Hi All, this has happened to me a couple of times now so it's time to seek some advice...

I was traveling in slow heavy traffic on the A1, in 2nd gear and came to the 3 lane section at the Angel of the North. Opened it up and when changing up to 3rd in the middle of the rev range heard a loud sharp clunk, leaving me in neutral. Pulled over straight away an everything seemed fine so continued home.

When I checked over the bike the chain was way loose, on the morning before the tension was fine. Took the sprocket cover off and had a general check around, no visible problems anywhere so I've re-tensioned and left it at that. I had the same thing a couple of months ago.

Everything is torque'd up to the Haynes and the chains got about 6 months on it, with no visible damage...

I'm stumped... any ideas?

Ooer, this sounds expensive. I think the box is the same as on the Thundercat & when they get a bit worn, jumping out of 2nd is a fairly sure sign that the box needs work.

Not sure though, but JP had a 'cat that similar probs & he ended up dropping the engine & giving the box a going over.

Could be wrong though

I remember JP having a worn selector fork that was the cause of all his woes. I think he fixed it himself, and it wasn't too pricey. Put it into a workshop, though, and it's a lot of hours.

mate had a similar problem, his turned out to be a smallish spring in the selector-that doesent explain the slackened chain tho..

Always check the simplest thing first - not sure how your chain adjusts but there's nothing wrong with the adjusters is there? Cos it sounds like it possibly didn't actually make it INTO 3rd, rather than jumping out, and if it didn't happen till you were changing then it didn't jump out of 2nd even when you were accellerating hard.

Not due an oil change is it? Sometimes that can cause false neutrals.

Yup- defo the same problem JP had.

He thought it was the selector and fixed it temporariley. if I remember, but he swapped the engine out in the end.
link to a similar thread

Cheers Defiler, spoke to Wrinkly about this earlier and came up with the same conclusion.


Changed last week but starting to think the chain's got some loose spots, might just be me being a panic merchant...


could this be an up and coming excuse for a new toy?

not wishing to tell you how to suck eggs, but have you checked the chain for uneven wear?
they rarely wear evenly, spin it a couple of times & check the tightest spot & adjust it from there-if you do it from the slackest spot then the tightest spot will still be tight, causing more uneven wear. if you hadnt lubed the chain for a while say, then lubed & adjusted it that could cause it to wear very quickly.
take BG's advice & start with small steps, thoroughly check the chain, the adjusters, then the rear spindle torque. if it still happens then start with the front sprocket-a friend had the same model as you i think & had issues with the sprocket retainer coming loose.
if the chain & sprockets are all good, then start looking at the gearbox.

The man's sizing up for a new toy, and you had to go and ruin it by telling him to maintain the one he has. No bloody fun you!

look , if i'm unable to decide WTF to do-why should it be any easier for anyone else?
if it helps, i did feel a little bit guilty

So you should. I have a strange feeling I know who's going to have to sort it out eventually. Bloody Kids.

i would offer to help, but he's on your doorstep-& i wouldnt want him riding all the way up to Gods promised land with a dodgy bike......

Well you shouldn't be the only bloke in Peterlee with a fully equipped workshop in his garage

How you been Wrinkly, havn't seen you for ages?

The sprockets & tensioners etc. seem solid but the chain is wearing a little wonky so ill sort that out tomorrow and run with it for a while... I'll Cheers for the help dp.


Like that is it... last time I let you paint my bike