With my 2018 lowrider I have noticed that sometimes when downshifting from 2nd to 1st I don't get a downshift. I depress the shift lever and the lever moves down freely but I don't get a downshift. Then when I try the downshift again it downshifts normally. The transmission is working fine and I can find neutral easily. Does anybody else experience this? Does anybody have any idea what may be going on?

 

Is this rolling or stopped?

Do you have *any* drag on your clutch?

 

Rolling, no clutch drag.

 

2018 Breakout. I can’t recall this ever happening. Seems like it’s stopping at neutral. Mine always downshifts to 1st and then I have to lightly bring it back up to neutral. Doesn’t seem right. I’d have ‘em check it out.

 

I’ve had this happen, but only when I kept my foot on the pedal. Apparently I wasn’t allowing the pedal to travel all the way back up. For a while I had to make a concerted effort to lift my foot up a bit more to allow it to fully disengage. As long as I do that, it shifts fine.

I’ve been planning on adjusting my pedal a bit lower to compensate.

 

Mchad may have identified a cause, although you should never have any pressure on the shift lever unless shifting. Letting your foot rest on the shift lever is a sure way to accelerate wear on your shift dogs. At least HD transmissions are easy to pull compared to Jap bikes, but it's still not a good thing.

Also, in general, it is not a good idea to shift into first while still rolling (unless you're a racer trying to keep on the power curve in a very tight turn). It really takes technique to match up the engine speed to the equivalent shaft speed for shifting into first while moving. Said another way, shift into neutral as you approach a stop. Shift into first when you're ready to take off again.

 

Nope, never rest my foot on the lever. I was referring to while downshifting multiple gears. For example when coming to a stop, clutch, downshift, downshift, downshift, etc. I meant when doing multiple downshifts in a row. Never had a problem with single downshifts...

Sorry OP, I wasn't clear on that. I've never had an issue on a single downshift, as you described. I need to learn read more better

And not to argue a point AJ, but I always stand at a stop in gear, in case I have to get moving quickly... i.e. Lollygagger coming up fast not realizing a) the light is red, and b) theres a bike in front of it... and slams on its brake screeching towards me. That extra few feet jumping forward has saved my ***. Exactly twice...

 

I've noticed this before as well and it has happened between every gear while down shifting for me. I noticed it only happened when the bike hasn't fully warmed up yet. I would shift down and when I tried again it was just a spongy feel instead of the click of the gear engaging.

I found that slightly letting out the clutch lever would make the gear engage then I can down shift into the next gear but again I would need to slightly let the clutch out to make the gear engage again. Only happened a few times and when not fully warmed up as stated.

 

This may be a possible cause. Next time I ride I will pay attention to this.

 

Didn't mean to imply you were riding the lever MC, but it is something people do and then wonder why their trans dogs are worn out on a low mileage engine. Guys that wear big work boots seem to suffer more than most for this.

Understood about sitting in traffic in gear. A lot of people offer that advice.