Suzuki GSX650F Forum - www.GSX650F.biz

Hi All,

Just a quick one, as i'm quite new to mid-capacity bikes. On occasion, when shifting up, the gearbox makes quite an audible "clunk" noise, and i can really feel each gear shift. this doesnt happen all the time but i thought i'd ask to see if anyone may have the same thing. I'm not flat shifting, always fully disengage the cluth on each up/down shift. I have the levers adjusted in the number 2 setting, and it doesnt appear the clutch has any problem at this setting.

I also understand the type of engine oil may have something to do with this, the bike is only 1,500 kilometers old and had its 1st service recently. im prettey sure it has Motul 5100 oil in the sump.

Any opinions appreciated, perhaps its my technique (although im not sure you could stuff it up, its not a difficult thing to shift a motorcycle). I just hope this loud clunking isnt causing any damage to the gearbox!

Cheers,

Its normal and the sound will reduce quiet a bit after the bike's done a 3-4k miles, but still its not the most refined gearbox in the world. Al the internal parts have to be broken in. And with a gear box thats all down to how often you shift. Someone who commutes on the highway doesn't shift as much per mile as someone who does alot of city riding.

Yeah mine is pretty clunky, even at 19,000km. One thing I have found that helps is to pre-load the shifter. What I mean by that is to apply slight pressure on the gear change lever before pulling in the clutch lever. It helps the gears slip into place a bit more easily and with less "clunk" factor. It took me a while to get used to shifting like this but now it is second nature.

I wouldn't say mine clunks... it's only got 500km on it, and it just has a lovely click. I think it's a very sweet gearbox.

Coming from a Harley FXD where huge clunks are the norm, I never noticed it on my GSX.

This is normal

if you're grabbing gears and shifting at a high rpm don't use your clutch! just slack the throttle grab the gear and hammer on! I use the clutch for first to second because it's a long shift, but after that I only use it to down shift and changing at low rpm's. just a suggestion to try out.

using full synthetic oil quitened mine up

I tried this just recently and it really works... thanks for the tip HP ! Much quieter, smoother gear changes...

mine has 70000 kilometres on it now and still clunks from 1st to 2nd if I am too quick on the upshift .. all the rest are smooth as silk .. and it's still on semi-synthetic oil.

My gearbox has a huge Ka-Klunk from first to second or from second to first.

Other than that it is similar in nature to my old GS500F, though it is much nicer and smoother.

I like it

I was told to do this in the advanced rider training course I did .Nothing to do with the clunk ,just good practice ..faster smoother shifting.

1st to 2nd gear ...is like 1 second for me ,don't rev the crap out of it in 1st ,just get out of 1st as fast as possible = less clunk...and make sure you pull the leaver all the way in, also helps.

Your right Sleddog as HP said preloading does work and getting out of first gear as soon as you can also works.
Using more rev range also helps. I find if I change above 7 thou it's a lot smoother. Also don't pussyfoot around the quicker the change the better. Just a light flick of the clutch or do as GsxStar does no clutch on up shifts above 2nd.

Good you raised this topic Meetone, I can see now that the way that my gearbox acts is probably normal.

Enjoy the ride.