gear shift problem when standing still

[Anonymous]

When I'm riding I'm not having any problems shifting the gears. When I'm standing still however, I can't shift gears easily. It's almost impossible to go from 1ste or 2nd to neutral. When I turn of the ignition I can shift easily again.

The problem occured when I changed the oil. New oil, new filter, and I have overfilled it. The manual said 3.8 litres, but that seems way to much for my 77 GS750. Could this be the source of my problem? Should I drain it again?

Summarised: Why is it so hard shifting gears when my bike is standing still?

[KGB]

Sounds like you're on the right track.
When my 1000S gets low, it is sticky to shift when standing still.
The oil fill cover, or stamped on the case next to the fill hole should say how much oil.
If you squeeze the clutch lever in/out will it shift then?
The shift dogs are out of alignment when stopped.

How old is the clutch? Does it do it hot or cold? Or it doesn't matter?

[Anonymous]

I don't know how old the clutch is. Probably original, but I don't really know for sure.

When the engine is warm or cold, I does not matter for the gear shifting problem.

I'll check the amount of oil my bike can have. But even when it's running you cant see the oil level through the window because it's to high. So the manual must be way of as is my oil level in the bike.

When the engine doesn't run I will go into every gear and neutral whitout any problem usually even without using the clutch. Why is it possible when the engine is not running and not possible when it is running?

[moto_dan]

All the bikes I've owned over the past 38 yrs. are hard to shift when sitting still. Some harder than others and some impossible. It is the nature of the animal(motorcycle transmission design) and I'm sure some of the real motorheads on this site can give you the why. On some of the more modern bikes they have a positive neutral which is nice. My suggestion is to develop the skill of shifting into the correct gear or neutral before coming to a complete stop. Another trick is to slowly let out the clutch while easing the tranny into the desired gear.

[Anonymous]

I'm allready getting pretty good at shifting it to neutral before parking and stopping. I'll now just have to get used to it.

Thanks for your advice.

I'll still drain the extra amount of oil. Now I'll just have to wait for the r/r I ordered, fix the exhaust and I'm fully up and running again.

really looking forward to it.

[focus frenzy]

try adjusting you clutch!! the clutch is a wet clutch, it runs in the same oil as the engine is running, sometimes a change to a differant oil will afect the operation of the clutch, the inability to shift to neutral with the engine running, while sitting still indicates that there is some clutch drag loading presure on the gears keeping you from shifting out of gear.
some performance clutches and springs are very bad about dragging.

what oil did you put in it?

[daveo]

all of the above, plus a too-high idle will also exaggerate the problem, should be around 1000 rpm, sometimes just rocking the bike fore and aft while operating shifter will ease the engagement

[Anonymous]

Well the problem is solved.

I got rid of the excess oil. The bike needs 3400cc (printed next to the oil lid). When I changed the oil and the filter last time I put 3.7 litres in (like my manual says. It's a translation, so it's probably wrong). Now I took about 1.5 litres out. It sounds very wrong, but the oil level is right at the F level of the oil window.

Guess what... Shifting liking a baby. Also when standing still. Lovely.

Thanks for the ideas.

[AOD]

i think that number on the crankcase is the volume of the crankcase...not the amount of oil you put in.

as for shifting motorcycle transmissions, you need to look at a cutaway engine on the main page to really understand it. the transmission is always spinning, even when you have the bike in neutral. because it is sequential each gear that is selected rides on that same shaft and the same as the drive sprocket. so when you're not moving, you still have some load on the gears, which can make it harder to shift. that's also why it 'jumps' when you put it in gear from neutral.

the trick to shifting between 1-N-2 while sitting is to bump the clutch a little or roll the bike a little (using the clutch or your feet). this will sometimes lessen the tension on the sprocket into the trans, which lowers the forces on the gears, and lets you shift.

just like if you shut the bike off, and put it in gear, you probably can't get it back into nuetral without moving the bike a little.

~Adam

[Anonymous]

I don't know what the number is on the bike, but I do know that it shift perfectly since I got rid of the excess oil.

No more gearshifting problems for me now. Even when standing still engine running or not it doesnt matter I can shift to what gear I like.

got another problem now. One rear brake pad is a gonner while the other is ok. It kept pushing against the disk. Something is stuck I guess. Gonna take it apart this week and see how it goes.

[KEITH KRAUSE]

Re: gear shift problem when standing still

The problem occured when I changed the oil. New oil, new filter, and I have overfilled it. The manual said 3.8 litres, but that seems way to much for my 77 GS750. Could this be the source of my problem? Should I drain it again?

A U.S. quart = .95 liter, so they're almost the same. My '79 GS 1000 takes 4.0 quarts w/filter change. So the 3.8 for your 750 SEEMS right. Maybe you did'nt get all the old oil out, maybe it was cold? Oh well, glad you fixed it.

[terry]

It's both interesting and somewhat disappointing how much old oil is retained in your engine/transmission when you do an oil change. I sit mine on the centre stand on level ground with the back wheel up in the air as per normal, and I'm lucky if much more than 2 quarts (or metric quarts) comes out.

I then drop the filter and maybe another half a quart comes out that end. I can raise the front, lower the back, shake it from side to side (carefully) crank the engine a couple of revolutions with the plug caps off, but it doesn't really make much difference.

It also makes very little difference whether the oil is hot or cold. Last time I decided to drop the oil pan (you'll need a new gasket if you do this) and clean the mesh screen while I was at it, well I reckon another quart came out! When I refilled it, it actually took a bit more than 3.8 litres to fill it up to the mark on the sight glass.

There's nothing worse than adding nice fresh oil to the tired, black goop that tends to hide in all the nooks and crannies inside your engine, that mixes with and instantly contaminates your new oil and filter, so from now on, I'm gonna drop the pan every other oil change. There's a bit more work involved dropping the exhaust each time, but I think it's well worth it. :twisted:

[Anonymous]

Now I understand why the oil was black the instant I put it in.
This sucks bigtime