Good morning all! I had a strange event yesterday with the VTR, A 2002 Superhawk. Installed Jamie's aftermarket shifter. Very nice piece of work.
I have had no trouble after installing the part, but......yesterday the I had a hard time getting the bike to shift properly. At times it wouldn't up shift, other times I couldn't get into 1st or neutral. It felt the way it does when trying to up shift from 6th. I monkeyed with shifter position and handle bar lever but got no reliable results. It literally felt like being stuck in the gear I was in at the time. After messing with the handlebar lever it did start shifting better. By the time I got it home it was shifting normally again. Fluid level in reservoir is fine. Do I need to bleed the clutch? It didn't act like it had air in the system but I am not too experienced with hydrologic clutches. Anything else I should look at? cheers!

 

If it was shifting properly with the stock part, no reason to need to bleed
the clutch. Your installation would be the problem, if you've changed
shifter angle, or, shift rod length, this will influence shifting.

 

I would re-bleed first to see if that fixes it.take your time bleeding.

 

the shifter was fine for about a week after the installation. The problem seems to have shown itself suddenly and then gone away again. What do you make of that?

 

+1.

Also, how long has it been since you changed the oil?

 

Did it appear when the bike was warm or cold? If warm, it's air...

 

Did you notice if it would only do it under load? So if you roll off the throttle to the point where the engine isn't slowing you down but not propeling you forward would it shift easier? If so then it's probably the clutch not dissengaging all the way. Could be air in the system. It's hard to say though with it fixing itself already. I'd just keep an eye on it and see if it comes back. Could have just been a fluke thing.

 

at the time I thought it needed to be bled but I wanted to see what you VTR owner had to say. And, it fixing itself, that never happens so I better take a look. Could be the position of my foot on the shifter? The bike did it warm, on acceleration and down shifting. I'm gonna try bleeding the line and repositioning the foot lever, (shorter shifting hawk: https://www.superhawkforum.com/forum...ng-hawk-10161/).

 

It does kind of sound to me like your clutch isn't disengaging properly. Will it upshift without the clutch? I only use the clutch to take off from a stop so you should be able to upshift without it no problem. Is your linkage in the same place as stock? Specifically the arm that attaches to the shaft going into the engine. It's important for that to stay in the stock position to prevent binding.

 

I read the post on short shifting hawk, used that information and adjusted my shifter. I think I forgot to tighten the lock nuts on the linkage and it may have vibrated enough to cause the angle of the shifter to change. I adjusted everything and tightened everything down and everything seems to be fine. Hasn't done it since. Thanks Jamie!