[ptaylor]

Hello all,
I ride a 2001 ninja ex-500 with only 2000 miles. Just bought a couple monts ago.

I went for a ride this morining and while stopped at a light tried to shift into nuetral(give my clutch hand a break) but would not shift into nuetral or first. I am pretty sure the bike was stuck in 2nd gear beacause I stalled out a few times when trying to take off. I finnaly got the bike in first with a hard stomp.
I have had this bike for only a few months and this has happened one other time.
Anyone know why this happened or experienced the same problem.
Thanks ptaylor

 

[hollywood]

I've had the same thing happen to me. You came to stop in 2nd or
3rd gear with the clutch engaged right? Because of the bikes
"posi-neutral" finding thing, it gets stuck. I had to pop the cluch
find neutral and start the bike...thought I was stuck.

P.S. anyone else ever experience this???

 

[Lucky#13]

It could be because it has a wet clutch , and the plates was stuck together . Happens when the oil is thick (cold) , or bike has sit for a period of time . Not sure thats what happened to you guys or not ???

 

[ptaylor]

yeah the clutch was engaged
also i boght the bike a feww months ago after sitting for almost 2 years but i changed the oil so that shouldnt be a problem
thanks for the fast replies

 

[knightslugger]

FOG should be here any minute. I'd take his advice on transmissions if i were you. He rebuilds them to better than spec on the cheap.

 

[fog]

Hello all,
I ride a 2001 ninja ex-500 with only 2000 miles. Just bought a couple monts ago.

I went for a ride this morining and while stopped at a light tried to shift into nuetral(give my clutch hand a break) but would not shift into nuetral or first. I am pretty sure the bike was stuck in 2nd gear beacause I stalled out a few times when trying to take off. I finnaly got the bike in first with a hard stomp.
I have had this bike for only a few months and this has happened one other time.
Anyone know why this happened or experienced the same problem.
Thanks ptaylor

You have discovered how a Motorcycle transmission works. The gears need to turn a bit to allow the dogs on the sides of the gears to align with the holes on the other gear. When the bike is stopped this isn't happening. You should have just let the clutch out a bit to turn the gears a little than it would have worked fine. Stomping on the lever will only suffice to bend somthing, and did not accompolish anything. you moved the bike.

BTW Kawasaki has a positive neutral finder that prevents selecting any gear but 1st from neutral when stopped
FOG

 

[ptaylor]

yeah i understand what you mean but i did try to let off clutch a liitle, tried to get going like 3 times still no shift. should i have tried shifting into first while letting the clutch out?
thanks

 

[AntiAndy]

This happens to me all the time, though i didn't realize it until FOG told you about the clutching.
its no big deal, sometimes when i roll to a red in say fourth gear, the bike wont let me downs hift at all, feels like its on first.just pop the clutch real quick to get your bike to jerk forward an inch or two and down shift, don't overdo it or you'll stall out. just practice outside by stopped in a high gear and fidgeting with the clutch to get it to first, or neutral.

 

[Administrator]

Yep, try to always wind up stopped when already in first gear.

Every bike I've had has had a different personality in the way it handles anything but first gear when brought to a stop, but the bottom line is... the transmission wants to be in first when it's no longer moving, and proper riding method dictates this as well. Don't jump gears coming to a full stop, shift through them all, with clutching out, unless in the case of an emergency.

If you ensure the above, and your oil's okay, you might want to make sure that you have proper free play on the clutch, but it's probably due to the above.

 

[fog]

Another thought along this line is:
The shifter works like a ratchet and has to be cocked or reset after each shift. If you haven't let the lever fully return to the center position so that it can advance the ratchet on the drum. it can't rotate the drum. This can be caused by your boot or some sort of binding in the shift linkage. Or the likage may be out of adjustment.

FOG

 

[hollywood]

Bottom line is you should be in first when you stop.
I thought I was on the right track, thanks FOG.

 

[smithmax]

Whenever I've had this happen I put my right foot down and roll the bike either forwards or backwards while applying pressure to the shifter. I hold the clutch in the whole time.

 

[Smoky]

Or your clutch cable is out of adjustment and just not releasing enough.

 

[HooliganD]

I don't want to sound like a jerk, but learn how to downshift. cluth in, maybe blip the throttle while downshifting, let clutch out repeat. The bliping of the throttle is used to match the engine speed to the bike speed.

Never force the shifter, you'll bend or break internals.