[xtremewlr]

Originally posted by 5thGen
xtremewlr, can you explain your proper shifting techniques? I just bought a used 2005 636 and have little experience in riding (just the course and riding with friends the last few days). I'm a little concerned with all the talk about tranny problems.

Thanks

When shifting, put slight pressure on the shifter before you shift, just enough to take up any slack there might be. Doesn't take much and you will be able to feel it before actually shifting into the next gear. Try it while the bike is parked and you will see what I am talking about.

Edit: Yeah, what mustang said

 

[Fade-Dude]

Listen guys, I count 20 posts here. I think 2 or 3 of them complained about the tranny. That gives us a 10 to 15% bad tranny ratio.

Really, I don;t think its such a majour worry. I am sorry for the guys who have the problems, and I'm glad its not me, but I cant see how this is a common problem with kawi? HOw many people of the thousands on this site has actually complained about faulty trannies? I bet its less that 15%...

 

[PiercedJD]

I am in the same boat as nevada and reject. kawasaki rejected my warranty over the phone, which I guess I should be thankfull for, otherwise I would have been liable for $700 in labor from them tearing down the bike to tell me that I managed to fuck it up in under a year and 6k miles.

funny that everyone seems to be having the axact same problem and at about the same mileage.

last kawasaki I buy. 06 gsxr 750 is looking real good right now.

 

[PiercedJD]

Originally posted by xtremewlr
I always find threads about trannies like this one interesting.


I've got almost 2200 miles on my ZX now (bought it at 258 on the odo) and have not had a single issue with the shifting.

you better find some wood to knock on in a hurry!


(edit: my bike was perfect until around 6500 miles and it started popping out of 3rd gear. then it progressed to downshifting into 2nd from 3rd. then it would downshift from 3rd to nuetral. then 2nd gear started popping out.)

 

[Fade-Dude]

Originally posted by PiercedJD



you better find some wood to knock on in a hurry!


(edit: my bike was perfect until around 6500 miles and it started popping out of 3rd gear. then it progressed to downshifting into 2nd from 3rd. then it would downshift from 3rd to nuetral. then 2nd gear started popping out.)

Did you start popping them aggressive wheelies at around 6500 miles?

 

[PiercedJD]

funny you should mention those, because my 99 with 14k miles on it shifts perfectly and it is ridden the same way. just trying to warn a few people. wish there was information out about this before I bought mine. such is the hell of purchasing a redesign/new model.

 

[xtremewlr]

I still think that installing a FactoryPro shift kit is a good measure in helping prevent tranny problems as it makes the gear engagement much more positive and less likely to pop out. I would be buying one now except for being as broke as some of the trannys in this thread [xx(]

 

[Fade-Dude]

Maybe the 2006 has it sorted?

 

[xtremewlr]

I seriously doubt kawi made any mechanical changes between '05 and '06.

 

[Fade-Dude]

They made shift light increments different... wonder if that had something todo with a different mechanical setup... why else would they suddenly change it?

 

[xtremewlr]

Lol, ya we went over the shift light thing in another thread didn't we? I still doubt there were any mechanical changes. The shift light change is most likely just a software change in the ecu or guage cluster. Why they would change from a 250rpm increment to a 500rpm increment doesn't make alot of sense to me [:M74]

 

[Fade-Dude]

maybe its because of E=MC'2 ?

So that when you adjust the shift light the posetive forces of the pressure on the button cancels out the reaction of the liquid crystal moving inside the LCD at too great a velocity??

Yay, that makes more sense now...

 

[nevada]

Originally posted by PiercedJD



you better find some wood to knock on in a hurry!


(edit: my bike was perfect until around 6500 miles and it started popping out of 3rd gear. then it progressed to downshifting into 2nd from 3rd. then it would downshift from 3rd to nuetral. then 2nd gear started popping out.)

yep, mine did the whole popping into another gear thing too. almsot got me hurt once. as it popped into first!!! talk about unexpected decelleration. and i wasnt doing any kind of wheelies or burnouts or anything. just basically commuting. lots of highway miles. so very little shifting. and i agree, last time i buy kawi.
oh and the 03/04's are ok. they changed the tranny for 05/06.

 

[mustang90]

We should almost find a way to keep track of the number of people that have had problems such as this. If we do, hopefully it doesn't turn into a 51 page thread of trans problems like on the r6 forum... I love my nice new bike and it better stay that way!

 

[xtremewlr]

I was just thinking, it would be interesting to get some input on this situation from our forum sponsor, AdvancedKawasaki. How many '05/'06 bikes have they had into service for tranny problems and what would they recommend for a fix or possible prevention?

 

[nevada]

thats actually not a bad idea. and i also dont believe that every 05/06 failure has been all the bike. im sure there have been cases of abuse, or misuse too. but i know for me, that wasnt the case.
and i was actually instructed by kawi to have them custom machined to further prevent any problems. to me that sounds like admitting a problem is there.

 

[Advanced Kawasaki]

Sorry to be a party pooper, but I haven't seen any manufacturer defects. Generally speaking it's pretty easy to see if a trans problem is caused by abuse, wear, or defect. A defect would show up as maybe a burr, or some other irregularity. Abuse could be something like a bent fork, exccesive wear etc.. With a racebike, you'll see accelerated wear (our '05 10 went a full year-and-a-half on the clutch, and that was endurance racing, and countless sprints). A miss-timed quickshifter can hurt,mis shifts, using a lot of 1st, and then shifting full throttle into 2nd. I don't want to say that nobody here has a warranty-able problem, but I'd have to see the trans, and you'd have to trust me

 

[Rob_ZX636R]

my bike was running fine untill where i am now at 2000 miles on the tach, anyways its popping out of first occasionally, and im sorry but my 2002 zx6r never popped out of gears, or none that i can remember, reading this thread has me extremely worried, it hasnt popped out of other gears except its missed engaging first to second a few times now, so like i say, im actually worried cause the first time it popped out of first i lost all that engine breaking and it felt like i was hurtling towards a bend at lightning speed at that was just first gear, i shall keep an eye on this thread, Rob

 

[cas]

been noticing on my 03 zx6r she pops out of 2nd into neutral. Sometimes a slight grind into 2nd. Going to adjust the shift lever down a bit and see if that helps. I wouldnt be surprised if its just my shifting

 

[Sage]

MY 2005 zx6rr race bike, 2000 miles, tranny & shift forks worn, it has shifted like crap from day 1
My 2006 zx6r street bike + trackdays, 1200 miles, shifts better than the 6rr, 1st to 2nd misses 50% of the time on hard starts, upper gears 4,5,6 hard to shift into at the track

I had 5700 race miles on my CBR with no tranny trouble, I've had to replace 3 shift forks & 1/2 the tranny & shim up the new one on the 05 6rr at 2000 miles.

I've also done 3 tranny repairs on 05 ZX's that were on uncrashed bikes (2 racers & 1 street guy)

Complete BS, the kawasaki trannys are junk