hard shifting into second

[krause95]

when im taking off hard it seemes harder to shift into second. Im thinking its just because the transmission is spinning too fast. Does this happen to you guys? and is shiftign without the clutch a bad idea?

thanks

[tseldon]

it happens to me as well but i am not sure what the cause is. more info from anyone would be great

[user_deleted]

clutchless shifting is a terrible idea. very few people can do it correctly without damaging internals. IMO. sportster/buell transmissions historically are what i would call notchy or clunky going into 2nd but so are a ton of other bikes, both foreign and domestic. i would check the primary fluid level and quality, primary chain adjustment, complete clutch cable adjustment, and see if all are within spec. there's tons of posts on here describing how to do all of these things. i found in my buell that a switch to either mobil 1 v-twin synthetic 20-50 or motul or silkolene in the primary made a huge difference in shift quality.

[canucklovingbrit]

These transmissions are clunky, especially shifting into 2nd. I find it's not so bad if you get the revs up to a decent clip before pulling in the clutch and shifting. But if you short shift into 2nd ... CLUNK! Is this something to do with going through neutral to get to 2nd? Generally, if you shift positively up & down the gears, you can achieve fairly smooth gear changes.

[Livers]

1st to 2nd clunky they are. NBD. As far as clutchless shifting from there on up, I do it quite regularly with no problem. I am no where near redline when doing so, however. And down****ing, always clutch it.

[netty2424]

I don't know about the mechanics or the adjustments listed above as I don't have the experience to open the bike up and adjust those things, but after searching is site and advice of the more experienced riders on is forum, I switched to Amsoil and it all but eliminated some of what you described above. Amsoil made a noticeable difference in the performance of the shifting and noise reduction. I hear the Mobile synthetic will do the same.

Buells are a little 'clunky' as it is so there will always be a certain degree of that, but some of those adjustments they listed above and the right oil will do the trick. I posted a thread very similar to this when I brought my first Buell home concerned about this as well.

There are some DIY Videos that will help with those adjustments.

Richard