes out a milky coffee colour. Probably down to water finding it's way in because the little vent hose that runs into the starter motor cavity is not working properly. Your looks pretty clean.

[Lyra]

Shifting from 1st to 2nd was really tough unless the engine had warmed up for about 15 minutes. The bike had been sat still for at least 3 years before I got it so I hope that changing the gear oil will help this (?)

[Nessism]

Shifting from 1st to 2nd was really tough unless the engine had warmed up for about 15 minutes. The bike had been sat still for at least 3 years before I got it so I hope that changing the gear oil will help this (?)

Unlikely to help. Try adjusting your clutch cable for less freeplay. If that fails your clutch plates are most likely slightly warped.

[Lyra]

Unlikely to help. Try adjusting your clutch cable for less freeplay. If that fails your clutch plates are most likely slightly warped.

Would that be a case of just installing some new ones? I have had a fiddle with the clutch freeplay at the handlebar end but maybe there is a way to adjust it at the other side(?)

[tkent02]

Unless she's shifting without the clutch. Some of us never use the clutch to shift, others sometimes do, sometimes not. It doesn't really after as far as how hard it is to move the shift lever. If it's that hard to shift something else is wrong.

Lyra, you may have found the reason the bike sat for three years.

[Lyra]

Lyra, you may have found the reason the bike sat for three years.

Maybe! Any good resources on diagnosing a stiff clutch (seems to be only when shifting up from 1st to 2nd)?

[tkent02]

First find out if it's the clutch or the shifter. How does it shift with no clutch?

[Buffalo Bill]

It's probably just beginners lack of finesse.
It took me a few thousand miles to shift without sometimes finding a false neutral.

[Lyra]

First find out if it's the clutch or the shifter. How does it shift with no clutch?

As in just kick it up when I judge the revs to be about right?

[storm 64]

A new clutch cable would probably do wonders.

[tkent02]

Get going in first gear, not too fast, no need for high RPM until you get the hang of it. 3,000 ish RPM maybe? Hold slight up pressure on the shift lever, close the throttle, at some point as the throttles close the lever will click up and it will be in second. If it won't go easily there's something wrong with the shifting mechanism. It happens easier in the higher gears if you want to practice that a few times first before you try it from 1st to 2nd.

No need for a hard kick on the lever, the gears always need to be unloaded so they can be shifted, you are just unloading the gears by the throttle, not by the clutch. Done correctly it's not hard on anything in there.

This is a great skill to have for getting home when your clutch cable or a clutch lever breaks anyway.

[phydeauxmutt]

I have always found the 1-2 shift to be the hardest to do without the clutch, because it has the greatest difference between the two gears. In principle, accelerate to the speed where you want to shift. Just before you get there, lift GENTLY with your left toe. Back off the throttle a bit while still pulling up with your toe. As the pressure on the gears drops off, due to no throttle, it will "snick" into the next gear. Apply throttle and continue to the next gear change. As you are learning, do this at lower engine speeds, so the difference is minimized from one gear to the next.

I just watched your oil change video. Nice documentation, but it sounded like the bike is only running on two cylinders.

[Lyra]

it sounded like the bike is only running on two cylinders.

This is something I have noticed before. I had someone use a tool to examine the connection to the spark plugs and the right side was occasionally not working. Because of it being intermittent, i suspected it was more to do with the wiring rather than the coils, but i am very new to all this. I wouldn't even know where to start with rewiring

[bwringer]

A new clutch cable would probably do wonders.

Agreed.


It took me FAR too long to figure out that Swarfega is a hand cleaner. For some reason I thought you were making tea with that green glob...

Of course, the most common hand cleaners in the US are called Goop and Gunk, so we have no business making fun of "Swarfega".