Hard shifting from 2nd to 3rd at high rpm

When riding off road I have an almost impossible time going from 2nd to 3rd if I have it really wound up in 2nd. I have to clutch, let the engine rpms drop and then wait a second or two before I can get it into 3rd and then sometimes I still have trouble. I always use the clutch when making any shift. Going from 1st to 2nd is no problem at all at any rpm. I dont have any problems on the road, but then I am usually shifting at a much lower rpm.

Bike only has about 2000 miles on it. I bought it with 1k on it and immediately changed the oil and cleaned the air filter as soon as I got it.

Anyone else experience this? Thoughts?

Try changing the oil again.
If you're riding off-road regularly, service the air filter a lot, too.

How's the positioning of the shift pedal?

Wind the bike out on the road and see if you can re-create the issue on asphalt.

Take second gear to rev limiter.

I use Amsoil and I've never had issues with shifting regardless of what rev range I'm in.

Any idea if your bike has ever taken a hard fall on the shifter side?

I will try changing the oil again. I just cleaned the filter (after probably 200-300 mi of off-road riding and around 500 street???), it seemed fairly dirty. How often should I clean the filter? I used the recommended oil bought at the dealer btw when I changed the oil, says Yamaha which I am sure is re-branded. Also used the dealer recommended air filter cleaner and oil.

I have fallen on the shifter side of the bike, but there doesn't appear to be any visible damage or bending of the shift lever. I wouldn't say it was a hard fall, I wasn't going very fast. It was enough to bend the stock bars, but I think you can bend the stock bars simply by tieing it down in the truck. Notice I didn't complain about 3rd to 4th... never get going that fast so I don't know if that is an issue or not.

I have been a little hesitant to aggressively try to re-create on the street... don't want to engine brake and lose traction on the rear while on the pavement.

Oh, and I checked the chain slack, and if I did it correctly, it was around 9mm using the owners manual method. Tolerance per manual I believe were 8-13 so I think I am on the loose side... I would assume if this was the issue a too tight chain would be the problem instead of too loose????

I'm reviving this thread to see if changing your oil cleared up the issue or not.

Anyone else been having this problem and have any feedback?

I'm running amsoil at the moment, not due for another oil change for another 1K miles or so and I've been having more and more trouble with 3rd gear. I've missed 1-2 shifts on 4th but 3rd seems to be every other time. I have to pull up twice as hard as I use to or it doesn't engage.

Its not the oil my friend !!!!!

Yeah, that's what I'm scared of.

It's not that it really needs the extra force, I think it's just the more "deliberate" movement as a result of pulling harder that helps. It hasn't made any noises and I haven't felt anything odd when it does/doesn't engage. Maybe I'm just starting to shift as sloppy as I fu...

It's not all bad though. If I have to split the case I might as well put in a stroker crank while I'm in there.

Would like to hear all about that, really! Not that I want you to split the cases, but since you are in there_______, I would guess that would give a lot more torque. Berwyn

Well it the issue is resolved.

The clutch cable needed to be adjusted. Since I know I've been abusing the gear box for a few hundred miles I went ahead and changed the oil also.

Shifts smooth as glass again.