Hard Shifting

My '10 WRR is about 2 months old now and has 5,500 miles. Everything has been great (smooth shifting/running) up until today. I was leaving my neighborhood (heading for some trails) when I started having a problem shifting from 2nd to 3rd. It took me 3 or 4 tries to get it into 3rd and only after fiddling with the clutch and shifting up and down a couple times did it finally shift. The next 2 or 3 shifts into 3rd were a bit difficult, but they went in without too much fuss. I got to the trails and didn't have any problems with 3rd for about an hour of off-road riding. On my way home, the same thing happened, except it wouldn't go into 3rd at all until I tried clutchless shifting. Without the clutch, it shifted just fine up through all the gears.

When it doesn't go into 3rd the shifter doesn't move all the way up like it should. The only gear that gave me any trouble was 3rd. 1st, Neutral, 2nd, 4/5/6 were all fine.

Oil has about 500 miles on it, and it's the same oil I've been using since break-in. Bike worked flawlessly two days ago, and I did not have any falls or "bangs" on any of the linkage.

Any suggestions?

P.S. I'll probably post this over at ADVRider too.

I know it sounds silly, but check the tightness on your shifter bolt. My aftermarket one was fairly loose after a good hillclimb get-off, and I could barely shift at all. Thought I'd managed to break a clutch plate or something.

Sounds stupid, but you never know.

Just checked, nope, that's not it!

I hope it's something that simple though.

I tried taking up a little slack in the clutch freeplay, but I haven't had a chance to test it. It started pouring rain and I have off-road only knobbies on it right now.

[quote="thumpjump"]Just checked, nope, that's not it!

I hope it's something that simple though. /quote]

I knew it was a long shot, but I figured being enthusiastic pays off sometimes

Still under warranty?
Done a lot of clutchless shifiting in the dirt?

Akasy wrote:

Still under warranty?
Done a lot of clutchless shifiting in the dirt?

Yes, it's still under warranty, but I can't really get service without begging Yamaha USA to pay for service while I'm stationed here in Germany. In other words, very difficult and probably not going to happen.

I almost never clutchless shift. Only a couple of occasion by accident when hitting jumps n' stuff offroad.

After taking up some of the free-play in the clutch it was pretty smooth shifting up through all the gears. The difference now was down shifting into 2nd and 1st was a nice clunk, not buttery smooth like before. I decided to change the oil and found it to be pretty gritty, almost like fine sand particles. It didn't have a metallic sheen, and wasn't abnormally dirty. I've been riding it pretty hard off-road for the much of the past 500 miles, but it's been ridden harder prior to this with no problems. It now shifts through all gears nice and smooth.

The other interesting thing is that the oil was a little over full, which I know it was not a couple days ago. As mentioned it was a little gritty. It also smelled a little bit like gas (more than usual). There was nothing milky to indicate water.

I've been running in wet condition, riding in large puddles, see video below for a small example of my riding condition. I didn't dump it in the water and none of the puddles are taller than mid-engine. The oil wasn't milky, I'm assuming it is not water in the oil. The gritty texture is much like the wet sand/dirty/clay I've been riding in. I doubt the dirt from outside could find it's way into the crankcase.

Sorry, I'm just thinking out loud.

What are you using for an air filter, what are your air filter maintenance habits, and what chemicals do you use on it?

YZEtc wrote:

What are you using for an air filter, what are your air filter maintenance habits, and what chemicals do you use on it?

Cleaned it last time I changed the oil, about 500 miles ago (prior to today of course). I wash it out with castrol filter cleaner and water. Then I let it dry. Once dry I saturate the outside with Castrol Foam Air Filter oil, squeeze the excess out, let it dry for about 30 minutes and install. I let it dry overnight last time I cleaned it. I'm using the stock air filter.

I've cleaned the filter 3 times since I got the bike 2 months ago. I clean the filter when (a) it's visibly dirty (b) I have a long ride coming up (c) i've been riding in very dusty conditions (d) I'm bored and feel like doing something to my bike.

I would think the injector would get clogged if crap was coming in that way.