The Yamaha Road Star Warrior Forum

Hey, I am having a problem with my clutch and/or tranny.  I haven't ridden my bike in about 8 months and am currently trying to sell it(moving and only allowed one vehicle). 

 Anyway, I was showing the bike when I couldn't get the bike out of first gear.  I was in my driveway, uphill and it seemed like the wheel was completely locked up and the bike wouldn't start at all.  I had to roll it uphill a few inches to get it in nuetral.  When I got it into nuetral, the bike was slamming into first and stalling out. I eventually got it to shift into first without to much of jolt and got back into my garage.

I am not sure if this is related to the tranny recall or not, but I thought I had it done, maybe not.  I a not knowledgable with motorcycles, so if this is a stupid problem, sorry.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 Okay, so my memory isn't what it should be, but let me ask this.  I just adjusted my clutch cable and it seems to start and shift better, no more stalling.  But if I put the bike in first gear when the bike is cold and not started, and I then roll the bike back a few inches until it won't roll back anymore(4-6 inches);  I then can't upshift until I start the bike or roll it back forward.  This normal right?  The guy that came to look at bike threw me off and acted like something was wrong.  I'm sorry if this is confusing, but I am just not the great on the mechanics of a bike.  Thanks for the patience.

If i am understanding what you are saying correctly you are saying that you havent ridden the bike in 8 months and then had trouble shifting into/out of first? 

I would almost expect that.  clutch plates will sort of freeze together after a while. start up the bike and once it gets warmed up, try it again and see if it is as bad.  my guess would be that its not as bad this time as it was last time.

thecowboy:

 Okay, so my memory isn't what it should be, but let me ask this.  I just adjusted my clutch cable and it seems to start and shift better, no more stalling.  But if I put the bike in first gear when the bike is cold and not started, and I then roll the bike back a few inches until it won't roll back anymore(4-6 inches);  I then can't upshift until I start the bike or roll it back forward.  This normal right?  The guy that came to look at bike threw me off and acted like something was wrong.  I'm sorry if this is confusing, but I am just not the great on the mechanics of a bike.  Thanks for the patience.

yes I would think the hill would kind of bind you up too

have you tried it again?

 Yea, I went back out and sat on it, then on my dads V-Star 1100 and it was the same.  Just the way the potential buyer acted kinda freaked me out at first.  He's coming from a sportbike, so maybe it's different.  Man I feel stupid, thanks for the help!

SmaShitUp(mike7202):

If i am understanding what you are saying correctly you are saying that you havent ridden the bike in 8 months and then had trouble shifting into/out of first? 

I would almost expect that.  clutch plates will sort of freeze together after a while. once it gets warmed up.  try it again and see if it is bad.  my guess would be that its not as bad this time as it was last time.

AlanH:

Sun, Oct 5 2008 5:13 PM
Hard shifting... CLUNK

RicknPlano ....

The Warrior has a typical modern 5-speed motorcycle transmission that is constant mesh (all gear sets are engaged with each other at all times) and shifting is done sequentially which means there is no skipping thru the gears. The clunking is the sliding engagement dog picking up the spinning gear and is typical to this design. Especially noticeable when dropping down into 1st gear from neutral.

Here’s a recent thread by Churchkey on a related issue:

Clutch Issue????? : http://rswarrior.com/forums/p/118505/955670.aspx#955670:

Hi,

I'm the buyer that kinda freaked out the Cowboy. Sorry to have upset you, man. That wasn't my intent.

I guess I'm not used to this tranny setup. I didn't know it was constant mesh. My concern was that on the modest slope of the driveway facing uphill we couldn't get it to start or get it into neutral. I have felt the neutral-to-first-gear clunk in a few bikes I have owned - gixxer 600, BMW R1100R, etc. But this was loud. 

Now it's my turn to ask a newbie question - How is running through the gears on this bike (rev-matching and all) or am I completely off here? this would be my first star. I will continue to read what I can.

Thanx,

 Hey, cool to see you on the forum, this place has a great amount of resources. 

 You didn't upset me, I was just worried something was wrong after not riding for awhile.  Let me know if you want to come back out and take another look at it.  My dad or I will ride the bike around at some point this week to make sure no other gremlins pop up.

OK. They talk about adjusting the clutch here http://rswarrior.com/forums/t/120382.aspx . Give it a go and let me know or maybe I can come up Sat afternoon and we can work on it (I'm more of a car mechanic :) 

SmaShitUp(mike7202):

If i am understanding what you are saying correctly you are saying that you havent ridden the bike in 8 months and then had trouble shifting into/out of first? 

I would almost expect that.  clutch plates will sort of freeze together after a while. once it gets warmed up.  try it again and see if it is bad.  my guess would be that its not as bad this time as it was last time.

Had the samething happen to me after it sat all winter.  Just give it a good warm up and take it for a quick rip and it'll be back to normal.  No adjustment was need on the clutch for me.

My 86 Vmax had the plates stick together - I just lifted the bike pulled the clutch

level and had a friend jerk the rear wheel - The clutch broke free.  I never had the problem again