All 650's Transmission problems

[Atucker]

Hi All,

My 2019 CBR650R has developed an interesting problem over the last 2-3 months with the transmission. It will now completely fall out of gear while steady cruising. Typically happens in 2nd gear and falls back into neutral, but will also now fall out of 3 into "--" on the gear indicator. When this happens getting it back into gear is an interesting operation and almost always involves an extremely violent metal on metal clunk that sends a shock through the entire bike. So forceful it's only a matter of time before it shatters whatever is hitting. The local Honda shop isn't confident that they can diagnose or fix, but has created a work order to document the problem in case it gets worse. A case has also been opened with Honda corporate, but I'm curious to know if anyone else is having a similar issue. Too be clear this isn't a missed shift of false neutral as it can happen miles into being in a gear with no change in acceleration or throttle position. Honda has verified clutch operation and all simple checks that could be completed without "cracking open the case and inspecting it part by part for defects". If anyone has any insight I'm be interested in hearing the outcome.

 

[JDude]

That sucks, just curious, what kind of oil are you using and what level it’s at? I hate to assume anything but they dropped the oil level from 2018 to 2019 with the same basic engine. Just a thought.

 

[Atucker]

That sucks, just curious, what kind of oil are you using and what level it’s at? I hate to assume anything but they dropped the oil level from 2018 to 2019 with the same basic engine. Just a thought.

I'm using Honda GN4 10W 30 and it's right at the middle line. I'm probably due for an oil change since it's been about 11 months, but it only has ~1800 miles on the oil. The oil level could definitely be something to check. I'm also thinking it could be technique but it doesn't happen on my other bikes. I'm going to change the oil this weekend and adjust the shift lever this weekend to see if helps to provide a more positive shift.

 

[baugustine]

my initial thought was clutch cable out of adjustment? How much free play when the lever is all the way out?

 

[Atucker]

It's right about 1cm when measured from the end of the stock clutch lever.

 

[Atucker]

It's very early but the bike definitely feels much better after the oil change. Too early to tell if it's just the placebo effect or actual results. If it was the oil I'll be surprised considering it was only 10.5months old and only had ~1900 miles on it, but it could have been dirty than normal since this was the 1st change since the break-in oil change at 600 miles. Time will tell.

I will say that at the time of the change the oil level was towards the lower limit on the dip stick, and after the change I made sure to fill to the max line. The lower limit is kind of worrisome considering that it would not have even registered on the dip stick of a 2018 F model.

 

[Goblin]

It's very early but the bike definitely feels much better after the oil change. Too early to tell if it's just the placebo effect or actual results. If it was the oil I'll be surprised considering it was only 10.5months old and only had ~1900 miles on it, but it could have been dirty than normal since this was the 1st change since the break-in oil change at 600 miles. Time will tell.

I will say that at the time of the change the oil level was towards the lower limit on the dip stick, and after the change I made sure to fill to the max line. The lower limit is kind of worrisome considering that it would not have even registered on the dip stick of a 2018 F model.

Interesting, keep us in the loop

 

[Road Hog]

Take it on a nice long trip now that you changed the oil and if it jumps out of gear again take it back to Honda for a replacement transmission. Now that will get them to do something.

 

[Atucker]

Take it on a nice long trip now that you changed the oil and if it jumps out of gear again take it back to Honda for a replacement transmission. Now that will get them to do something.

I've been commuting on it daily and it's definitely smoother. Almost too smooth. No missed or dropped gears, but it's so smoothing going into 2nd that its almost completely devoid of feel and entirely silent. This is the only bike I've owned that offers nearly zero tactile feel shifting gears. That's mostly a good thing, but I think I prefer my very positive feel from the old 2001 SV650 I just picked up. No questioning gear changes on that thing!

 

[Atucker]

Almost 1 year later and I've had my first recurrence. 3rd gear getting hard onto the throttle entering the highway and drops out to "--" and nearly redlined. I haven't fully investigated but I'm leaning towards this being a chain tension issue. I just installed new tires a few weeks ago and left the chain towards the top end of the 1.25" slack. After this happened I parked and did a quick visual and it looks like I'm now well out of spec on the chain tension so I'll tighten that up tonight and give it a go.

Figured I'd keep this post going just in case others have the same issue, but for the record I'm now at ~5,000 miles so looking back it seems to have been ~3,000 miles without issue. Bottom line - check you chain tension!

 

[Road Hog]

Almost 1 year later and I've had my first recurrence. 3rd gear getting hard onto the throttle entering the highway and drops out to "--" and nearly redlined. I haven't fully investigated but I'm leaning towards this being a chain tension issue. I just installed new tires a few weeks ago and left the chain towards the top end of the 1.25" slack. After this happened I parked and did a quick visual and it looks like I'm now well out of spec on the chain tension so I'll tighten that up tonight and give it a go.

Figured I'd keep this post going just in case others have the same issue, but for the record I'm now at ~5,000 miles so looking back it seems to have been ~3,000 miles without issue. Bottom line - check you chain tension!

I also had this problem years ago on my 2014 cbr650f bike , dropping out of gear and hard to put in gear. I changed the rearset to a fully adjustable one and never had the problem again.