It's just an unfortunate few.

These bikes are freaking tanks!

I have over 26K miles on mine without one issue.

 

Nice man, hope it stays that way.

 

There are many of us with no issues and some who have had issues...given there is multiple contributors for this...
But more likley than NOT you are going to fine, just dont be lazy with your shifting and be sure to adjust your shifter rod on the bike for your foot.

 

38,000 miles on mine, with no gear issues.

 

I just got my 05. Picked it up cheap because #1- it was an impound that no one came to pick up and #2- it popped out of second gear at 4K RPM. Probably the reason the guy never picked it up. He probably figured why pay $800+ to get it out and then still have get 2nd fixed.
Anyway the bike was pretty beat... it says 3600 on the odometer, but that just can't be right. It had a different size front tire (70 series instead of stock 65 series) that had a flat huge flat spot around it. Rear tire, same story but factory size. Front breaks were at about 25% and I don't know if they were factory or not. Rear brake was just about metal to metal and the rotor looks like it's got more than one set of pads worth of wear on it.
My point being, if the person who owned this thing before rode it anything like they maintained it, they probably cause the failure. I did a lot of research on these forums looking for answers and came to this conclusion: Missed shifts cause the second gear failures. Not shifting fast or hard or even clutch-less shifting… Missed shifts are the cause. There were a lot of track guys who said they bang 1-2 clutch-less shifts all day with no tranny failures. It makes perfect sense if you think about it. Look into how a "dog box" or spur cut gear box works. Not just on the moto sights. Rally cars, touring cars, F1, pretty much any road coarse style race cars run them because they are strong. No side loading on the gears. The reason street cars don't run them is because they are noisy.
Letting off the throttle a little for a split second to get into the next gear is all it really needs. Just to unload the pressure on the dogs.
Think about the tremendous amount of force being transmitted through your transmission @ 15000 RPM. If you only engage a dog half way (or less) into its hole, it's 50/50 if the dog is going to engage or spit back out with all that force. I can imagine why it only take a few or even one hard missed shift at the limit to start rounding the dogs and holes, bend shift forks and damage shift drums.
That is why a slight amount of back cut on the dogs and holes is a good idea. Even if the dog barely enters the hole, the angle of the two and the rotational force wants to bring them together.
One more thing, if you are worried it might happen to you, buy an Evo shift star. It makes the shifts a little faster and more positive. Its $140 in insurance if you ask me.

Just my $.02. Hope it helps.

 

I just got my 05. Picked it up cheap because #1- it was an impound that no one came to pick up and #2- it popped out of second gear at 4K RPM. Probably the reason the guy never picked it up. He probably figured why pay $800+ to get it out and then still have get 2nd fixed.
Anyway the bike was pretty beat... it says 3600 on the odometer, but that just can't be right. It had a different size front tire (70 series instead of stock 65 series) that had a flat huge flat spot around it. Rear tire, same story but factory size. Front breaks were at about 25% and I don't know if they were factory or not. Rear brake was just about metal to metal and the rotor looks like it's got more than one set of pads worth of wear on it.
My point being, if the person who owned this thing before rode it anything like they maintained it, they probably cause the failure. I did a lot of research on these forums looking for answers and came to this conclusion: Missed shifts cause the second gear failures. Not shifting fast or hard or even clutch-less shifting… Missed shifts are the cause. There were a lot of track guys who said they bang 1-2 clutch-less shifts all day with no tranny failures. It makes perfect sense if you think about it. Look into how a "dog box" or spur cut gear box works. Not just on the moto sights. Rally cars, touring cars, F1, pretty much any road coarse style race cars run them because they are strong. No side loading on the gears. The reason street cars don't run them is because they are noisy.
Letting off the throttle a little for a split second to get into the next gear is all it really needs. Just to unload the pressure on the dogs.
Think about the tremendous amount of force being transmitted through your transmission @ 15000 RPM. If you only engage a dog half way (or less) into its hole, it's 50/50 if the dog is going to engage or spit back out with all that force. I can imagine why it only take a few or even one hard missed shift at the limit to start rounding the dogs and holes, bend shift forks and damage shift drums.
That is why a slight amount of back cut on the dogs and holes is a good idea. Even if the dog barely enters the hole, the angle of the two and the rotational force wants to bring them together.
One more thing, if you are worried it might happen to you, buy an Evo shift star. It makes the shifts a little faster and more positive. Its $140 in insurance if you ask me.

Just my $.02. Hope it helps.

So for the unfortunate few- please could you describe what the problem actually is? I have no idea if it's a stumble, popping out of gear, rough noise, etc. etc. Also if someone could describe why this malfunction occurs as I presume this is a manufacturing fault causing this to happen?

Still pretty confused about the problem.

rounded dogs causes it to slip out of 2nd into neutral. no grinding really had it on my 02 r6(those models had real tranny issues)

 

Newbie is right.

