Can't Change Down

[snodog]

Soddin' bike - just when I start to think that everything is going ok again it starts to misbehave.

Anyone got any ideas about this?
02 GS Adv 12000 miles

When trying to change down a gear, it will go into 5th from 6 ok, but therefter the footpeg is solid. Feels like you could stand on it and it wouldn't shift. First time it happened was a little scary as I was coming into a roundabout a bit faster than was prudent, intending to shift down several gears and it just didn't happen.
It did that for the next 10 mles or so and then mysteriously sorted itself. That was July.
Now its doing it again.
The peg seems to lock - I have sussed that if I toe it gently up a touch, I can then change down to the next gear, but as you can imagine, that's a lot of faffing about as you fight traffic etc.

Any explanations gratefully accepted. Non techie ones eevn more so. Bike is due to go for its 12K service soon.

cheers
Pete

 

[MikeO]

First - this is a warranty problem, so report it to your dealer and ask if they want it now or if it's OK to keep using it until the 12k service. I'd definitely not mention it happening in July, unless you reported it to them then & they said it was OK to keep using it.

Second - Have a look at the gear lever linkage. This can come undone in a number of different ways and cause all sorts of gearhange problems. Do a search for Gear Linkage (or something like that) - it's been pretty well covered.

Third - pure guess. If the gear selector has a pair of springs designed to return the lever to the 'central' position after each change - is it possible that one of these springs has broken, leaving the lever 'down'? It's your comment about moving the lever up a little curing the problem that made me think of this......

Mike

 

[Cheesy Mike]

Exactly the same thing happended to me. Quick fix - give the whole external gearchange mechanism with WD40 - it is simply siezed up. Then get the dealer to disassemble, grease up & reassemble at the next service while checking the plastic bushes for wear.

Mike