Don’t worry sir, they all do that … or do they? – False neutrals

[Zebedee]

OK, so I’ve just acquired myself an R80 GS-PD, but every now and again I’m hitting a false neutral going from 4th to 5th.

I’ve had a brief trawl about on the net and there seems to be a bit of info that suggests that it’s all part of the joys of airhead ownership.

I can’t say that I’m overly stressed about the problem at the moment, but I thought I’d see what the general consensus is in this part of the world.

As I say, it’s an 80 GS-PD, and she’s got about 55,000 miles on her.

Thanks in advance,

John

 

[(RIP) pastyman]

In my experience the most common cause of false neutrals is the rider. Often by simply adjusting the gear lever so that a more positive pressure is applied, sorts it out. Try that first.

 

[Roger Chatterton]

Might be worth the time it takes to clean up the gear-change linkages too. You may find the ball and socket bit grunged-up from the salt and grime. Also where the whole linkage part pivots off the frame -could be a bit too tight. That ACF 50 grease should do it -very easy to take apart, and then, as per Mr Pastyman, adjust the height etc to suit your boot !

 

[carinatauk]

Agree with Roger and Pastyman; however I did have a similar problem and whilst the gearbox was being overhauled it was noticed that one of the gears needed replacement.

Been fine since

 

[Roger Chatterton]

Yes, since I had a complete gearbox re-build recently, I also have noticed that there is a spring that just moves the gearlever after a gearshift, that I wasn't aware of before. So, I guess the rebuild man replaced the springs.
So, if all else fails, and even after familiarisation, and an oilchange, then maybe gearbox is showing signs of wear. But, no expert, and I guess if it is not noisy and not notchy (which was the problem with mine), then it'll probably go on for many miles.
My previous 100RS mono used to have similar problem, and I never really bothered about it. Miss that bike !!!!

 

[John Armstrong]

Never had that problem on the airhead I had. One of the best upgrades for it was fitting the lower peags and a rolling gear change.

As has been siad earlier I'd check the cleanliness of the linkages and maybe change the gearbox oil. Changing the oil on the 1150's at 6000 miles instead of the recommended 12 000 miles seemed to cure any shifting problems with it. Might have been a red herring, but it did seem to work

 

[Zebedee]

Cheers Gents,

I did wonder if it might have been down to me being less than decisive with the change due to wearing … well let’s just say it wasn’t a case of ATGATT … ;-)

I’ll get the spanners out one evening, and give the whole deal a good clean up, but in the current location sand is likely to be the main culprit.

As I say, I’ll have a fiddle about and let you know if things improve

Cheers

John

 

[Rob Farmer]

Don't want to worry you but 4th to 5th isn't usually an issue. Hopefully taking the slack out of the gear change will cure things but if it doesn't you may need to take a look at 5th gear at sometime in the future. The 5th gear has a tendency to skew on the shaft especially if the wrong grade oils been used. Make sure you have at least GL5 spec oil in there.

 

[Zebedee]

Cheers Rob,

As I've already mentioned it's not causing me sleepless nights, but I thought I'd ask to see if there were any easy fixes to try.

It seems there are a couple of things, so I'll get the spanners out one evening instead of going down the pub.

Basically the story is that I've rocked up in a small town in Namibia to do some site work for a couple of months and there was a R80 GS advertised on the wall of the supermarket ... so what's any self respecting tosser to do? Yeah right, I bought it ...

Turned out to be PD with a few TT farkles ... which was nice.

First thoughts were to ship it back to the UK so I've got a toy to play with over what passes for summer in the UK.

However it's not THAT nice, so I'll flick it on in April before I leave.

... any takers for an adventure bike in an adventure country ...



John