[Aasland]

I'm new here - been riding VFR's and FJR's for a while, got a SV650 for the wife and a DL650 for 72 year-old dad. Love the DL for what it is ... all the bikes complement each other nicely.

The DL650 is giving us problems and I'd appreciate some help or guidance. I know my way around any part of the bikes ... except transmissions. Never had to open or deal with them before.

The Problem:

Shifting up into 4,5, or 6 is difficult.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Might have to try 2-3 times to get it to shift.
RPM doesn't matter.
If it goes into a gear, cannot continue shifting to the next gear.
Sometimes it feels like I'm lifting something in the tranny when I try to shift.
Works better if preloading the shift lever.
Downshifting works great, into any gear.

The Bike

2008 V-Strom with 11,000 miles on it.
Crashed in 2010, mostly fork damage, some roadrash.
After crash it simply would not upshift to 4th.
Took it to dealer, they removed the clutch, found a loose rivet on the shift drum preventing it from turning and engaging 4th.
Now it has the behavior described above.
I am assuming they correctly adjusted the clutch (but they also overfilled the oil ... maybe I should check it ...)

Next Steps

One option is to ignore it. It's not bad, more of an annoyance. But it happens many times a day so I'm sort of looking at my options.

Swap the motor and tranny. I could probably find something for $500 and this operation isn't beyond my skills (besides, our winters in MN are long ... !). Only hesitation is that we'd be replacing our known, low-mileage motor with an unknown / high mileage unit. And the cost.

Have the dealer fix it. They want $700 to split the cases and put it back together. I could probably make that cheaper by bringing it to them in the back of the Outback.

Both of these are the "last resort" type options which I would only try if everything else fails, so I'm looking for other ideas, or comments.

 

[dtalk]

I
Crashed in 2010, mostly fork damage, some roadrash.
After crash it simply would not upshift to 4th.

Eyeing the obvious first -- it's possible that the trans was damaged by severe impact to the shifter.

I don't think you have any option except to open it up or replace it. I wouldn't want to rely on it, personally.

$700 seems like a reasonable ballpark for the work, if you're confident that the bike is worth the investment and will serve you well after the work is done. I'd expect that figure to go up (maybe a lot) if any parts need replacing, though, which seems likely. If you can get a new motor for $500 and can do the work yourself, I'd say it's a no-brainer; just replace it, provided you are confident that the replacement is trouble-free.

And I certainly wouldn't trust delicate work to a dealer that botched a simple oil change. :thumbdown:

If you decide to just ride it, you should consider having an oil analysis done on it to see if anything is deteriorating. Only costs around $30, and would give you an idea of whether it can be expected to run like that for another 80k miles, vs being a ticking time bomb. I use Blackstone Labs, but there are others.

Just my amateur opinion. The above is how I'd approach it in your position.

Good luck -- sounds frustrating.

 

[honest bob]

This can be caused by the shifter linkage being taken off the shaft spline and then put back on in a different position on the spline. The linkage will no longer throw far enough to complete a shift, especially up shifts if moved one way. If there is a chance of this then take it off and put it back on in the right position, (trial and error you will see where it has to be when you try to operate it with the clutch in on 1-2 shift.) I put a black mark on the face of the shaft where the split is in the shifter mech. as a future guide. The 3-4 and up shifts are likely to fail to complete if you don't release the shifter completely between shifts. (easy to do with bigfoot) There is a spring that allows the shifter to come back and reset for the next shift so if it is broken, you get the same result. I would try to adjust the clutch per the manual following ALL steps EXACTLY too. Check the chain adjustment too. All simple stuff before cracking the case. If it crashed on the left side maybe bent dog fingers too.

 

[dtalk]

This can be caused by the shifter linkage being taken off the shaft spline and then put back on in a different position on the spline.

duh ... I didn't think of that. Along those same lines, you might take a look at the threaded rod that adjusts the linkage throw as well (has two locknuts on it). If that's adjusted wrong, I could imagine it producing similar results.

 

[Aasland]

Yup .. the damage was definitely caused by impact to the transmission. The PO lowsided on the left, broke the shift lever. The PO also has a long inseam and adjusted the shifter down. We have adjusted it up, back to stock'ish. But since we have installed a new shifter, I'll look at that and see if that could be a problem. I'm guessing that it doesn't matter where the lever is attached on the shaft as long as the shaft can rotate X degree's.

Bent dog fingers ... I guess that's another one to consider, but wouldn't that be evident on ALL shifts?

Of more interest is the spring you are referring to .. is this the "Gearshift shaft return spring" that is listed in the service manual? If so ... I wonder if I can rig an external one, just to test, as it appears I need to pull the engine to get at that spring.

The oil analysis is a good idea. I've been using Blackstone for years and planned to use it here to, but not for this reason. I have confidence in the transmission itself ... other than the shifting thing it runs smooth with no strange noises or vibrations. And no worries ... we bought it for a VERY good price ... so good that the cost of pulling the engine would still make it worth it.

 

[dtalk]

Bent dog fingers ... I guess that's another one to consider, but wouldn't that be evident on ALL shifts?

In my limited experience, not necessarily.

 

[honest bob]

The dog fingers are specific to 2-3 shifts only (I think, No expert). In any case that would be checked when trans is out and should have been checked when the other work was done. It's not likely the spring, but I mention it. You should be able to tell if it's not returning the shaft just by operating it with your hand. Check that travel/throw on the mech. it should be equal in both directions.

 

[RichDesmond]

IME, most hard shifting problems are caused by improperly adjusted clutches. Before you do anything else, follow these instructions:

FAQ: How do I adust my clutch? AndyAuger's Clutch Mantra - Suzuki SV650 Forum: SV650, SV1000, Gladius Forums