[Schussboelie]

I love my SMT, don't get me wrong.
It's most comfortable bike I have ever owned without comprimising sportivity thanks to the great WP en Brembo set-up.
Handling and steering is fantastic, on good roads and crappy roads, over speedbumps, on straights, lonfg winding turns and in hairpins. Fabulous!!

But my gearbox...
I didn't have the false neutrals you hear about but ever since somewhere around 5000km I started having shifting issues oocasionally. As I already mentioned in this topic, O often felt something like a kickback from the shifting lever, like a wrong clutchless shift.

After the 7500km service it seemed better and I was a happy camper. Shifting at higher revs had also proved to smoothen things up a bit.

Came back from a 3760km Alp trip and things have taken a bad turn for the worse.
The kickback is terrible, half of the time in too high or too low a gear because I dread shifting! :frown:
I'm getting lots of false neutrals now (once or twice every 100km) and that is no fun when you're racing towards a hairpin in Austria, shifting back and expecting some good old V-Twin engine braking! It's terrible to have to kick the bike in gear from a false neutral and feels like you're really molesting the gearbox. Nevermind the hairpin coming up way faster than you expected...


So I'm gonnan take the bike in early for its 15000km service (only done a bit over 13000 now) and if they can't fix it I think I'll be trading it in...

 

[Superbadass]

mmm not sure if you have a specific problem with your gears.... but have you tried being a bit more aggressive with your changes ? dont think these gearboxes like being 'snicked' in.. try stamping on it a bit more

 

[Schussboelie]

I'm definately sure that I kick it hard enough...
I often even find that it takes the gentle touch better than the hard one.

It's going in on SUnday a week from now.

 

[Superbadass]

fingers crossed its not expensive and/or its covered on warantee then

 

[scorcher]

Done 12000 miles on mine and only had a false neutral on mine twice. They're not the best of gearboxes for sure and I know what you mean about the little kickback you get occasionally when changing gear. Let us know how you get on.

 

[Locksmith]

Not had a issue with my gearbox , its one of the nicest ive had . Are the 950 gearboxes the same ? Would of thought so..

 

[simmo]

What about a slipper clutch?

 

[smt]

I love my SMT, don't get me wrong.
It's most comfortable bike I have ever owned without comprimising sportivity thanks to the great WP en Brembo set-up.
Handling and steering is fantastic, on good roads and crappy roads, over speedbumps, on straights, lonfg winding turns and in hairpins. Fabulous!!

But my gearbox...
I didn't have the false neutrals you hear about but ever since somewhere around 5000km I started having shifting issues oocasionally. As I already mentioned in this topic, O often felt something like a kickback from the shifting lever, like a wrong clutchless shift.

After the 7500km service it seemed better and I was a happy camper. Shifting at higher revs had also proved to smoothen things up a bit.

Came back from a 3760km Alp trip and things have taken a bad turn for the worse.
The kickback is terrible, half of the time in too high or too low a gear because I dread shifting! :frown:
I'm getting lots of false neutrals now (once or twice every 100km) and that is no fun when you're racing towards a hairpin in Austria, shifting back and expecting some good old V-Twin engine braking! It's terrible to have to kick the bike in gear from a false neutral and feels like you're really molesting the gearbox. Nevermind the hairpin coming up way faster than you expected...


So I'm gonnan take the bike in early for its 15000km service (only done a bit over 13000 now) and if they can't fix it I think I'll be trading it in...

I've gotta agree with you. Mine has got worse over time, i get the kick backs etc. I've only had one false neutral which was my fault.

It's never missed an up shift but sometimes feels like it's not gone into gear properley.

Some times it worse than others but on the whole the shift is less than okay. I've tried different chain tensions and looser seems better.

It does not bother me that much that it's gonna get traded in, having said that i'm off to the dolomites in 2 weeks so watch this space :scooter:

 

[SMNoob]

I have the same issues but mostly when the bike gets hot sometimes i go to drop it down a gear and it jams between gears, i do eventually manage to get it shifted again but runs fine when cool, im wondering if its the slave cylinder heating up and causing the clutch to not engage fully as it sort of feels like clutchless downshifting.

 

[katum_smt]

Definitely sounds like a problem of sorts with the cogbox
If I were you I would park it at the Stealers and get them to fix it under warranty
Mine now has 8000km and the cogbox keeps getting smoother - so its unique to your bike.

