2nd gear problem

[badgertom]

Often my 1982 R65 will not go into / or will slip out of second gear. This happens only on 2nd gear. The other gears are okay. A friend told me that this is a problem often encountered with the r65. I think there me be a problem with the gear(?). Any thoughts. Thanks.

[Bob_Roller]

First off, it's not a problem common to the R65 .

Has anything work been done recently that may effect shifting ?

Just a few remote possibilities, is there a lot of freeplay in the shifter linkage and shift lever

Missing or bent parts on the shift linkage ??

Clutch cable adjusted correctly

Has the foot peg on the left side come loose and is misadjusted for you ??

Transmission oil level too low

Have you changed your foot wear, boots recently

That's about all I can think of, without going into the transmission itself .

[Luca]

Aside from making sure that everything is in adjustment... there is a bit of technique to shifting these transmissions.  I wrote a post about it a while back.  Here's the skinny.

The airhead transmissions were made by Getrag by the beginning of the 80's and for quite some time since (maybe they still are?).  They make good stuff.  Thing is the driveline tolerances are very tight (BMW demanded this), so the gears are a little harder to mesh.  Add in that the dry clutch will not drag and assist gear changes, so sometimes the tranny feels notchy.  Getrag made the dogs engage in two stages to help the gears mesh... but sometimes you get the bike riding on the first half of the dog... and it will drive on it... and then pop out.  Or you get a "false neutral"

Heres the fix:  Preload the shift lever lightly.  This means put some gentle upward pressure on it.  Pull the clutch and shift up.  Hold your foot up on the lever.  Gently let the clutch out with your foot still pressing up.  After the clutch has been fully released you can release the pressure on the foot lever.

If you weren't fully engaged in the gear, you will feel the lever travel a bit further as you start to slip the clutch (that's the second step of the dog engagement).

Won't quite shift like a Japanese bike, but with this technique I can bang gears pretty darn quickly (not that I do it often) and I haven't had the bike miss or pop out of a gear since.

[nhmaf]

The 80s-era transmissions, clutch, and shift linkages work an order of magnitude faster/better than the 70s-era transmissions, clutch and direct-connected shift lever.

There is definitely a technique to shifting any of the airhead gearboxes, but, aside from possible items that Bob suggests, this is NOT "normal" or typical.

All the airheads from any given model year use the exact same gearbox.

[fbenach]

Hello there!!
First of all, I would listen carefully what the gurus just said above, specially the technique on how to play with the clutch lever that Luca described. I found it very helpful whenever my 1st gear doesn´t want to kick in...

Anyways, just in case, about a year ago I had the exact opposite situation that you describe... all my gears were making an ugly sound and feeling low powered but the 2nd gear was perfect.
What we found (after opening the tranny) was that the plastic roller that indexes the gears in the selecting mechanism (thanks to Wirespokes for explaining that to me), had an oval shape which produced the awful sound by the incomplete gear setting and a fake neutral as well (my bike was runnning in neutral, imagine my face!!!).
Good news were that we were able to get a new roller locally (I live in Central America, so parts for old bikes are rare) and, all the gears were in perfect shape, no nasty metal mud.

Here is a picture I found on the net, showing the little bastard!!!
I hope you can resolve everything without opening the tranny, but if not, hope this helps!!!

Take care!!

[badgertom]

thanks for everyones response. I think the problem may have been resolved.

[Luca]

thanks for everyones response. I think the problem may have been resolved.

Well for the benefit of everyone, don't leave us hangin'