I'm about to put 22k on mine w/ not one problem. I love my kawasaki.
There are a few people w/ problems w/ second gear but check it out -

you hear more of people complaining rather than praising so chances are you're seeing those very few rather than the masses.

Enjoy.

 

I had to tear my trans apart at 20k miles, but it's been ok since then (fingers crossed)

 

So for the unfortunate few- please could you describe what the problem actually is? I have no idea if it's a stumble, popping out of gear, rough noise, etc. etc. Also if someone could describe why this malfunction occurs as I presume this is a manufacturing fault causing this to happen?

Still pretty confused about the problem.

 

I don't even care about my 2nd gear issue I love my bike no matter what.

 

Well what does it do then?

 

lusone: on rider error.

Maybe people practicing clutchless upshifts?

Oh wait thats "better" for the transmission.

LOL

 

The topic, stay on it...

 

Whatever

 

I'm convinced the person who owend the bike before me was a squid and is the reason it's fucked up, o well I'll fix it and be happy

 

yea same here.

 

Yeah, a little bit of rounding is normal wear. I inspected the tranny that came out if my bike and the used one that went back in. All the dogs had slight round edges. But when compared to 2nd gear, there is a dramatic difference.

If a shift fork is bent, worn or a drum is damaged, it will cause the dogs to engage partially. It's like you only put it half way into gear. As stated earlier, if the dogs do not engage fully you got problems. With a damaged part, there is much less of a chance the bike will stay in the selected gear because it is only there partially.

Conclusion: bent, damaged, worn, and improperly adjusted shifting components (anything that doesn't allow full engagement) will damage the dogs.

I suspect that if you catch it early enough, you could get away with just replacing a drum and forks. Some guys on here do just that to avoid splitting the case. It works for some of them. I think it works for the people who- after they confirm it popped out of gear (once or twice) stop riding and get it fixed before it causes the dogs to round severely enough to require replacement.

 

Me thinks the vast majority of these issues would all be over in USA with you yanks abusing the bikes with the stunting, wheelies and constantly launching the bike in a straight line (possibly miss shifting into 2nd with the front wheel coming up)... I know that kind of culture is popular over there.

Whereas in other parts of the world we just enjoy turning the bike hard and don't have these issues! Different culture, different issues , nothing wrong with it at all.

 

Maybe it's just you blokes use ur crooked teeth to cut your gears so you dont have the problem?

 

Not all of us do that. nevada for one is not a stunter, and is a mechanic by trade so I can pretty much assume that his wasn't abused and still died in ~5k miles.

 

Granted mate, I'm just saying in general you guys enjoy your launching and top speed stuff rather than corners hence far greater possibility. Nothing wrong with that at all.

 

You can't trust our TV either, it's evil. Stunting is somewhat popular but not as much as you'd think.

 

Also for future reference, if the problem ever occurs- what parts do I need to order and replace?

Just the input and output 2nd gears?

 

Also for future reference, if the problem ever occurs- what parts do I need to order and replace?

Just the input and output 2nd gears?

that info has been posted several times.

but really, you need to replace any/all parts that are worn. just because I needed it, doesnt mean you'll need the same things.

 

I always thought the issue was bent/worn shift forks.

:dunno:

 

http://www.kawiforums.com/2005-2006-zx-6r/168075-cost-fix-trans.html

 

i don't see how stunting would cause any more wear on the gear(s) than regular riding. when you clutch up a wheelie the gear is already engaged, all you're doing is slipping out the clutch, revving the engine up, and then re-engaging it quickly. if there were some endemic clutch problem then i could see it.

 

i believe it was a bad batch of metal the gear its self was made from. thats why it didnt affect every bike.

 

It is possible. But if we could all shift like Ricky Bobby, it would be a better world for our 2nd gears.

 

Well you guys can blame others for the issue, it is a bulletproof engine and tranny. It could be you or the previous owner. The issue is that it is like JD said right from the start. It is cause of lazy shifting and it can happen with just one under a good amount of power behind it. I had mine start to go in the middle of an endurance race and i can tell you when i goes it goes, but its not just the second gear, I had it happen with third. We were in second place in the race so since it was my bike I said for us to keep going and see if we can finish the race. It started to shred the gear as we were racing and it came to a point that the corner marshalls could hear the sounds coming out of it as you were going past them. It all started off with a couple miss shift (without the clutch of course), It started to pop out of gear coming out of corners when you would put down the power which was scary as hell when your bike start hoping around at a good lean angle. The end result is the bikes tranny locked into 2nd gear and we couldn't finish, and there was only 36 minutes left in the race after 3 hours. I have put a new engine is since cause I imagine it would be cheaper after opening up the oil pan and seeing all the steel that was in the bottom of the pan!
SO all I have to say is don't be a lazy shifter, even more so if you arenot using you clutch to up shift. Make sure your shifter rod is set up for you.