I normally ride solo 95% of the time.I was taking my daughter for a ride today and we traveled about 20 miles and pulled over about 30 minutes to eat. When we got back on the road and I went to shift into 5th gear "nothing" it was like I shifted into "neutral". Brought the bike on back to the house in 4th. Clutch housing seemed a hot to me ( I couldn't keep my bare hand on it long) but I don't normaly check it anyway. I have never had problems with the bike and had the tranny recall work done back in 03'. Bike has 22k on it and I have done breather, ported manifold and pipe upgrades so I consider myself as "slightly agressive" in my riding. Bike shifts fine up and down from 1st to 4th but "no 5th gear. I normally take care of my stuff and I created a hard copy R* manual. I am hoping that I'm not about to have to pull this engine!!! Anyone with any info on this type of problem would be appreciated.
Thanks John

It sounds like the bike is experiencing a 'false Neutral'

I've had it happen on some other brands of bike. if that's what it's doing, it just takes a more 'deliberate and firm' up shift.

Like I said, it's never happend to me on a Yamaha. I know Triumphs are notorious for this.

Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is, I've had exactly the same problem so I'm pretty sure I know what's wrong. The bad news is, I know what's wrong.

What's broken are the locking tabs on the 2nd/3rd pinion gear (Part #: 4NK-17121-01-00) in your tranny. They interlock with the 5th pinion gear, and I had all 3 shear off, likely what's happened to you as well. I had exactly the same "false neutral" on my final ride last year. The gear that broke is not part of the recall, so it's nothing to go back to Yamaha with.

The fix... pull the motor, split it right down the middle, replace the broken gear and rebuild the motor. I had my mechanic cousin help me with all the work and it was definitely not a small project. I had the dealer estimate it out... over $1500 with parts & labour up here in Canada. We were able to do it for around $400-500. The problem is that it's not just the gear to replace, you have to replace all the gaskets etc... in rebuilding the motor. I found that it's more affordable to order the tranny recall kit (Part #:90891-10117-00) than ordering what you need separately. Also, if you are planning to do the work yourself, check this out. It's a link to the PDF for the tranny recall sent out by Yamaha. It gives great directions on how to break the motor down and what's unnecessary to remove.

I'm almost certain what you're experiencing is what I did. The only problem, is that you have to rip the whole motor apart to find out.

If the bike definitely feels like it shifts past 4th into 5th, but you have no resistence, then you have the same problem as me. Please, feel free to ask me more on this as so far it seems you and I are the only ones on the clinic that have had this problem.

Johan57 , that clutch housing would be very hot regardless. Try this: put the bike on something (jack, service stands, whatever) just enough to get the back wheel of the ground. Now with the bike OFF , can you roll the back wheel and shift through the gears and get 5th? If so , that's a good sign.

I experienced a false neutral (if you want to call it that) between 1st and 2nd once for about 4 miles. Pedal would not let me engage 2nd to save my life. Got it home , pulled in the drive...........It never acted up again . Are you near needing an oil change? Dirty oil can interfere with shifting more than people realize. These are just a couple thoughts to "try" before going into full on panic mode. BB

Johan57, hi.

It sounds like Markdyck has your number. Once you've experienced a specific condition with your ride like he has, you know it well.

I've been fortunate with my *, but my old Yami 750 had one of the shift fork prongs break off and then the piece got lodged in the gearing. Well, the back tire locked up and the clutch wouldn't work, so, I just had to ride the slide from about 30 mph to 0. Then, to get out of the middle of traffic I had to lift the back end, then the front end about a foot at a time to the side of the road. At night btw on an unlit area. NO FUN! Anyway, I had to pull the motor, crack the case, disassemble the tranny, inspect, replace, reseal, etc... The bottom line is that it was worth it in the end for three reasons. One, I got my bike back on the road. Two, I really got to know my bike inside and out. Three, I saved a lot of green doing it myself. Nothing it needed intimidated me after that.

It'll be a lot of work and hours, but in the end you'll have an even greater appreciation for YOUR R*. Best to you and whatever you need to do. Nice part is everyone that's here to help you.

Ratl.

Thanks Renai,
Yeah I have been looking at my manual on what it was going to take to pull the engine and get at the gears. I'm leaving for Brazil for a month so I will not be starting until I get back. Thanks for the info and support I'll let you know what I find when I get into it.

John

Yeah Big Bear it is due to be changed. I looked at it but it didn't look to be too bad. I'll try putting it up on my jack although I didn't have any luck trying to shift it several times while going down the road or when I had it in my garage. Thanks for the info it will be a month before I get back from work before I really can get started I'll let you guys know what I find.

Thanks, John

Hi Ratl, Yep it sounds like I will get to know the insides alittle better now. I usally do things myself for the same reasons you mentioned. I have plenty of time when i'm off work. I have already ported my manifold, installed Twin Velocity, put 2 3/4" Hard Chrome Big Straights. and rejetted carb. Took bike in and had dyno run everything was just right. I do all my maintenance as of now.

Thanks for the support,
John

Hi Markdyck,
Thanks for the info on parts list and rebuild link also. The bike does feel like it is shifting but I think your right there is no resistance when it is going into 5th and it just acts as if it was in neutral.

Thanks for the info,

John

Thanks Tbonedr I did try that.