Suzuki GSX650F Forum - www.GSX650F.biz

So last week I went out on a ride for about 7 hours and I found a lot of good twisties and I was getting on it pretty hard. Some time near the end I came up on a stop light and went to shift down to 1st... I got all the way down to 3rd, pushed down, still in 3rd, pushed down, still in 3rd, finally got it to go into 2nd and had the same problem going into 1st. About an hour later it did the exact same thing, same gears and everything. It didn't happen again for about a week, but this time it just happened going from 3rd to 4th. I've always had some issues with 1st to 2nd wanting to get stuck in neutral a little, and 2nd to first wanting to grind a little. I'm worried I may have a bent shift fork, a bent shift return spring, or a broken dog in one of the gears. Has anyone else had any similar problems with this bike? And in worst case scenario, does anyone have a how-to on getting the transmission open and diagnosing/fixing this issue, know where to get replacement transmission parts, or know what types of tools I'm going to need to do this? If one of these problems is the case, I need to decide if I want to fix it myself or put it in the shop.

Maybe the fluid was low and not engaging the clutch all the way, the grinding sound is a warning and you are following the african way of maintenance
The shop manaul is below in the link but there is no how to open the engine ;
search for
0B-15 (page 519)
5C-19 Clutch (page 534)
page 81:
Engine noisy (Noise
seems to come from
clutch)
Worn splines of countershaft or hub. Replace.
Worn teeth of clutch plates. Replace.
Distorted clutch plate, driven and drive. Replace.
Worn clutch release bearing. Replace.
Engine noisy (Noise
seems to come from
transmission)
Worn or rubbing gears. Replace.
Worn splines. Replace.
Worn or rubbing primary gears. Replace.
Worn bearings. Replace.

I have similar problems. Very intermittent, but when it does happen it's when I'm shifting down through the gears approaching a red light. It doesn't sem to happen when I'm just dropping one gear, but two, three, four in rapid succession. When this happens on my bike, the gear indicator will be totally blank too. No numbers, no nothing. Shifting up one gear seems to clear the problem.

Does this only happen when you're holding in the clutch or when you shift down and release the clutch each time to engine brake?

Seems possible the clutch isn't disengaging after each shift. Like 650 said, the clutch fluid may be low. That would be the simplest fix.

If not... get thee to a motocyclery.

It only happens when Im holding the clutch in. But I think it might actually be because I overfilled my oil on the last change. My problems seems to be exactly like BikeHigh's problem.

I'm going to change the oil and maybe the clutch fluid, since I'm due for it anyways, and I
ll see how it does after another week or so.

I was out driving, and suddenly I had problems shifting down.
I stopped, and removed the cover. As I removed the cover, a fairly big stone (approximately 12-13 mm in diameter) fell out. After this, I haven't had any problems shifting up or down.
Thought I'd mention it. Worth a check.

I pulled the front sprocket cover yesterday to install a 16 tooth sprocket. No stones. Is that the cover you're speaking of?

Yes, that's the one.
I think the stone was placed so that I couldn't push the pedal down far enough. Just thought I'd mention it. I experienced it the same way as explained here. I guess I was lucky it wasn't more serious.

Maybe just taking things apart and putting them back together again will solve the problem.

are you trying to shift down while the bike is stationary or while you are moving forwards?

REMOVED BY USER

While moving. Why would some one shift down while stopped?

REMOVED BY USER

Hey Capfile, it's your Dad... let me know if you get this straight. It almost sounds like you were trying to shift it down after you stopped? that doesn't work. But if you find yourself in a situation where you had to stop in a high gear, let the clutch out a little between each gear shift till you feel the bike surge forward, this should help it shift down to the next gear. Think of it like a bicycle, shifting works best when all the bits are turning
Motorcycle transmissions work a lot different than a car, I even occasionally get a false neutral here and there on all my bikes. Anytime you make multiple shifts on one clutch pull.. things 'can' get get a little jammed up, 1 clutch pull per gear keeps things nice and smooth.