Good day
I would just like to ask if anyone has had an experience with the gearing being "hard" on the 14....
The motorcycle is fairly new, and has about 16800KM on the odo. I find that especially with third gear, if I don't slip gears, it shifts hard! Is it due to being farly new, or should I show more concern?
The bike also rumbles with the Muzzy pipe when u'r not on throttle, but I guess that's just dumping of excess fuel...

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Practice practice practice!You'll get the right slots for gearing action down...just try a lot of different speed/gear combos while riding.Same with downshifting...there are some sweet spots for doing that.Holding the clutch in and releasing will give you a notchy shift sometimes.Best I've found anyway is to barely pull the clutch.....just as you're toeing it into another gear.No need to fully pull the clutch lever.Engine rpms more matched to the gear shift will help as well.Also...hard accelerations will shift differently than cruising shifts.You'll figure it out!Have fun...nothing's wrong.Full synthetic oil seemed to help my shift action considerably.

I think your pipe there is SUPPOSED to sound..."rumbly".

* Last updated by: blue07 on 3/13/2011 @ 5:28 PM *

^^^+1
Could be lack of experience on the 14 or maybe a newish bike----I had the same feeling as you whenfirst I hopped upon the 14 and i was both inexperienced and the bike was brand new.......so I don't know what it was......but after about ~11,000 miles--14,000--can't remeber which, i suddenly realised how much smoother the shift was 1-6. The busa was smoother when new but not any more. The 14 is the smoothest.

Holding the clutch in and releasing will give you a notchy shift sometimes.Best I've found anyway is to barely pull the clutch.....just as you're toeing it into another gear.No need to fully pull the clutch lever.

^^^ but I do pull the clutch pretty much all the way I think.
When I first started riding the 14 I was shifting it too slow. Clutch in, gas off, shift up, clutch out, gas on. I soon discovered shifting on a sportbike is clutch/gas/shift almost at the same instant. Much quicker and the bike likes that better. The only way to shift slow smoothly is too do it exaggeratedly slow, one step at a time. Works good for a dump truck but not a sport bike.

I don't think you will ever be able to get rid of the CLUNK from N to 1. They all have that.
reduce idle speed, install an APE MCCT, hold the clutch in for a 60 seconds before you hit the shift lever....tyere's all kinds of tips for that but sounds like your concern is more shifting while you are moving.

* Last updated by: Rook on 3/13/2011 @ 6:14 PM *

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Thanks guys,this advise will surely help me tremendously. I do think that Blue is on the money. I need more experience on the big machine.
I had a ZX12 before,it was quite different,but yet felt smoother. Than again,the 12 had a gas flowed head and tweaks on the already staged 2 cam....
It had quite alot of Mileage, about 60000KM more or less,but did feel smoother allround. I will continue at it,and keep posting.

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I have noticed that if I don't get all the way off the throttle it shifts better. Close it all the way, and the shifts are harder, close it just enough that the rpm's don't flare when you pull the clutch and the shifts are smoother.

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Christopher

That's a nice '11 lime green, I have the '09. So you are one hour west of Yosemite, is that the Nevada dessert? I have hiked the High Sierras many times, what a beautiful country!

So you are one hour west of Yosemite, is that the Nevada dessert?

Wouldn't that be to the East? :)

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There is a really good set of write ups on Sportrider.com. about shifting.Great info there...shifting with and without the clutch...downshifting with and without the clutch....several different ways to get a smooth shift.Might want to just browse through their articles...lots of good stuff.Although I've backed off of shifting too much without the clutch,I still do at certain times...depending on what spirit I'm riding in.She shifts VERY NICE without the clutch if ya get timed just right and at the right engine speed/gear combo/throttle application.That's a lot of it right there...as was mentioned.Minimal throttle adjustment during the shift.I found that just a slight interruption of power during the actual shift helped the tranny to snick into the next gear really well.Kinda similar to the "quickshifters" out there.All they really do is momentarily ease the load on the trans,for a split second.That's all the trans needs to shift up or down.

Your gearing is gonna make quite a difference as well.I discovered a whole new "shift feel" when I switched to 16/43.The shift areas seemed to actually be more "agreeable" if I could use that term.Even being "up" by one or two hundred RPM in a given gear helped(it seems)everything to mesh better...especially shifting without the clutch.She just seems to click right in easily with this gearing ratio.

My experience with MY bike is however possibly NOT accurate.I installed a Evo Shift Star on my baby early on.I cannot say IF this has helped the "notchy" shifting or not...cause I didn't ride my bike without it for very long....just past the break-in period.So someone else here that has an actual "stock" shift star could probably give better input.I don't really think my Shift Star made much difference to tell ya the truth.Not like it was "hyped" on the website anyway.

* Last updated by: blue07 on 3/14/2011 @ 1:11 AM *

This worked for me. Love it.

Great pics, follow to bottom of page, Click Here.

Duh, I mean the other east. I can't believe I did that.

when I switched to 16/43.The shift areas seemed to actually be more "agreeable"

Can't wait try it out----17/45. I should be able to give some input as to the change in shift quality on that. No shift star mod here. Not yet. Felt pretty good on stock gearing but if it gets better, I will notice.

Cool link, Romans. Have to remember that.

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Shift star won't change the way you feel the bike shifting so much as help eliminate missed shifts and false neutrals.
Had an EVO Pro on my YZF, made a lot of difference since it had a worn shift fork and would tend to disengage or jump out under hard power......just didn't want to pull then engine and split the cases mid-season, worked for quite a while before the fork was too far gone -- so for you fella's that have issues with bent or worn forks, this little item does help keep the bike on the road for a while........at least in my experience it helped:D

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It feels like my third gear is "hard",but what I cannot understand,is the bike is still so new....

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"the bike is so new"....yep.Keep yer oil changed...Switch to Full synthetic next oil change...10/40.And RIDE!!!! She'll work her way into "easier" shifts...patience Luke,patience.Try some "quickshifts" with no clutch into 3rd from 2nd,and down from 4th to third.Remember....SMALL throttle chops(if only a tiny blip)...only a "slight" interruption of load on the trans when shifting.Shift as you're freeing the "load"...don't wait for the rpms to visually drop.It's more a feeling/timing thing.You'll get it.Beautiful bike there BTW....

* Last updated by: blue07 on 3/19/2011 @ 12:51 AM *

I would definitely wait to switch to full synthetic. If you switch too early,your motor might never wear in properly.

IDK, there are some people who bring up the fact that Corvettes are shipped fro ractory with full sunthetic--- It really seems like most have recommended waiting ~3000 miles before switching. I would recommend you wait a LOT longer if you are being gentle on the bike during the learning process. When you want to switch, do it when you have no doubts about the break in being 100% complete.

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