2002 FZ1 trouble shifting into 2nd

[Pope34Kameez]

Bike has 53k miles. Basically when on the gas hard in first at high rpm its difficult to get it into 2nd gear smoothly. Sometimes it won't make it and end up in neutral other times its will grind into 2nd. When shifting into 2nd with low throttle/rpm its no issue.

I've read that this is a common issue on these old r1/fz1 bikes and is a result of bent shift forks.

Is there a trick for shifting into 2nd when gassing it hard? Sucks not being able to redline it in first and reliably shift to 2nd.

 

[bunk]

Well, your either gonna have to not redline first to second or get in there and fix stuff.

These bikes aint old, btw.

 

[Isleoman]

I've linked DeWoodys Garage before. There's at least 10 episodes, this is #4.

Shows what's inside and involved.

A very small number of Japanese bikes from various manufacturers suffered 2nd gear issues. It's the most vulnerable gear.

Some just skip 2nd all together when it goes south.

 

[bunk]

A very small number of Japanese bikes from various manufacturers suffered 2nd gear issues. It's the most vulnerable gear.

Thats a very bold statement !

 

[Isleoman]

Thats a very bold statement !

Yea, I should have used the In My Humble Opinion preface since I have no empirical data from an authority.

If a transmission problem happened to me it would be too many.

 

[spudmanFZ1]

Not sure if this is the same problem I was having or not, but it's worth a shot to check something out. I picked up a 2001 FZ1 this summer that had been sitting for at least 7 years. With a new battery and fresh gas, it started right up, but when I took it down the road for a test ride....I sometimes couldn't get it to shift into 2nd. This went on for a few weeks until I stopped at a friend's cycle shop one day and he came outside to look at the bike. He moved the shift lever assembly up and down a bit and then said, "That's your problem." He went inside to get a can of spray lubricant and proceeded to spray all of the moving/pivoting parts with that linkage and I haven't had the problem since. He said what was happening was that when it was sticking, the slight spring action that brings the lever back to the "normal" position (for lack of a better term) after a shift couldn't work with a gunked up/dried out linkage assembly...which mine definitely was. Give it a look; maybe it'll solve your problem too. Good luck!

 

[killer5280]

Thats a very bold statement !

I have known of a bunch of them with second gear issues.

 

[Isleoman]

Out of curiosity how many do you remember?

On FZ1OA there were a few Gen 1 failures reported over the years.

Would be nice to see a statistic from DoT or Yamaha or an industry trade group to see how common 2nd gear failure is in various brands/models. If you do a search of this site with 12K members for "2nd Gear" you get 10 pages of hits, but only a handful of actual failures. It's certainly not in any brands' interest to release an actual number....... unless it's very small.

 

[killer5280]

Out of curiosity how many do you remember?

On FZ1OA there were a few Gen 1 failures reported over the years.

Would be nice to see a statistic from DoT or Yamaha or an industry trade group to see how common 2nd gear failure is in various brands/models. If you do a search of this site with 12K members for "2nd Gear" you get 10 pages of hits, but only a handful of actual failures. It's certainly not in any brands' interest to release an actual number....... unless it's very small.

All the recent bikes I have owned have had issues with second gear. Recent () being a 1991 Honda CBR600F2, a 1998 Honda VTR1000 Superhawk and the 2001 FZ1.
My F2 had issues-it got to where I would have to nurse 1-2 shifts to keep it from popping out of gear-and occasionally my FZ1 will jump out of 2nd if not shifted in a super positive, deliberate manner. Likewise with the Superhawk. I don't do redline first to second shifts very often, if ever, but I'm certain that wouldn't make things better. I have never destroyed a gear or totaled a shift fork, but I have a certain amount of mechanical sympathy that not all riders have.
I have heard and read stories of the same things happening to many different Honda models.

I just think 2nd gear issues are more common than people think. I think complete failures are probably uncommon, but that annoying popping out of gear not so uncommon.

 

[bunk]

Virtually every high performance manual machine (cars & bikes) ive had has had 2nd gear issues. It all comes down to how they were treated.

 

[moosecapades]

Not sure if this is the same problem I was having or not, but it's worth a shot to check something out. I picked up a 2001 FZ1 this summer that had been sitting for at least 7 years. With a new battery and fresh gas, it started right up, but when I took it down the road for a test ride....I sometimes couldn't get it to shift into 2nd. This went on for a few weeks until I stopped at a friend's cycle shop one day and he came outside to look at the bike. He moved the shift lever assembly up and down a bit and then said, "That's your problem." He went inside to get a can of spray lubricant and proceeded to spray all of the moving/pivoting parts with that linkage and I haven't had the problem since. He said what was happening was that when it was sticking, the slight spring action that brings the lever back to the "normal" position (for lack of a better term) after a shift couldn't work with a gunked up/dried out linkage assembly...which mine definitely was. Give it a look; maybe it'll solve your problem too. Good luck!

If you do not fully release the shifter after each gear change it will NOT allow the next upshift...