Hey all, Every now and again (4 or 5 times since May when I got it) if I'm accelerating hard, I've had the transmission 'slip' into neutral(?) between 5th and 6th. The engine revs hard as if I was throttling up in netral anyway, but the gear indicator blinks with a '--', and then I coast for a sec and shift into 6th like nothing happened. My question is...is anyone else having this happen at all? Is it just me being to quick on the throttle before the gears have finished engaging? Missing the timing between clutching out and throttling on? Am I being too light on the kick into 6th? Or should I have the gearing looked at? Like I said, it's only happened a couple of times, so I haven't been able to look back and pin it to any specific bad habit i may have picked up.... Just to note again, it's only happened between 5th and 6th...and I don't know if that is a coincidence or not. Also, I've never had this happen on any other bike, so I don't know if maybe I've just acquired a lazy shifting foot lately or not... I'm riding a '14 800 GSA, so any insight from any other 800 GS/A riders would be very appreciated. Thanks!
The only other time I've heard of this was from Lazy Foot. He hasn't commented any further so....? Having had a tranny apart, I don't see any adjustments possible nor is it in the RepRom. It's likely the shifter drum didn't quite rotate into position and the acceleration knocked it out. 1) Lazy foot. 2) Needs more break in. 3) Some defective part. See how it pans out knowing there's lots of warranty left.
I haven't experienced that on my GSA. I don't think there is any difference in the GSA and GS engine so I'm guessing that if it was a universal problem, you'd be hearing about it before now. I had to do some adjusting of the shifter so I would not inadvertently put upward pressure on the shifter with my boot. Maybe that's what's happening.
...so I am sensing that this is rider error. I will try to be more deliberate with my kicks, but it still worries me a bit. I definitely have to be more attentive to my own habits, especially if I can't place them for causing this 'transmission error'. I'm not sure that I should, in any situational laziness, be able to cause this...HOWEVER...my most recent bike was a KLR, and I found that bike to be bulletproof and extremely forgiving...over the couple of years I had her, I probably gained some bad habits...i may have to to re-train myself. I am very ready to blame the rider (me) over the engine (but I would love to blame the engine!!). Thanks for the hit-backs, folks.
Mine is a '14 F800GSA and when new (less than 1,000 Km) I've noticed in the freeway that the dashboard shows "---" but the 6th was engaged. Didn't make another trip to observe if this mistake still exists. In the 1,000 Km service, they didn't find nothing wrong. And when I noticed the strange behaviour, just pulled the shift lever and it shows '6' again !
Trust us, if there was even the slightest common problem with shifting there'd be lots of whining and bashing with multiple threads easily found. There aren't. Doesn't mean there's nothing wrong, just far less likely.
I have a 14 GSA and yes this does happen to me. It is not from a light foot trust me. i think it is from low milage and not enough break in time. it has only happened 3 or 4 times and I'm not too concerned about it. will ask when i get my 6k tune up
Probably sensor in March, which is located on the right side next to the countershaft sprocket. (Sorry. Writing used a translator) Probablemente sea del sensor de marcha, que va situado en el lado derecho, próximo al piñón de ataque. (Perdón. Escrito usado un traductor)
My '11 800GS used to do this from time to time, but has not lately. Now have about 19K miles on her, and she's not acted up for the last 5K or so. On mine, it would just show a blank gear indicator when I had been in 6th cruising along for a while sometimes. Then I would downshift to 5th then back up to 6th and it would pop back up 6th on the display. Every time I have done a service except the last 18K service the GS911 showed gear pot. error code and I would just reset it and move on. My point is it's probably not a problem, just a minor glitch in the gear pot. sensor.
Man I'm glad you posted this! I thought I was just doing something wrong. I've got a 2014 F800 GSA and I've had the same problem multiple times. Thought I was just maybe short-shifting or something, but same thing; I would think I was in 6th, look down and no gear indicator, just blank. I would kick it up and feel it slip just a notch and the 6 would appear. I've got 22,000 miles and had it in for a service after getting back from Alaska so I haven't felt it since, but I've been riding my 1200 lately. It sounds like there is definitely something going on here. I know it should be the same as the F800 GS, but it sounds like all with this issue have F800 GSA's.
I use to catch false neutrals between 4th-5th & 5th-6th. but this was when i first got it . might be a mixture of missed shifts, and break-in, and the fact its not a sport bike bit of a longer throw.
Well, I am happy (somewhat) to hear that others are experiencing the same weird quirk. Seems like a couple of you felt improvement after a dozen+ thousand kilometers. I'm doing a 9 day ride in a couple of weeks that will push me past that for this season on this new bike of mine (I know, I know...but I have be busy with home renos and haven't had a ton of time for riding beyond commuting)...hopefully that will settle down the tranny/train me to treat her right. I haven't had it happen since I posted the originating msg, which is kind of a shame, because since then I have been _super_ attentive to my habits in search of a cause. In any case, glad to hear I'm not alone, whether we all be subject to some issue or just a like-minded group of lazy-foots.
