Am I preserving 2nd gear?

[stal871]

Ever since I learned about our notorious 2nd gear issues, I not only stopped hammering it on a regular basis, but now I regularly give it a double-click and go directly from 1st to 3rd when liesurely cruising around town. The idea being that I want it to be there for me when the opportunity to race comes along.

My question is. Is the double-click from 1st to 3rd helping preserve 2nd at all? Or since the gears actually mesh for a split second, is 2nd gear getting the same wear and tear regardless?

Stal87

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Stal,

I had/have the same bike. I liked to hammer it occasionally also, but not regularly. My "1st" gear went out first, and then 2nd a few months later. The lower gears get much more wear period. So...if you're using 1st more and avoiding 2nd, you may just be accellerating the wear for 1st while trying to save 2nd.

Using the clutch will do a fair amount to preserve the interfaces! Also, the tips about holding the clutch lever in for several seconds first before shifting down to 1st from neutral can help to slow the spinning of the gears before "slamming" them into place!?
T.C.

[stal871]

I wouldn't say that I use 1st gear MORE, just to avoid using 2nd. I start out in 1st and take er up to normal round-town rpm, and then just toe it twice to get to 3rd. Granted, it puts me at the very bottom end of 3rd, but if it will help my poorly designed transmission last as long as the rest of the bike, it's worth it to me cuz I absolutely love having 2nd gear to depend on when I get the chance to blow away a v-twin. Speed limit round town is mostly 35, with another intersection not too far, so I hardly ever get to 4th on the daily commute.

So, is this practice in fact prolonging the chance that I will someday have our infamous 2nd gear failure? Also, with that clutch-holding tip to avoid the "slamming", would that also apply between all gears when rolling down the road?

Stal

[GNEPIG]

.. i think just using all of your gears normaly is the best way to keep your tranny working properly. second gear gets its worst abuse when you're shifting from first gear at high RPMs. it seems to be hard to shift from first to second at high RPMs. if you wanted to save second gear it would be best to short shift to second when you are racing[only rev out 1rst gear to 5 grand then shift]. you can rev out second gear to red line if you wanted to, then shift to third.
..i hold in the clutch in neutral for about 20 seconds before i shift into first and i dont put my bike into neutral while i'm sitting at the light. also you dont want to rev the bike up while you put it into gear- not good for first gear

[MAXIMAN]

An astute observation pig.

Now that I think about it that's exactly when the shift to second fails...AT HIGH RPM. If I'm taking it easy and shifting at 4000 or so I never have trouble "hitting the hole".

[Hired_Goon]

Interesting comment on not reving when shifting into first.

My method for shifting to first is to hold in the clutch for a few seconds and blip the throttle. revs go up and frees the clutch up and as soon as the revs hits the lowest point I shift to first.

Give me a clunk free gear engagement nearly every time. Especially when cold.

[trbig]

I think we should all just put them in 3rd and leave them there. NO shifting will preserve 1st and 2nd right?? Now... what was the cheapest places for those clutches again??


Tod

[Dragonrider]

Hmmm....

My opinion?

Ride it like you stole it. Fix it if it breaks.