6 Speed Manual Smoothness?

[wozza]

Notchy gear boxes? The gear box on the NC is near on perfect. There is not one mention of notchy gearboxes on the UK forum because there is no problem.
The gearbox is just fine.

 

[670cc]

Well, I am having somewhat of an issue with my bike, and it has to do with the 4th to 5th, and then the 6th gear. Sometimes, when shifting from 4th to 5th, it clicks like it got 5th, but when I let go of the clutch, all I hear is some crunching that gets faster as I pull on the throttle. I always quickly pull the clutch and click 5th harder, and that does the trick, but still it's discomforting. It has done that less than 10 times I would say in the last 8k miles.

The other issue I had was when I was maxing out the bike for a long stretch of empty road. I was hitting 110, then let it go down to 85 sometimes, then back up to 100, then back down. I did all this for about 10 minutes. At the end of it, on one last pull to 100, it popped out of 6th and into a weird neutral zone between 6th and 5th! it made the same crunchy noise I mentioned before, and I thought for sure the bike was toast. I quickly pulled the clutch, put it in sixth gear, and accelerated again. No problems. I haven't had that issue since then, but it is worrisome. Do you guys think this would be a warranty thing?

Sorry to be rude, but your riding habits are not the norm. Sounds a little like the abuse of the bike is beginning to catch up with you, assuming you mean 110 mph, not 110 kph (since you didn't specify either). If your shifter lever is adjusted properly and you are getting positive, complete motion of the lever, then popping out of gear might indicate bent shifting forks. This in an internal transmission problem that would require complete tear down. If the forks are bent, I doubt the warranty would be honored.

It could also be some freak failure in the tranny that Honda would repair under warranty, but I guess you'd need to explain your situation to a dealer and have them take a look at it. But, I doubt the dealer would be willing to ride it in the manner you have to try to verify your complaint and report to Honda for a warranty claim.

Greg

 

[MZ5]

Dominican, is this the Ninja 500R listed under your username, that you're having trouble with?

 

[wozza]

Dominican, is this the Ninja 500R listed under your username, that you're having trouble with?

We'll spotted!

 

[Dominican]

well, after I posted this I had a full, busy day of more riding, and then did my 8000 mile service on the bike (so it is not in the break in period). the oil came out, and while mostly clean, I could tell it was toast by the viscosity of it, it kind of looked like think water instead of a thick syrup. So, after the oil change, went for another ride into Manhattan.

Now, I know you guys say that the bike isn't designed to perform like a sports bike, and for the most part I like it, but sometimes you just have to hit that throttle. On my ride into Manhattan, I rode it especially rough. I hit higher speeds at one point, and I did have my girlfriend on the back, so nothing really above 80. I was, however, accelerating quite rapidly, and made sure to be more deliberate when changing my gears. As I was riding, I can hear that the engine is much, much smoother, and the transmission clicked more positively. I am sure now that, at least in my case, I shouldn't wait until 16k to change my oil again, I should hear and feel the bike telling me when it needs it, and change it, and if it gets to 16k miles and all is fine, I would change it then as the manual calls for it.

As far as the rough riding is concerned, I'm sure the bike can handle it. I now have about 8500 miles on it, all of them very rough miles, hard acceleration, higher speeds and one 1000 mile (round trip) taken, all at around 85 MPH, loaded up with bags and a passenger. The bike handles it with grace.

The problems I am describing happened between 6k miles and 8k miles, and I am very sure now it is due to old oil. So, moral of the story is: change the oil more frequently as needed

P.S. No one was being rude, and I will update my info to show I have both the Ninja 500 and the NC700X

 

[VE258]

You have to master it. It's a challenge with fairly long path. But I like it.