On one run (twice in one day) mine jumped from 6th into 5th all on its own - but its never happened again since

 

[Schussboelie]

Well, bike is at the dealer's.
Yesterday I noticed, after not touching it for a fortnight, the shifting was effortless, smooth and just outright perfect! Like butter.
After 15 minutes though, it started deteriorating and got worse again.
No wonder they didn't notice anything last service when they took it for a spin.

I'm anxious now...

 

[smt]

Well, bike is at the dealer's.
Yesterday I noticed, after not touching it for a fortnight, the shifting was effortless, smooth and just outright perfect! Like butter.
After 15 minutes though, it started deteriorating and got worse again.
No wonder they didn't notice anything last service when they took it for a spin.

I'm anxious now...

yup mines the same, as soon as it warms up things get worse. Mine was in for yet another akra 'y' piece today so i discussed it with the dealer (craig's at Leeds) he says that the gear box's are bullet proof, they are like 'tractor gear box's' to coin a phrase, and you have to be very firm with them, he also suggest that correct clutch use is the key. He suggest that rather than a full de-clutch, use 2 fingers to feather the clutch when changing gear. I tried it today and it worked a treat. All I did was just apply a small amount of clutch, kind a just into the biting point and hey-presto.... just like butter!

 

[Spark01]

Is maybe the type or brand of Oil, the cause of this?.

Because on my last bike a suzuki sv650s, the dealer used shell oil and i had the same problem.
Not as bad as you are telling, but the gear change wasn't smooth.
I change the Oil with another brand and the problem was gone and i wasn't the only one who had this?.
Maybe it is a help

 

[katum_smt]

As above - could be grade of oil

Here in the tropics the stealers use full synthetic 20W50 instead of the recommended full synthetic 10W50 for those of you North of the global dotted line

 

[Schussboelie]

He suggest that rather than a full de-clutch, use 2 fingers to feather the clutch when changing gear. I tried it today and it worked a treat. All I did was just apply a small amount of clutch, kind a just into the biting point and hey-presto.... just like butter!

I wonder what the mechanical explanation for that could be.
I have also found that sometimes a light tap on the gear lever is better than a firm one but most of the time it isn't...

 

[Schussboelie]

Is maybe the type or brand of Oil, the cause of this?.

Because on my last bike a suzuki sv650s, the dealer used shell oil and i had the same problem.
Not as bad as you are telling, but the gear change wasn't smooth.
I change the Oil with another brand and the problem was gone and i wasn't the only one who had this?.
Maybe it is a help

As above - could be grade of oil

Here in the tropics the stealers use full synthetic 20W50 instead of the recommended full synthetic 10W50 for those of you North of the global dotted line

My dealer uses the standard Motorex oil and the bike burns quite a bit of it.


If I don't hear from them today, I'm gonna give them a call myself tonight, they will have had the bike for three days then and should already know something...

 

[Schussboelie]

Dealer didn't find anything although they have pushed the clutch lever out a bit and loosened the chain tension somewhat.
All (including their testride) free of charge!! Top blokes!!

So I tried this:

He suggest that rather than a full de-clutch, use 2 fingers to feather the clutch when changing gear. I tried it today and it worked a treat. All I did was just apply a small amount of clutch, kind a just into the biting point and hey-presto.... just like butter!

To my big surprise, it's true! A world of difference!

Thank you smt, once I get my punctured tire fixed I can start enjoying my bike again!!

 

[katum_smt]

something else you could try -

From 3rd gear, I change up clutchless.
Changing down I always use the clutch

 

[Locksmith]

Dealer didn't find anything although they have pushed the clutch lever out a bit and loosened the chain tension somewhat.
All (including their testride) free of charge!! Top blokes!!

So I tried this:

To my big surprise, it's true! A world of difference!

Thank you smt, once I get my punctured tire fixed I can start enjoying my bike again!!

Thought it would be something simple , i adjust my chain to 5mm instead of the recommended 7mm so its a bit slacker

 

[flyingfish]

Been registered on the Forum for over a year but forced to lurk due to a move to France and starting a new business, life etc... I am glad you mentioned chain adjustment as it can seriously effect gear changes if the chain is not correctly adjusted. Some bikes are more sensitive than others and your earlier posts about the problem increasing over time made me wonder if the fix to your problem may be a simple adjustment of the chain. Double check correct chain adjustment for your bike as handbooks, manuals and advice from trained KTM mechanics can differ.
PS... My wife and I have 2 KTM 950 SMs and looked into the SMTs last year. Great all-rounder with the bite of the 950/990 SM when you want to put your head in a bucket and let fly.