At what revs are you actually changing gears?

If you are below 3.5k then you are decidedly short shifting and yes, that means clunky... Won't matter what bike you are on... The only solution to that is to get it going out of idle...

Side note though... If you are new to bikes as you say... take it easy, the VTR is rather user friendly and also rather beginner friendly... But it doesn't suffer fools lightly...

 

Change your oil often. After an oil change you'll notice the smoothest shifting.

 

when you shift from 1st to 2nd, shift before 5,500rpm. there is a sweet spot in the rpm range. just gotta get used to it. new oil helps for a while, fiddling with the shift lever linkage can help. but don't rely on your chain tension as a good reference. remember you always want to adjust your chain using the tightest section of the chain as a reference. better the chain be too loose in spots than too tight. too loose, no big deal. too tight, you'll snap it when you hit your first bump.

 

+1
Motorcycle transmissions are commonly known as "dog boxes". There is a set of dogs that engages with a set of slots to lock the transmission to that gear.

Short-shifting causes the dog to slam the end of the slot. that's what makes the clunk.

get up higher inot the RPM range, then shift quick and decisively - don't let the engine RPM drop much and the dogs will be happy.

 

thanks all thats good feedback, il adjust the chain as it is too tight and shift in the higher revs then, just feels wrong but hey!! the engine is designed to the max i suppose and the rev counter has 11000 on it so i guess when i change it its too low in comparison.

 

Another thing with the 1 -2 shift. Make it a firm one. I've missed second a bunch of times shifting too easily. This is more noticable at high rpms. If you aren't direct with it the bitch will grind and likely find neutral and then give you some grinding to get into second.

 

does the clunking cause damage? or is it part of the makeup of bikes and not worth worrying about??

 

No clunk is a good clunk.

Or should I say, the best clunk is no clunk at all.

the fastest upshift doesn't use the clutch. Just a light roll off of the throttle to unload the gears and a quick flick of the shift lever and back on the gas.
done correctly, it is silky smooth and there is no clunk.

Clunking comes from lazy shifting, where the input and countershafts are not speed-matched.

 

lazy shifting can also be caused by the shifter to foot position, so i guess it's not really 'lazy' but more of your foots ability to apply pressure. if you feel you have to move your foot a lot to actually shift then this may be something you need to address.

tim

 

i didnt know there was such a thing as lazy shifting, as far as im aware i i use all the component parts of changing. revs..off gas..clutch in click gear on gas again. ive adapted to blipping the throttle rather than coming off. i have even kept the gas on.

i just feel that when i go out the gears work nice and just gentle click and others the clunks back. ive even tried pre tensioning the gear with my foot.

I did have the same similar problem with my bandit 600 in august last year, intermittent clunking, so i could pin it down to rider error i suppose! although when i was practicing for my test i were learning on a CB500 and that was fine!

 

For the first few thousand miles, the first gear to second gear clunk, pinwheel or missed shift drove me crazy. If you want your VTR to shift like butter, including the 1-2 shift?

Bleed/change the clutch fluid if it is or could be more than a year old. Stop using the over priced 10w40 "motorcycle" oil and get some 15w40 heavy duty aka 'diesel".

My VTR now shifts as smooth as silk, including the 1-2 shift.