Upshifting from 1st to 2nd gear

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snowmannn

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I've got my S2 for about 3 months now and I'm still getting used to smooth shifting. I learned to blip the throttle to smooth downshifting and to operate quickly with the clutch lever/throttle/shift lever in order to get better upshifts. However, I still can't get 1st to 2nd gear upshift to go smoothly. Most of the time I hear a strong click sound when getting into 2nd gear and I wonder if this is normal. Do you know if there's a way to make this particular gear upshift go smooth every time or is it a peculiarity of the FZ6?

Thanks :)

P.S. I noticed (and also read in other posts) that when revving at >=6000RPM and I'm above 1st, the upshifting becomes incredibly smooth and easy.
 
My trick for upshifting from 1-2 is to not completely shut off the throttle while shifting. Usuaully I just accelerate, roll throttle forward enough to not allow the revs to drop too much, but enough to unload transmission, clutch in, shift, roll back on throttle and clutch out. I find that it is easier to do this if the throttle play is adjusted correctly. It took me about a week to get it down, but once I got it, it was very satisfying.
 
There's a distinct "CLUNK" as I change to second no matter what I do, so I use the first gear only to pull away and change to second way sooner than I should. I've learned to live with this as one of my older Yamahas (1.1Special) had no second gear at all...:eek:
 
Don't worry its not just you!! If I'm not mistaken, everyones fz6 does it. Mine sure does, I can only get it real smooth every once in a while, but as far as I'm concerned its not a big deal. You can try preloading the shifter. (Apply some upward pressure before you begin to let off throttle and disengage clutch.) It should pop to 2nd a little quicker and smoother.
 
I've actually go to the point I can shift from 1-2 smoothly without the clutch at all. It tends to work best under moderate acceleration.
 
It is the most annoying feature of the bike in my opinion. It is certainly not you. Things that helped me: at 1600 miles it has gotten smoother with time. Rotella T synthetic oil helped (probably any synthetic oil eventually help), short shift 1-2, i.e. make the shift at 3k rpm, no higher, put your foot under the gear change and give it a touch pressure before you shift. It has made this much more bearable, but still, about 30% of the time it is clunky. Annoying. If the bike had more torque I would not care, but changing at 3k rpm can be dangerous if you are in the midst of traffic and need to have reserve on you.
 
xj750_Pete said:
My trick for upshifting from 1-2 is to not completely shut off the throttle while shifting. Usuaully I just accelerate, roll throttle forward enough to not allow the revs to drop too much, but enough to unload transmission, clutch in, shift, roll back on throttle and clutch out. I find that it is easier to do this if the throttle play is adjusted correctly. It took me about a week to get it down, but once I got it, it was very satisfying.
Click to expand...

That's the key to eliminate the jerky upshifting (2nd to 3rd and 3rd to 4th as well, not just 1st to 2nd) when first "bonding" with an FZ6. Fully closing the throttle during upshifts through the 3 lower gears will cause a jerk, no matter how much you preload the shifter.
Point to note: Clutchless upshifts without closing the throttle are wonderful, but the first time I tried it from 1st to 2nd after accelerating WOT in 1st gear caused the front wheel to go into a low earth orbit. That scared grandpa, so he will never try THAT again. :eek:
Preloading the shifter is the best advice I got, particularly for that pesky 1st to 2nd shift. As the previous poster mention, get as much freeplay out of the throttle cable as you can, while ensuring that the throttle still closes completely when released.
Good quality, well fitting boots helped with my shifting too....really.:thumbup:
 
What is 2nd gear and what is it for??

I go straight from first into 3rd.

Can`t they take some gears out of this bike?

Steve
 
OneTrack said:
Good quality, well fitting boots helped with my shifting too....really.:thumbup:
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more to this statement. I rode with Timberland hiking boots and tennis shoes before...then I got a pair of used Sidi Vertebra boots. The shifting is way easier. The guy I bought them from said I have to articulate my shift more, but I feel the opposite. It's harder to shift in hiking boots and tennis shoes than the actual motorcycle boots!
 
Well, I'm going to ignore your upshifting question and ask a question about your downshifting. You said you have learned to blip the throttle for smooth downshifting...I'm curious if you have learned to do this under heavy braking or just when your right hand is free to work the throttle exclusively?

Sorry, I find downshifting to be much more interesting than upshifting. :D

steveindenmark said:
What is 2nd gear and what is it for??

I go straight from first into 3rd.

Can`t they take some gears out of this bike?
Click to expand...

Please no. I use and appreciate all 6.
 
yeah man so that happends from 1st to 2nd gear always has a little click. Also its not to hard to smooth the transfer from 1st to 2nd gear, i can do it from time to time its just about throttle control!
 
If mine doesnt clunk, i think god damn i might be getting the hang of this, then the next time it clunks and back to reality.
 
aussiejules said:
If mine doesnt clunk, i think god damn i might be getting the hang of this, then the next time it clunks and back to reality.
Click to expand...

You know at first I thought the clunking was because of how cheap Yamaha designed the transmission. I've come to really appreciate the clunking now. Especially with my thick boots, the clunking allows me to really feel that I have properly shifted into second with a nice "THOK" instead of slipping silently into neutral which still happens every now and then.
 
It all depends on what you are doing. With fast/medium acceleration a clutchless upshift is quite easy with a small flick of the throttle and a well timed shift (with decent boots of course). Otherwise it's always the CLUNK. My old Fazer600 was the same. The downshift is the harder. Coming to a halt I try and find neutral beofre I hit 1st but that last downchange always THUNKs. Suzuki's have silky boxes (phnar phnar) but rust like fook, wheas Yamaha's have strong engones but poor gearshifts
 
Thank you all for the useful replies! I am happy to know it's not me doing something wrong. I'll continue my research on how to get this gear change go smooth every time and I'll post the results if I get any :)

DefyInertia, to answer you question - my downshifts are much better than my upshifts. I've been practicing for ~2 months and now they are really smooth. When I brake hard, I also blip but it doesn't always go that smooth.

While practicing I found the following - if we say that when downshifting using blipping you do:
1) pull the clutch in

[THE BLIP] 2) roll on the throttle to get 1-2k RPM up
[THE BLIP] 3) roll off the throttle to where it was before 2)

4) press the shift lever down
5) let the clutch lever while opening the throttle

then in order to get the downshift really smooth, you need to start pressing the shift lever just as you start doing (3). It's a very short time frame but if you wait 1sec more the RPM has started going down again and you don't get a perfect downshift.

Thanks once again for the info :)!
 
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